Casting aside any worry of getting her pants dirty, she dropped to one knee and received the girls as they thrust their bodies against her in an embrace. A burst of love that she could only describe as overwhelming exploded inside her as she drowned her senses in the dainty scent of powder and fruity-fragranced perfume.
“I miss you,” Brittney said.
“Me, too,” Brandi said.
“Your hair is nice.” Brittney stroked a lock of Cassidy’s hair. Cassidy had taken out her braids, and her shoulder-tapping natural strands had been pressed and curled into soft, wavy layers. Through unshed tears, Cassidy focused on the long navy legs standing in front of her. She stood, straightening her suit jacket.
“Hi, Trevor,” she said. A familiar softness illuminated his dark eyes.
“Hi,” he said with huskiness in his throat. He kissed her cheek, and she grew warm with approval.
Cassidy clutched the handles of her purse, holding the medium-size item in front of her thighs while eyeing the sisters, attired in white cotton with lace hems. Their white ankle socks were also frilled with lace. “Where’d you get the pretty dresses?”
“Grandmom Grace,” they chanted in the same breath.
Like a sponge, Cassidy soaked up their smiles. “How are Grace and Houston?”
“They’re fine,” Trevor said. “I’ll tell them you said hello.”
Cassidy nodded and stretched her gaze toward the parking lot as awkwardness continued to stand between them.
“We didn’t mean to keep you,” Trevor said. “Were you on your way to your car?”
“Oh, no,” Cassidy blurted, and felt a blaze of embarrassment. “I . . . I mean yes.” She took a breath to avoid stammering into the next sentence. “I was on my way to my car, but you all aren’t keeping me. It’s really good to see you.” She pinched her lips together, although she wanted to say more. So much more.
“Can we walk you to your car?”
Cassidy sighed into a smile. “Sure,” she said, and they all moved ahead, Brittney and Brandi telling her about the recent back-to-school shopping trip with their daddy and Aunt Penny. Cassidy reached inside her bag and retrieved her car keys. As she aimed the key at the car door, Trevor gently pulled the keys from her fingers. He unlocked and opened the door, and she slid into the seat. The keys slipped from his grasp to hers, and he grabbed both daughters’ hands and they all stepped back as she started the ignition.
“Bye, Cassidy,” Brittney said, and Brandi’s echo followed.
With a tight two-handed grip on the steering wheel, Cassidy elevated her chin and accepted Trevor’s tender gaze by returning one made of the same feelings. She asked, “Will you and the girls come to dinner on Friday?”
Neighbors swayed, glided, or rocked in porch furniture. Others sat on cemented steps. All chatted about much the same thing they had the evening before. The streetlamps clicked on, bouncing a shine off the parked cars as fireflies decorated the stagnant air with specks of light. Trevor opened the door he’d been standing behind and walked onto the porch. He stood by the rail separating the properties and small-talked with Harold Purdue until Ms. Emma asked if anyone cared for a slice of pecan pie. Trevor and Cassidy politely thanked her but refused. Harold followed Emma into the house, saying, “Put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on mine, honey bun.”
Trevor studied Cassidy. Her smooth hair was pulled into a ponytail, and small gold hearts dangled from her ears. He walked over and sat next to her as she rested on the wicker sofa with her legs crossed at the ankles and her arms crossed at her stomach. He had insisted she come outside and relax while he and the girls washed, dried, and put away the dishes. His daughters were still inside, Brittney with the broom and Brandi with the dustpan, tackling the kitchen floor.
“Dinner was excellent,” Trevor praised.
Cassidy glanced at him, and a smile quivered through her eyes. “Thank you.”
Trevor watched a spider bungee jumping from the roof. “I’ll cook for you next time.” He wondered, would there be a next time? He wanted to ask, but he let the quiet spill and puddle around them.
As the sky grew darker, Cassidy unfolded her arms and placed her hand on the sofa close to his. She whispered, “I’m glad you came tonight.”
No mention of the kids. Just him. She was glad
he
came tonight. Trevor jumped with joy inside himself, and somehow he kept the barbed wire around his cool and refrained from cradling Cassidy close and kissing her. Trevor had decided he wouldn’t share anything that intimate with Cassidy again without knowing how she felt about him. As much as Trevor relished kissing and holding Cassidy, he wanted more. He wanted a relationship. He wanted Cassidy’s heart.
