Read Love With A Stranger Online
Authors: Janelle Taylor
Don’t cause a scene or his delay by refusing the gift; you can decide what to do with it later, whatever it is.
“Good-bye, Peter.”
From her kitchen window, Cass observed the simultaneous departures of Peter and the large van. She sat down in the den and phoned Jason. “The movers finished early,” she told him, “so Peter’s gone, out of my life and hair for good. Isn’t that wonderful?”
“Yes, it is. So, how soon can you come over? I want to hear about your conversation with him. You did speak to him, didn’t you?”
“Oh, yes, we had a long and revealing chat. I’ll see you as soon as I freshen up and drive over, say in about twenty minutes.”
“Perfect, just like you are, woman. I’ll have the garage door open for you. And a glass of champagne ready for celebrating.”
As they prepared and ate their meal, Cass related her meeting with Peter to him, and he listened in amazement and relief.
After she finished the detailed revelations, she asked, “Well, did I handle it all right? Or should I have given him a hard time?”
Jason grasped her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You handled it with finesse and great intelligence, and as the wonderful person you are. I was sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear from you. I couldn’t imagine how he was going to react, but I did expect him to get angry and call your bluff. I guess even Peter Grantham has his good points. I’m glad everything is settled, Cass; now, we can get on with our lives, with our future. I want you to meet my children as soon as possible, and they’re chomping at the bit to meet you. As I told you, both were excited by my news about you.”
Cass had been looking through his family photo albums and asking him countless questions about his son and daughter so she could learn more about them before they were introduced, and she liked all she had learned. “I suppose you painted me as the best woman in the world?” she jested.
“Of course, because you are,” he replied with a broad grin.
“I do believe you’re biased, Doctor Burkman.”
“Naturally, and with just cause.”
As they did their chores, Jason suggested, “In early June, we can let our romance begin to heat up in public because you will have been a widow for three months. That should be all right, shouldn’t it?”
“As long as we take it slow and easy and be discreet, I think so.”
“Excellent decision, my love. You’re a smart and generous woman.”
“I thought you’d think so,” she teased and hugged him from behind.
Jason warmed and his heart rate speeded up as she leaned against him and nuzzled his back with her cheek. His smoldering desires increased in intensity and heat. He draped the dish cloth over the double sink’s partition, turned, drew her into his embrace, and said, “I love you, Cass.”
“I love you, too, Jason.”
After they kissed several times, he looked into her soft brown gaze. “Why don’t we head upstairs for a while?” he asked.
“My thoughts exactly.”
He placed his arm around her waist and guided her to his bedroom where they undressed and lay down together.
Jason’s lips claimed Cass’s in a tender kiss, and she felt herself melting inside. Her breasts felt heavy with desire and she nearly moaned when his hand moved to fondle first one, then the other, until her nipples were taut and eager for more. As if Jason sensed what she longed for, he trailed kisses down her neck and over the satiny skin of her breasts, where he teethed and tantalized her until she was breathless and writhing beneath him.
She quivered in anticipation as his hand blazed a searing path down her abdomen. It was amazing and wonderful how she never tired of his touch, but always yearned for more. He made her feel so loved, so treasured, so desirable. She trembled as he nudged her thighs apart with his hand and began to bring her a pleasure so intense she thought she might cry from the sheer sweetness of it.
Just when she thought she’d die if she couldn’t feel the fullness of him deep inside her, Jason ceased his enticing caresses and moved over her. Looking into her eyes, he entered her slowly, tenderly, teasing her by withdrawing, then moving deeper and deeper inside her until—at last—she felt every magnificent inch of him.
Cass sighed in exquisite delight, as if it had been months since they’d made love instead of just yesterday. Her hands pulled him closer. She wanted him now, all of him.
Jason could hold back no longer. And as he felt Cass surrender to the ecstasy they’d created together, he let himself join her in a rush of passion and fulfillment.
Afterward, sated and almost breathless from their exertions, they cuddled in each other’s arms, sharing and savoring the closeness and serenity they had creased with each other.
“If you keep giving me blissful presents like that, I’ll become the most rewarded and satisfied woman in history.”
