A Child's Heart (Trent & Cassie's Story) A River City Novel (6 page)

“I like kissing you. It’s nice to have that kind of
power over someone.” He gently toyed with her nipple.

That’s all it took. Suddenly clothes seemed to be
flying everywhere, as she shed hers and tried to pry him out of
his. He was over her on the floor, nipping at a breast, while one
hand was between her legs. The downy soft hair on his legs tickled
and excited her. Her body burned with an excitement that she’d
never experienced. His tongue left a trail of heat on her neck and
sent shivers through her body. He suddenly pulled off of her, and
she wanted to scream, but when she saw he was reaching for the box
of condoms, she relaxed and watched. He had a long, jagged scar
over one shoulder and another on his abdomen.

“How’d you get the scars?”

“My appendix broke when I was twelve, and the other
is the result of a great intergalactic fight between mutant
warriors from Death Star Three Sixteen and me.”

She raised her eyebrows at his seriousness.

“I lost the battle when my foot slipped on the side
of my spaceship, and I landed on the patio table. The mutants then
injected me with their serum, using their laser swords and made me
into one of them.” He grinned as he descended over her. “That’s why
I must wear a shield over my probe, to protect the innocent
earthling from my powerful force.”

His mouth covered hers as he plunged inside of her.
She wrapped her legs around his waist as she stifled a groan. On
the third plunge, she managed to squeak out, “Stop.”

He instantly withdrew and stared at her. “Thought you
wanted this?”

She held one finger up as she took a breath. “I do,
but you’re a whole lot more man than I was expecting.”

He sat back on his knees and looked down at his
covered erection. “No blood. From what you said, I assumed you
weren’t a virgin.”

“I’m not, but I sure do feel like one. Guess I’m not
used to being probed by a mutant from Death Star Three Sixteen.”
She shot him a wide grin. “I want what you have.”

“Then I will claim you and make you beg for
mercy.”

~~6~~

Light was filtering between the blinds when Cassie’s
eyes fluttered open and she smiled at Trent as he got off the
floor.

“Leaving?” she asked.

“Got to go to work.”

She pulled herself up and stared at his magnificent
body. “Take a shower first. I’ll get you a clean towel.”

He reached over and offered her his hand. He started
to clean up the mess he’d made when she gave him a little push.
“I’ll take care of this. You can’t be late. What about Shawn?”

“I’ll be home before he gets up.”

She put the cushions back on the sofa and picked up
the remnants of their lovemaking before following him into the
bathroom. She put a white fluffy towel next to the sink and then
opened a cabinet. “I’ve got a cheap disposable razor. I keep them
for when I have to travel.”

“I’ll take it.”

“I’ll make some coffee.”

It didn’t take long for Trent to join her in the
kitchen. His fresh from the shower scent contained the floral notes
of her soaps.

“Are you okay this morning?” he asked, as he poured a
cup of coffee.

“I’m fine. I’ve never been probed by a mutant before,
and I must say, it was exciting.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He tenderly brushed her
lips with his before nibbling on her neck.

His hand found her breast and she moaned, “You do
things to me.”

He grinned, showing off his slight dimples. “I like
doing it. Nothing like a woman who swoons when she's kissed. Maybe
I should kiss you again.”

***

In the early dawn, Trent drank his coffee, gave
Cassie a quick kiss, and left. At home, he tiptoed past his son’s
bedroom door and quickly changed into his uniform before making a
pot of coffee. He had just taken his first sip when his mom
appeared.

“You didn’t come home last night.”

He ignored her comment.

“You’re not supposed to sleep with a woman if you
aren’t married.”

“Where are my wedding photos, and what did you do
with everything that belonged to Colleen?”

“I gave her clothes to a charity, and the rest is
boxed in my closet.”

“I want that box.”

“Top shelf.”

He grabbed the box and took it to his room. At least
now he had it. Knowing he’d deal with the contents later, he
stuffed it under his bed before going into Shawn’s room to awaken
him.

He never would have admitted it to anyone, but his
shoulder burned with pain, and the lack of sleep was producing a
wicked headache. He kissed his son and went to work.

