Following Your Heart (Love Conquers All) (10 page)

Cassie woke up the next day, her head was finally clearing and she knew what she needed to do.  She was going to stay clear of Seth, she couldn't face him and hopefully her feelings would just go away.  She couldn't believe she had slept in so late, it was nearly 1000s and she was sure everyone had already gotten up and begun their day.  She threw on her robe and made her way to the kitchen.  “Anyone home,” she yelled as she entered the room.  She looked at the table and saw a note addressed to her. 

Dear Sleeping Beauty

I figured you could use your sleep, and I had some errands to take care of.  Mom and Dad are meeting with Brad's parents in Dallas today and they may not be home until late.  Christopher is at a friend's house so, it's just you.  I was hoping you could meet me at Avery Bridal Boutique.  Before you go home, we have to get you fitted for a dress.  Afterward we could grab a bite to eat for lunch.  I will plan on being there around Noon, so if you could please come, I will see you there.

Love,

Courtney

Cassie made herself a piece of toast for breakfast and grabbed the newspaper to read.  She would have to get dressed soon; she didn't have much time to waste.  As she was cleaning up her crumbs she heard her cell phone in the bedroom.  She took the steps, two at a time, to make it to the room before the call disconnected.  When she looked at the caller id she saw that it was Chad.  She hadn't talked to him since leaving New York and she wasn't prepared to talk to him then.  She ignored the call and went to the bathroom to get ready to go to the boutique.  In record time she was headed to the dress shop in her rental SUV.

When she pulled into the parking lot she didn't see her sister's car.  It was about 15 minutes until Courtney said she would be there, but Cassie decided to go inside and look at the various dresses.  Once in the store she was hit with racks of white wedding dresses.  She was drawn to look at them, even though wearing a wedding dress was the last thing on her mind.  She ran her hand over the white lace trim of a gown and smiled to herself, she could picture one day being the blushing bride walking down the aisle.  “Can I help you with something?”

She looked up at the young girl that couldn't be more than 18.  “I'm waiting for my sister, she's getting married and we're going to pick out my Maid of Honor dress.”  She knew she was rambling, but being caught looking at the dress embarrassed her.

“Weddings are a magical time,” the young worker replied with a smile.  “If she isn't here, why don't you try one on?”

“What?”

“I couldn't help but notice you don't have a wedding ring on.  Don't you wonder what it would be like? 
Truth is I've done it a couple of times.  One day it will be my wedding and I need to have an idea what I'm looking for.”

Cassie laughed and looked around the empty boutique.  There wasn't anyone there to judge her and it would be fun to see herself as the bride.  “I'll do it.”  She replied as she reached for the dress she was looking at.

“The try on room is over in the corner.  Let me know if you need anything.  My name's Crystal.”

Cassie smiled, “Thanks.”  She couldn't believe she was about to put on the dress, but she was still waiting for Courtney...so it wouldn't hurt anything.  She closed her door to the room and quickly removed her clothes and pulled on the white dress.  Looking in the mirror, it brought her a sense of excitement and she almost forgot it wasn't her wedding she was planning.  She opened the door and came out into the room, “Crystal?  Can you help me with my zipper?”

“Woo hoo...” her face turned red and she turned to face the man that was whistling.”

“Seth...I...” she could feel her heart beating hard in her chest.

“Wow...you will make one beautiful bride.”

She turned
away; her face was red for sure.  “I...thanks.  What are you doing here?  Actually, hold that thought.”  She hurried back into the room, carefully to back up so he couldn't see her exposed back.  She let out a breath as she removed the dress and hung it back on the hanger.  Pulling on her clothes she waited for a moment before leaving the room.  With the dress in hand she finally descended from the room.  Crystal was standing by the room as she exited.  “Did I hear you call me?”

“Yeah...thanks for letting me try this on.”

“You're welcome,” she grabbed the dress and then left Seth and Cassie in an awkward silence.

