From Ashes (18 page)

“Jesse, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?”

“No, that’s not why I told you. It’s just . . . it’s kind of nice to just tell someone, you know?”

“Yeah. What does she need you to get? I can go pick it up for you so you don’t have to make a stop on the way home.”

“Cassi.” His dark eyes lit up and that crooked grin was back. “You’re a sweetheart, but no.” He glanced at his watch and frowned at me. “Because of me you’ve been here an extra twenty minutes. Go home, I’ll see you next week, right?”

I tried to keep my smile to myself. “Right.” I stood there as he walked past me to go back onto the floor and tried not to flinch when he brushed his hand against my arm. I needed to make it a point to tell him about Gage soon. I sighed and walked over to where we kept the employee files, glanced around to make sure no one had come in there, and hurried to jot down Jesse’s address on a piece of paper. I was sure I could get in trouble for looking it up, but it was for a good reason. I slid the paper into my back pocket and walked out of the back room, my head bent down as I texted Gage to let him know I was about to walk home. For whatever reason it made him feel better knowing when I left and when I got home—something about knowing I was safe. I’d just hit send when I heard a deep gravelly voice.

“Hey, darlin’.”

My heart took off and a huge grin spread across my face as I quickly took the last few steps that separated us. Gage wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me slightly to kiss me good and hard before setting me back down. “Were your classes canceled?”

“Wasn’t feelin’ up to it today.” His green eyes glanced up above my head before focusing back on me. “How was work?”

“It was all right, kinda busy. Want something before we go? I’m exhausted and have a feeling now that you’re skipping your classes I’m not going to get any sleep.”

Gage’s lips curved up in a slow, incredibly sexy smile that had my stomach heating. “And I have a feeling you’re right. Let’s grab some coffee.”

We ordered, and after Jenn, Krista, and Lori—Lori . . . pregnant, married Lori—all drooled over Gage again, we stood off to the side of the bar talking quietly, me in Gage’s big arms.

“You wanna tell me why this guy keeps looking at me like he’s gonna jump over the counter and rip you away from me?”

My brows bunched together and I turned around to see Jesse look back down at the drinks. “Jesse?” I chuckled softly. “I don’t think he knew I had a boyfriend.”

Gage’s eyes narrowed again and he looked up at Jesse. I swear his chest rumbled and something that sounded like a growl left his throat.

“Easy there, tiger,” I whispered, and wrapped a hand around his neck so he’d look at me again. “Trust me when I say there is
no
reason for you to worry about him. But when we get to your truck, I do want to talk to you about him.”

His body tensed. “Did he try something with you?”

“No, Gage, seriously, it’s nothing like that. You need to calm down. I’m telling you, you don’t have to worry about that, it’s about his mom. We’ll talk on the way home, all right?”

“Drinks are done, Cassi,” Jesse said gruffly from behind the bar.

I grabbed Gage’s hand and walked to the counter. “Thanks, Jess. Jesse, this is my boyfriend, Gage. Gage, this is Jesse.”

Jesse nodded his head to himself as he cleaned off the bar. “Boyfriend.” He muttered something that sounded dangerously close to “Figures.” “Great girl you got there, Gage.”

“Isn’t she?” Gage said, challenging him with a smirk, and unlinked our hands to wrap his arm around my shoulders as he turned us to leave the café.

“Well, you didn’t have to be rude,” I said when we got into the truck. “Look, after the way you just reacted to him, this might be a bad idea, but I want to cook a few dinners for his mom.”

Gage’s head whipped to the side to look at me like I was insane, his hand halted in the air on the way to turn on the car.

“Let me explain first.” I told him what Jesse had told me before I left and watched as Gage’s frustrated glare turned to guilt. “So, I was thinking I could cook a few meals that they could eat now, and some they could put in the freezer for later. I don’t even care if Jesse knows it’s from us—actually I’d prefer he didn’t—but I want to help out somehow. And this is the only way I know how.”

“God, I feel like an ass now.”

“As you should,” I teased, and slid over the seat to lean my head on his shoulder. “We don’t have to, it was just an idea.”

“No, it’s a good idea, we’ll do it today. Well,
you’ll
do it today; I’ll just watch you and help you take it over there.” He pressed me closer and kissed the top of my head. “God, you’re sweet.”