“Guess what I want Santa Claus to bring me this year.”
Cass turned her head and looked at him. “Christmas is seven and a half months away, so what made you start thinking about it tonight?”
“Your mention of presents. As my gift, I want you in this bed with me as my wife on Christmas Eve. Do you think that’s possible?”
“Possible, probable, but more likely a certainty,” she quipped. “If that’s truly what you want as your present?”
Jason stroked her cheek as he vowed, “I’ve never wanted or needed anything more in my life.”
“Then I’ll have to make certain you receive it, won’t I?”
“If you do, I’ll be eternally grateful, and very generous in repayment.”
As Jason nibbled on her earlobe, Cass squirmed and laughed. “If you get any more generous, Doc, I’ll be the one treating you for exhaustion.”
After Cass was dressed and preparing to leave, she took a black velvet box from her purse along with her car keys. She handed it to Jason. “Peter gave me this before he left today,” she said. “What should I do with it?”
Jason eyed the fourteen-karat gold
C,
which had about twenty-five small and sparkling gems embedded along the center of its curvature. A message on the back said: “To a real diamond.” Her birthday was engraved after the words. “Whoo,” he let out a rush of air between his lips. “This cost a pretty penny and wasn’t a last-minute gesture.”
“That was my impression, too. So, what should I do with it?”
“Why not keep it and wear it? It’s beautiful, like you are, and the message couldn’t be more accurate.”
Cass leaned against his body and looped her arms around his neck. “You’re a diamond, too, my beloved, a priceless one.”
“Then, that makes us a perfect pair.”
As they kissed good night, both knew how lucky they were; and in a few months, she wouldn’t be leaving again like this because she would be home, home with her husband.
Cass leisurely worked in the kitchen to get things ready for a special dinner and gathering of the entire Burkman family tomorrow on Mother’s Day. She paused from her task to stroke her lower stomach where a baby was growing within her elated body. By this time next year, she would be the mother of a six-month-old infant who was due in late November. She smiled as she recalled teasing Jason about being so fertile, since he had gotten her pregnant in less than two months after a mid-December wedding in the First Baptist Church on St. Simons Island where they attended Sunday services regularly. Of course, her swift conception shouldn’t have come as a surprise to her or Jason, since she had stopped taking birth control pills as soon as they were married and they had used every available opportunity on the land and on the sea to evoke the blessed event.
As Cass returned to the chore at hand, she thought about their lovely and romantic ceremony where family and friends had gathered to witness their marriage. She had worn an ivory lace tea-length dress, matching heels, and a single strand of
pearls around her neck and studs in her earlobes. The beautician had secured sprigs of baby’s breath and tiny clusters of lily of the valley in her dark hair which had been coiffed in loose curls atop her head with short tendrils dangling down her nape and at her ears. Jason had looked handsome and elegant in a black tuxedo with flowers matching hers in his lapel. They had used a traditional ceremony and biblical passages, and the pastor had performed his duty with skill. The organ music and soloist had been perfect, so had the floral decorations which she and Jason had selected for the church. The ensuing reception with ample food, drinks, and dancing had taken place at the Cloister where they had celebrated for hours, and where out-of-town guests had been treated to a weekend stay. As she hummed and worked, her mind’s eye envisioned every minute of that happy and clear weather day.
Before it had taken place, she had sold her Sea Island Drive property for a hefty sum, let her financial adviser and Jason help her invest that money, and rented a large condominium apartment on St. Simons Island where she would live until she moved in with her husband last December. She had worked in Jason’s office until late July, then spent the next four and a half months doing volunteer work at the hospital and in several worthy organizations, meeting and socializing with Jason’s family and friends, enjoying the historical society and women’s club, and planning her wedding.
She also had visited several times with Kristy, who had been her only bridesmaid. From the start, Kristy had adored Jason and his family. They still talked on the phone often and visited each other on occasion.
In January, she had learned from Kristy that Bradley Stillman was in therapy both alone and with wife number three, who had promised to give him another chance if Brad would straighten out himself; and he had vowed to do so.