Finally Cassie turned to his expectant stare and laughed.  “So, that was embarrassing.  Why are you here?”

He chuckled, “No need to feel embarrassed, but the more important question is why you were trying on a wedding dress?”

Cassie snickered and playfully hit him in the arm.  “Can we just please forget you saw that?”

“As you wish.  I'm here because Brad called and asked me to try on my Best Man tuxedo.”

“You're Best Man?”

He nodded, “Yep, is that okay with the Maid of Honor?”

Cassie shrugged, “Doesn't matter to me.  It's their wedding.”

She moved away from him and headed to the front door.  “Courtney never could tell time.”

“Are you sure you just weren't really early?  According to my watch...they have 5 minutes to get here.”

“I stand corrected,” Cassie replied quietly, but was careful not to look at him.

“Cassie, I think we need to talk.”  Cassie turned around and was startled to see that he had moved closer to her and was only inches from her.

“Seth, we were both caught up in last night.  There's nothing to talk about.  You're getting married; you can't worry about old feelings.”  She quickly moved away from his closeness.

“Why do
you always pull away from me?”

“Old habits die hard.”  Cassie replied with a giggle.

“That's not funny.”  His voice was sharp and filled with pain.

“Seth, I'm sorry.  You have to understand how awkward this is for me.  I didn't anticipate coming back and seeing you here, let alone...” her voice dropped and her eyes fell to the floor.

“You feel it too?” 

Seth, it would be hard not to.  We never really resolved our relationship, but that's all there is to it.  We both have moved on and I don't want either of us to get hurt.  Do you understand that?”

He nodded, “I do, but there's only one thing that I have to tell you.  Rebecca and I, we...”

“I'm glad you both could be here.”  Cassie looked over at Courtney and Brad, who had just arrived.  She looked back at Seth and she could tell he was discouraged that they were interrupted.

“Hey Courtney, the note didn't say Brad and Seth would be here.”  Cassie replied, trying to put emphasis in it that she wasn't pleased.

Courtney shrugged, “Brad just said that Seth needed to try on a suit and I figured this would be perfect.”

“I'm sure you did,” Cassie mumbled under her breath.

Courtney ignored her and continued talking.  “So, the colors are Lavender and black.  I've picked out a gorgeous Lavender sleeveless dress for you Cass.”

“Sleeveless?  Won't it be cold?”

We can find a shawl to go with it.  The wedding will be outside, but the reception will be inside.  You should be fine.”

“Okay.”  Cassie figured it would be stupid to argue, so she just nodded and left Courtney to continue talking.

“Seth, you will wear a black tuxedo with a lavender tie and lavender cummerbund.”

“Okay, sounds good.”  Cassie looked at him and realized her decision to stay away from him, wasn't going to be easy.

“Hey Courtney...Bradley.”

“Hey Crystal, this is my sister Cassie and our best man Seth.”

“Okay great...I have the dress and tuxedo pulled out.  Just follow me.”

They followed Crystal to the dressing rooms where she handed them their outfits.  “Thanks,” Cassie mumbled.  She was just ready to get the day over with.  As she changed into the dress she realized that she was prolonging the inevitable.  She was going to have to face Seth sooner or later with the dress; it might as well have been sooner.  “Courtney?”  She waited for a moment, but she didn't answer.  “Courtney?”  She peeked out the room, but she didn't see anyone in sight.  She went out the room and tried to find Courtney through the mounds of racks, but there was no luck. 

“Here, I got it.”  She tensed up, when she heard Seth behind her.  He slowly zipped up her dress and when he was done, she turned to face him.

“Thank you.”

“You're welcome,” he smiled and her throat caught.  He was standing there in his tux and Cassie didn't think he could have gotten more handsome than he was. 

She tried not to laugh, because his tie was crooked but it made him look even more dashing.  “Since you helped me out, turn about fairs play.”  She undid his tie and then redid the knot.  “There,” she stepped back and nodded.  “Not bad I must say.”