I just shook my head and smiled softly. “Thanks for agreeing to help, Gage.”

W
E STOPPED BY
the store on the way back home to get enough food to make meals to last them at least a week and started preparing dishes right away. It didn’t last long though; not even twenty minutes in, Gage and I ended up on the kitchen floor making love to each other. After another round in the bedroom, we made our way back out to the food and spent the next few hours making things that could last for a few days and preparing foods that could sit in the freezer until they popped it into the oven.

Gage was bringing the last load of food up to Jesse’s porch when the front door suddenly opened and Jesse stood there staring at us with wide eyes. He’d changed into a fitted gray shirt and low-slung jeans since getting off work, and after a quick assessment, I confirmed that while he was attractive, he had nothing on Gage.

“Cassi, what are you doing here?” He looked down at the piles of boxes, Tupperware, and casserole dishes in between us. “What is this?”

“Please don’t be mad!” I said, and took a step out of a few boxes I’d surrounded myself with. “We just wanted to help in some way, and I love to cook. I just, I just . . .” I trailed off as I saw his dark eyes glisten as he continued to stare at everything on the porch.

What felt like an eternity passed before anyone spoke.

“You really do have a great girl, you know that, right?” He blinked back his tears when he looked up at Gage.

Gage’s voice was soft and low. “I know I do.”

A weak foreign voice came from somewhere inside the doorway and Jesse tilted his head into the house as he answered back in what had to be Italian. “Ma wants to meet y’all. C’mon in.” When Gage and I bent down to pick up some of the piles, Jesse shook his head and began helping us. “I can’t believe y’all did this. Thank you so much.”

“It was all Cass, trust me. If I would’ve helped, it wouldn’t have turned out edible.”

Jesse laughed and led us into the kitchen. When everything was put away, he took us back into the living room to where his mom was sitting on the couch. She murmured something in Italian and smiled brightly; even ill, there was no doubt she was beautiful. “Ma, she heard me on the phone with you earlier, she knows you speak English.” He rolled his eyes when he turned back to us but the love for his mom was obvious. “She said it’s refreshing to see true love in a couple.”

“It isn’t something you see often.” Her voice was still weak, and her English was perfect but held a hint of her accent. “Especially in young couples such as yourselves. I pray I get to see it for my son before I go.”

“Ma,” Jesse said softly, and went to stand next to her. “Cassi and Gage, this is my mother, Isabella; Ma, this is Cassi and her boyfriend, Gage.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Gage and I said at the same time.

“It’s such a pleasure to meet the two of you. And what was that I heard about you making food for us? Darling girl, that is too sweet of you.”

“Really, I wish there was more we could do, but unfortunately all I’m good at is cooking.”

Isabella laughed softly. “Oh, my dear, I have a feeling we would get along very well.”

“Hey, Jesse, mind if I talk to you for a minute?” Gage asked, and when I tilted my head up to look at him with a worried expression he squeezed me tightly and kissed my forehead. “Talk to Isabella for a bit, darlin’, I’ll be right back.”

“Be nice,” I whispered so only he could hear.

Gage flashed his dimples at me. “Promise.”

I watched them walk outside but didn’t have any time to worry; Isabella patted the couch and told me to “talk food” with her.

G
AGE

“
H
EY, MAN,
I
can’t thank you enough. Ma was an amazing cook—her parents owned a restaurant in Italy up until they passed—but she can’t do anything anymore, and honestly I have to be the worst cook ever. I can heat up soup and that’s about it, so what y’all did is really amazing. Thank you.”

“Like I said, it’s all Cassidy. I understand what you mean though; me and the guys would starve without her.” I laughed and he cocked his head to the side.

“Her name’s Cassidy? That fits her; I like it better than just Cassi.”

I cleared my throat as my earlier irritation with his obvious affection for my girl came back. “Yeah, I agree. But hey, I wanted to talk to you about something, and I want you to keep an open mind. Cassidy doesn’t know about this; I went to the other room to make the call while she was cooking some of the stuff. I figured if you want to tell her, that’s your business. Also, I don’t want you to take this as me thinking you aren’t capable of—”

“Just spit it out, man.” Jesse’s head was still tilted to the side, but now his brows were drawn down and he looked hesitant.