***

Cassie crossed her arms on her desk and took a quick
catnap. It was the phone that jarred her awake. “Dr. Jones. How may
I help you?”

“Why don’t you and I go out to dinner tonight, so we
can discuss your latest budget overage as mature adults.”

“Hughie, stuff it where the sun doesn’t shine. I’m
not going out with you, even on the pretext of it being official
business.” She hung up the phone and then looked at her briefcase.
Her biggest problem was buried in there, and she wasn’t certain how
to sort it out. She looked at the phone, picked it up, and called
Tate.

“Tate, I have a financial nightmare on my hands. I
need to get it condensed and into something manageable. Will you
help me?”

In less than a half hour, she was sitting at Tate and
Ari’s kitchen table, passing them the info she had on the museum’s
finances.

“Cassie, you look like hell. What did you do, spend
half the night awake over this?” Tate asked.

“I guess so,” she lied.

“Come with me.” Tate beckoned.

Cassie followed Tate up the back stairs to the guest
room. "Oh, I can't do this to you."

"Yes, you can. Why stare at us. We're going to be
crunching numbers, and you need some sleep," Tate said as she
walked away. "Sweet dreams."

Cassie looked around the cozy bedroom as she sunk
into the soft bed and pulled the lightweight coverlet over her. She
really did need this nap. She closed her eyes, but her mind spun
with images of dinosaurs, books, mummies, paintings, pages of
accounting, Hughie, Trent, and Shawn.

“Cassie.” She heard her name, but was completely
disoriented.

“Cassie, wake up,” Tate said from the doorway.

“Oh, I really did sleep.” She stretched her arms over
her head.

“I know. You’ve been sleeping for almost four
hours.”

A few minutes later, Cassie joined Ari and Tate at
the kitchen table.

“Are you up to this?” Ari asked.

She nodded and listened to Ari go over the figures
with her. It was obvious that the museum had been a drain on the
city’s coffers for quite some time, but they told her that when she
took the job.

“These are the figures since you’ve been there.
December and January were total losses. He passed her a small graph
he had printed. February you had better attendance, and this
coincides with your Rock On exhibit. March - your attendance
doubled. What was going on these days?” Tate asked.

“Loony Luners, a star gazing event. I really need a
domed ceiling to do this again, but we managed. There’s a projector
that throws the constellations onto the ceiling. We borrowed it and
several telescopes from another museum for two weeks. Markie
Williams came and did a presentation on Friday and Saturday nights.
We packed the place.”

“I can see that. Now look at April’s figures.”

“May I write on this?”

Tate answered, “Of course. I can print as many as you
want.”

Cassie wrote down each event under the income.

“Here’s your Dino Tread.” Ari passed her another
graph. “I was able to break down the ticket sales from the general
attendance, because you had those figures.”

“I’m not sure if this is accurate, because you don’t
have the actual bills for these different events. But here’s the
kicker. According to the papers you brought me, the city is
charging the museum with an enormous rents and property taxes.
That’s why you can’t climb out of the hole. You’re set up to
fail.”

Every fiber in her body seemed to twist into an angry
knot. “How dare they!”

“Want some advice?” Ari raised his eyebrows.

She grimaced at him.

“Don’t shoot the messenger. You need powerful help on
your side. We need to take this to the mayor. I’ll go with
you.”

***

Cassie barely had enough time to get back to the
museum before the teens began to arrive. Ari had given her a
thermos filled with soup, and two freshly baked rolls. While the
teens munched on hot dogs and popcorn, she found a quiet spot to
eat her food. She had just put the first spoonful into her mouth,
when her cell phone rang.

“Hi,” Trent said. “As much as I want to see you
tonight, I can’t. I’m beyond exhausted.”

“I got lucky and caught a nap. Tomorrow?”

“Are you working?”

“I’ll have to come in for a few hours. May I stop by
your house when I’m done?”

“Yeah, I’ve got to mow the lawn in the morning. Mom
will be home, so Shawn can stay here, if you’d like to do
something.”