He laughed, “Thank you my dear, but I must confess...this dress
you’re wearing is nice, but I preferred the wedding dress.”

Cassie shook her head, “I told you, let's forget that dress.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot.”  He laughed, but then she noticed he gave her a once over.

“I don't know where Courtney and Bradley went.”

He shrugged, “I haven't a clue.  Cassie, I really have to tell you something.  I have been trying to get it out, but every time I go to say something about it...someone interrupts.  Rebecca and I....”

“You guys look amazing.”  Courtney replied as she came around the corner.

“Seriously...” Seth couldn't have looked more frustrated if he tried to convince someone that the sky was blue and they were insisting it was pink.

She tried to give Seth an apologetic look, but she knew it fell short.  The truth was she wasn't entirely upset he couldn't finish what he wanted to tell her.  It worried her that whatever it was could be bad news and she wasn't ready to face that.  “So, do we pass the test?”

“Most definitely.”  Courtney smiled, “What do you think babe?”

“I think that we'll have to worry about the guests looking at the Maid of Honor and Best Man, more than us.”

Cassie laughed and she saw Seth looking at her out of the corner of her eye.  “I don't think that's going to be the issue.  You guys make a beautiful couple.”

“I have to say, I don't think we're going to have to do much in alterations.”  Crystal responded with enthusiasm.  “It helped that we had sizes prior to picking out the dress.”

“So, I will leave you guys and we'll make sure the outfits are pressed and ready for the wedding.”

When she left the atmosphere got quiet.  “Why don't you both get dressed and we'll go out for lunch, for a celebration.” 

Cassie shot Courtney a look.  She didn't expect Seth to go along and she didn't know if she could stand spending even more time with him.  Courtney just smiled and pushed them to their rooms.  As Cassie was getting dressed she was determined to get out of the predicament she was in.  Courtney wasn't going to make a fool of her, by pushing them together when Seth wasn't available.  She hung up the dress and then left the room.  Seth had just gotten out of his room and he appeared as uncomfortable as Cassie did.  “Courtney, I think I'm going to pass on lunch.”

“What?  Why?  Come on, it won't be a celebration without you.”

“I'm just not into it.  I have a headache and I would just rather go back to the house.  We can do it some other time.”

Without waiting to hear any objections she left, hurrying out of the boutique and further away from Seth.

____________________

Seth watched as Cassie left the store, he could tell that she was uncomfortable.  He wanted to save her, but he didn't know what to do.  He was just irritated that he couldn't tell Cassie the truth, especially if what Scarlett had said was true.  “Well, I guess it's going to be just the three of us.”  Courtney replied quietly, he saw her looking towards Cassie who was fleeing through the parking lot, as if she was being chased by someone.

Seth turned to Courtney and held up his hand.  “I'll be back,” he ran out of the building and made his way to the parking lot.  He saw Cassie, just as she was about to get in her vehicle.  “Cassie, wait.”  She turned to look at him, her face showing an odd expression.  He was out of breath as he reached her.  He wanted to push her up against the car and tell her he loved her, ending the scene with a kiss.  However, this wasn't a movie and he had to approach the subject at a different angle.  “I know today didn't exactly turn out the way you planned.  You expected it to just be the two of you, but I would feel bad if you leave because of me.  I should be the one to go.  Spend the day with your sister and future brother-in-law.”

Cassie stared at him for a moment and then smiled.  “Actually, you're not the reason I'm leaving.  I suppose wedding talk has suddenly started to get to me.  I need a break, so please go and enjoy.  I can spend time with them later.”

“Are you sure?  I really feel awful about taking a place that is rightfully yours.”

“I am serious. 
Its fine, you just enjoy yourself.”

“Okay, but I still need to talk to you...it's very important.”

Cassie nodded, “We'll talk.  I promise, but it might have to be somewhere where someone can't interrupt us.”