“Wait here,” he instructed, and hurried down the steps.
“Where are you going?” she called.
“Watch the girls for me. I’ll be back soon.”
Talk and laughter fluttered through the kitchen as Cassidy served Brandi and Brittney fresh strawberries. Trevor returned with Natasha Audrey, and the jeans- and T-shirt-covered teen threw down her knapsack and joined the children at the table as comfortably as she would have in her own home. “I’m going to be hanging out with you for a while.”
“Can you do my nails like last time?” Brandi asked.
Natasha pointed at her denim knapsack. “I’ve got my gear.”
Preparing a dish of fruit for Natasha, Cassidy questioned Trevor, “What’s going on?”
“Meet me outside in five,” was all he revealed, swiping a strawberry from Brandi’s plate.
“Hey!” Brandi objected.
“You can have one of mine,” Brittney offered him instead, an arm spiked and her head back so she could find his mouth.
Trevor plucked the berry from Brittney’s fingers with his front teeth. “Five,” he reminded Cassidy, gesturing the number with his hand while backing from the room.
Cassidy probed Natasha’s face for answers as she handed her a filled plate. The teenager shrugged. “Don’t ask me. He just showed up at my house and asked my parents if I could babysit tonight.”
“Where are we going?” Cassidy demanded as Trevor took Germantown Avenue into the Chestnut Hill section of the city.
“We’re almost there.”
“Where’s there?” she wanted to know.
He responded by cranking up the volume of the radio.
“This is it,” he said three minutes later, and parked the Expedition.
“This is a basketball court.” Wariness entered her voice. “A deserted one.”
His voice was easy. “Get out of the car, woman.”
Frowning but obeying, she inquired, “Why did you bring me out here?”
“To play ball,” he said as they sauntered toward the court. He tossed her the basketball he’d removed from the rear of the truck. She made no effort to catch it, and it rolled between her feet to center court. “I thought you said you knew how to play,” he bantered, running after the ball.
“You really expect me to play?”
He dribbled in place. “I really do.”
“In this skirt?”
“The skirt won’t matter”—he rotated the ball on the tip of his finger—“if you’re good.”
“I’m good. Perhaps a little rusty because it’s been a long time, but good.”
“Show me.” He passed her the ball. Her reflexes sharp, she seized the pumpkin-colored ball with open palms.
“Impressive. Show me more,” he challenged.
She began bouncing the ball, never taking her eyes off her opponent. Beneath the glow of the moon and court lights, they played, she in white canvas sneakers, a blouse, and a long loose skirt, and he in black leather Nikes, a baseball shirt, and blue jeans. He won the first game by so many points they stopped counting, and she the second, because he went easy on her. Trevor returned to his vehicle, snatched two bottles of water from a small cooler, and they retired to the bleachers.
“This is crazy,” she commented.
“What is?”
“Playing ball at this time of night.” She twisted the white cap off the bottle.
“It’s only nine-thirty.” He drank from his bottle.
“It seems later.”
He rested his elbows on the tiered bench behind. “It’s fun, though, isn’t it? Doing something you usually don’t. Experiencing it with someone you love.” He hit her with a sideways glance, then set aside the bottle and clamped the basketball between his hands. He stood and bounced the ball, then galloped to the net and made a layup. Cassidy squeezed her bottle, and it made a popping sound as Trevor charged to the basket with the ball again. It circled the rim and paused, as if deciding whether to fall through the hoop or not. The ball eventually rolled out, and Trevor caught it and jogged back to the bleachers. He placed the ball on the ground and knelt on the bench below her, flattening his hands on the metal to the left and right of her skirt. “Do you know when I started loving you?”
She shook her head no.
“The moment you crashed into my chest in that bathroom. All I wanted to do was protect you, keep you from falling and hurting yourself. I didn’t know how to express it then, but it bothered me when I saw how upset you were about that whole thing.”
“That’s why you were laughing at me.”
“I wasn’t laughing at you.” He grinned. “Well, maybe a little, but only because you were trying to be so tough.” Cassidy had folded her hands in her lap, and Trevor placed his hand over the clasp. “I’ve been praying about you and me,” he said. “What about you? Have you been praying?”
“Yes,” she answered gently. “I told you I would.” She stared into Trevor’s eyes. “I saw your heart that day we met in the bathroom. I saw how sincere you were about keeping me safe.”