“Let's do something with Shawn. I’m game for
anything. Call me in the morning.”

“Night.”

“Goodnight, my mutant from Death Star Three
Sixteen.”

The strands of a chuckle came through the line before
the call ended. Closing her eyes, she remembered his lips on hers,
and his breath across her neck. A loud whoop from across the hall
brought her back to the moment. In two seconds, she was at the
door, surveying the teens and their fun. Assured everything was
under control, she went back to her meal.

The evening progressed without a
hitch. The kids watched a documentary on a dig, and had a chance to
actually touch dinosaur bones. Three seniors from Drake Magnet
School for Gifted Students worked as disc jockeys, and kept the
young crowd happy with music. She had to laugh as one of the high
school seniors got a group together and taught them the Electric
Slide.
Right foot, right foot, rock, rock,
turn
. Soon most of the young teens were
participating. Joining the fun, she realized that Jim from
River Lights
who was
acting as a chaperone, was also snapping pictures of the crowd.
They were on their third line dance of night, when she bailed out
and found a seat.

“This is great,” Jim said as he sat beside her. “I’ve
never seen anything quite like this for this age group. You need to
do this once a month.”

“Uh! I’m not up to it.” She laughed. “Getting the
chaperones to volunteer is hard enough, besides the city is all
over me about funding.”

“The museum had to have made money tonight.”

“Oh, the museum is making money, but the city is
charging me rent and making the museum pay property taxes.”

“What?”

“Yep, you heard me. Jim, I need help. Would you
consider going with me to the mayor’s office? I’ve got a bone to
pick with the city that is larger than any dinosaur's.”

“That’s not my beat, but I’ll give you someone who
would love to sink her teeth in such a story. Andrea Jenkins.”

“Tell her to call me Monday morning. I’ll give her
the details.”

***

Trent looked at the box he had
shoved under his bed. Knowing he was overly tired, and probably
shouldn’t, he opened it and began to sort through the items.
Unwrapping a small glass heart box sent a flood of memories through
his mind, starting with Colleen's smile on her sixteenth birthday,
as she opened the glass box filled with chocolates. Now it
contained her jewelry, including her wedding band. The tiny band
wouldn’t fit over the first knuckle of his pinky finger. Her gold
crucifix that hung on a delicate gold chain, he had given it to her
when she turned eighteen. Holding her earrings, made with pearls
and the tiniest diamonds, choked him with emotion, and tears began
to flow.
My beautiful bride, I miss
you.

He opened his eyes and realized he’d been sleeping
for hours. His fingers were still wrapped around the frame of
Colleen’s photo. Carefully, he sat up and began to pack her things
away. He scooped the diamond and pearl earrings from where they had
scattered in the sheets and put them in the glass box. Holding the
glass heart, he realized he had no desire to put it back with the
other items, so he left it out on his chest of drawers.

Wide-awake at two twenty-three in
the morning, he made a pot of coffee and checked on his son. The
child was sleeping peacefully.
My little
piece of Colleen.
He went back to his
coffee and sat at the table. His mind was clear and alert.
Colleen is gone.
Cas is
real and the exact opposite of Colleen in so many ways. Colleen…all
rounded and soft.

The image of Cassie appeared. She had a slender,
boyish figure, but she was pure female. She excited him.

Feelings past and present jumbled though his mind as
he drank his coffee. The need to sort everything was overwhelming.
He poured what was left of his cup down the drain and went back to
his room. He grabbed the box under the bed, added the glass heart
that contained Colleen’s jewelry, and took it to his car.

Pulling into Sweet Grandview’s parking garage, he
punched Cassie’s cell phone number into his phone.

“Hello,” a sleepy voice answered.

“I need to talk to you. Will you let me in?”

***

She focused on her clock with glowing blue numerals.
“Trent, it’s four fifteen in the morning.”

“I know. Will you let me in?”

“Yes. Give me a moment. Where are you?”

“In the parking garage.”

A few minutes later, he was in her kitchen with his
box on her counter. “I need help, Cas. Every feeling and emotion is
a jumbled mess.”