Stacey had arrived on Friday evening for a weekend visit and was playing golf with his father this afternoon, before he
went on an evening date with Linda Carnes. The two had mingled at the wedding, as both had been involved in it with Stacey as a groomsman and Linda, her maid of honor.
Stacey had decided to switch from surgery and a future practice in Atlanta to family medicine and a partnership with his father when he finished medical school and his internship. That union would be good for her husband and his son since Jason had to turn down new patients almost every week. With Stacey’s help, Jason could increase the size of his patient list and Stacey could take over an established practice when Jason needed time off and when Jason retired. Cass knew that Stacey’s decision had come before he got deeply involved with Linda, but still it added practical fuel to his new. romance.
Linda was working for Jason now, as one of his three nurses had quit last October due to her husband’s job transfer to South Carolina. She and Linda were still best friends and she wished Linda was joining them tomorrow, but the blond was going to Jacksonville to see her mother. No doubt Stacey and Linda would be out late in order to spend every minute possible together before their separation when Stacey returned to medical school in Augusta the next afternoon.
Jason’s parents were flying in from Richmond this afternoon so Jason could spend time with his mother, a delightful woman whom Cass adored. The same was true for his father who had been Jason’s best man. The four of them were going out to dinner tonight so Cass could reserve energy for the busy day tomorrow.
Traci, her husband, and their twin sons were driving in from Savannah the following morning, as they were spending an early Mother’s Day with Christopher’s mother today.
Cass glanced around the kitchen which was clean from Mary Ellis’s labors yesterday. Mary had not filled the two-day void she had made in the housekeeper’s schedule after her marriage to Jason because her son had emerged from his coma and was recovering steadily in therapy. As a gift more than a tax break,
she had set up a medical fund for the boy, and Mary could not seem to express her gratitude enough to her and Jason.
As she sat down to rest and sip warm herbal tea, Cass’s thoughts drifted to other people who had been parts of her life many months ago. They had not heard from Inez Doughtery again, as if her ex-housekeeper had vanished off the face of the earth. The scandal involving Dr. David Hines had quieted down rather fast following his burial; now, she heard only an occasional whisper of gossip about that tragic event.
As for Peter Wesley Grantham, he might be in big trouble. She and Jason had read newspaper accounts and seen television clips about him being under investigation for illegal business imports and exports, fraud, and income tax evasion. Cass could hardly believe that with all the money Peter had that he craved more at any cost; perhaps Peter was as much of a money addict as Tom had been a sex addict.
Yet, she felt sorry for him and presumed he had reasons for being like he was. Maybe she just had a tender heart and a forgiving and compassionate nature, because she couldn’t help pitying him. At the end of their stormy relationship last year, he had been civil and a smidgen kind to her in his deeds and words, and he’d never contacted her again.
Of course, she had no way of knowing how much, if any, of what Peter had told her about himself was true. It was a shame, Cass reasoned, that someone with his many physical and material blessings was such an awful person. Perhaps he had spoken the truth to her at least once when he said those things were often more of a curse than a blessing.
After the shocking news broke, she and Jason had spoken with their attorney to make certain none of Peter’s troubles could rub off on them. The lawyer had assured them that even before she remarried and Peter collected the balance of the estate which Tom had bequeathed to her, she had relinquished all claims to it and severed all ties to the Grantham holdings.
On a few occasions, she had worn the diamond initial pin
Peter had given to her upon his departure from this island; and sometimes, she simply held it and gazed at it to remind herself what she had lost and gained at the hands of the two Grantham men.
As for Tom, she rarely thought about him, and when she did, she tried to tell herself he had been mentally ill and was at peace now. It was true Thomas Ethan Grantham had possessed enormous flaws, and weaknesses, but he hadn’t been entirely evil, and she concurred with Jason that hardly a wicked person existed that didn’t have a little good in him. Tom’s goodness shone brightly in the generous donations he had made to the hospital wing, free clinic for the poor, local and national arts, college scholarships for the underprivileged, and funds for conservation and ecology. She had even used some of the money from her Grantham settlement to set up that medical trust fund for Mary Ellis’s child.