“And what do you see now?”
She slipped her hand from beneath his and laid it along his face. “A man in love with God . . . a man in love with me.” She spoke softly. “I love you, too.”
“Then marry me,” he whispered.
“Married?” Rave snorted. Kregg’s facts had to be wrong. “Where did you hear such an absurdity?”
Rave envisioned Kregg smiling as he said, “Straight from the mouth of the future groom. I’m going to be the best man.”
“Are you telling me Trevor asked Cassidy to marry him?”
“Yeah, babe, he proposed last week. Isn’t that great?”
Rave’s brain could barely keep up. “Cassidy’s not dating Dunbar?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Never mind,” Rave said impatiently as vivid streaks of red marred her vision. She felt as if she’d been slapped in the face by the cold hand of betrayal, and standing there holding the phone to her ear, she was suddenly more sad than irate. “Why didn’t you tell me this before now?” Not that she could have done much here in Phoenix.
“I’ve been trying to reach you.” Kregg’s words were edgy. “Why haven’t you returned my calls?”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Too busy for our relationship?”
The question went unanswered. Rave was thinking about Trevor and wondering where she’d gone wrong. Why hadn’t Trevor wanted her? Every man she’d ever come on to had wanted her. Even dull Dunbar, although he had not taken her, had wanted her. The heat in his eyes had testified to that. Rave plopped on the edge of the king-size hotel bed. Kregg was talking, but she wasn’t listening, her mind a swirl of voices and memories that seemed only as far away as yesterday.
“Don’t be afraid, Rave baby,” her father mumbled as he slipped into bed with her. It was the first of his middle-of-the-night visits. She was nine.
“Don’t you tell nobody about this, Rave,” her father’s best friend whispered, holding her down on his lap. She was twelve then.
Following her parents’ divorce, her mother’s boyfriend came to her right before the start of her sweet-sixteen birthday party. “I want you, Rave,” he whispered, the stench of alcohol and tobacco on his breath. “I want to make you feel good.” Nothing he did to her that afternoon made her feel good.
“Hey, babe, you there?” Kregg’s deep voice rumbled.
Rave rolled her teary eyes. “I’m here.”
“How much longer will you be in Phoenix?”
“I don’t know.” Four weeks had already turned into more. “Nothing about this case has been predictable.”
“I want to see you. How about I fly out this week, stay a few days?”
“Sorry, Kregg, this week’s no good.” She switched the phone to the other ear. “I have to go. I’ll call you soon.”
Housekeeping had not been to her room, and Rave slid between the tousled bedding. She pulled the sheet above her head, banishing the light that reminded her it was a beautiful day outside. Her face down, she pumped her sorrow into a pillow. Wave upon wave of agony coursed through Rave, and she cried louder, longer moans in a desperate attempt to survive the pain, although she was unsure whether she wanted to live.
T
he next months passed quickly, bringing autumn and winter. Spring arrived, and the following weeks were met with many dreary, rainy days, but Cassidy was too excited about her upcoming wedding to be bothered by the weather. As night nestled in and today’s showers ended, cool dampness lingered in the April air. Cassidy hugged herself tighter, sponging warmth from the oversize sweatshirt she wore. She’d stepped outside while Trevor took Kendall McBride’s phone call. Cassidy had yet to meet Brittney and Brandi’s godmother. Since Kendall had been so close to Brenda and still had a bond with the children, Cassidy hoped that she and Kendall would become friends.
Trevor came out onto the deck and stood behind her. He looped his arms around her center, and Cassidy immediately leaned into him. “How’s Kendall?” she asked.
“She’s in the hospital.”
Cassidy frowned with concern. “What’s wrong?”
“She has pneumonia. She’ll be okay, but she won’t be coming to our wedding.”
“Oh, no,” she said in earnest. “I’m sorry. We’ll have to send her a DVD, then, all right?”
“Sounds like a good idea.”
“I wish Aunt Odessa was here to see our wedding.” At times, it was difficult not to feel sad when she thought of her aunt. But she found comfort in remembering all the wonderful times she and Odessa had shared.
“She’ll be there . . . in our hearts,” Trevor said.
“I can’t wait to see Oliver Toby.” Cassidy smiled. The professor was flying in from Denver to walk her down the aisle next Saturday.