“All right. My family wants to take care of your mom’s medical bills, as long as y’all—”

“No.” His body straightened and his face grew tense. “No way.”

“Jesse, just hear me out.”

He leaned close and spoke through clenched teeth, his voice soft but harsh. “No fucking way. I don’t need your help and I’m not gonna be some charity case for your family.”

“Y’all wouldn’t be charity. Jesus, Jesse. I get where you’re coming from, but don’t be so stubborn that your mom has to suffer even more watching you beat yourself up as you struggle to take care of her.” That may have been a little harsh. I cleared my throat and tried to calm my voice. “Look, my sister Amanda’s best friend died suddenly when we were younger. She was sick, had cancer, and her family didn’t tell anyone. Why? I have no idea, but they didn’t have the money or the insurance to go through chemo or anything like that, so their doctor suggested natural, alternative treatments. By the time even my mom started to notice something wasn’t right, Kasey was gone. Everyone in town flipped out over the issue, and Kasey’s parents moved away suddenly. Amanda was . . . she wasn’t okay for a long time. She was so sure if they had told us, we could have done something. Well, now we have an opportunity to do something. Dad and I, as well as Cass, think what you’ve done for your mom already is incredible, and I respect you for it. But you shouldn’t have to take on a second job while you’re going to the police academy, or even while you’re trying to get on at a department. You need to spend your time with her, not worrying about making enough money to keep you guys afloat. We want to take care of all of her current and future medical bills, as long as y’all need it. Also, if this house isn’t paid off, we’ll cover the mortgage too. It won’t be charity, we want to help.”

Jesse’s eyes were glossy again. “I can’t, I can’t.” His voice gave out on the last word and he turned so his back was facing me.

“If you want, you can think about it for a while, but I really want you to consider this. It could help y’all out a lot, and you wouldn’t have to stretch yourself so thin. I know you want to take care of your mom, but it’s not bad to ask for help. It doesn’t say anything against you.” We both stood there silently for a couple minutes and I decided to leave him alone for now. I clapped a hand on his shoulder and turned to walk inside when his arm snuck out and clamped down on my shoulder as well.

“You don’t understand what this means to me, and what it’ll mean to her. After my dad took off, there was no one left, just me and her. I’m not naïve; I know she doesn’t have long. She stopped responding to all meds and treatments months ago, so being able to spend more time with her and not be so stressed would—it would just really mean a lot.”

“I’m glad. We’re more than happy to do it. If you don’t want Cass knowing, I’ll give you my number and we can set up a time when I can come by and we can go over the bills and start getting them paid off. So if over the next few days, you’ll get them together, I’d appreciate it.”

He nodded and his eyes seemed to get even darker when he looked back toward the house. “Cassi’s more than welcome here too.”

My jaw clenched and I couldn’t hold back anymore; my voice dropped low. “I’d appreciate it if you stopped checkin’ out my girl too. I waited a long time for her, and I’m never letting her go.”

“I got you.” Jesse tried to laugh and shook his head. “Earlier it didn’t bother me one bit to know she had a boyfriend; I wasn’t going to stop.” His hands went up in surrender. “You have to know how sexy and sweet she is. But hell, Ma had y’all pegged the second she saw you together; that changes everything. She had a shitty husband, but she would have married anyone after what happened to her when she was younger. Guess she’d had this guy she’d grown up with; they both always knew they were going to be together forever and the night before their wedding he was killed. After that, she knew she’d never find someone to love again and agreed to marry the first guy who came around. But Ma’s got this sixth sense when it comes to couples. She takes one look at them and she knows if they’re the real deal, so if she says it, I’m not about to mess with it. You’re safe when it comes to me.”

I wasn’t sure if I was more relieved with what he said or pissed at his admitting he was about to go after her even though he knew we were together. Deciding not to dwell on either, I said, “Your mom’s had it rough, so let’s make this time as stress-free for her as we can, yeah?”

The teasing left his face. “Yeah, thanks again. I don’t even know how to begin to thank your family.”

“No need, just spend time with her.”

“
G
OOD
G
OD, ARE
y’all ever just hanging out anymore when we get here?” Adam called from the front.