Another Chance (27 page)

“There’s that cheeky streak again, Missy. I’ll have to do something about that.”

Cassie laughed. “Bring it on.”

“Oh I will. Don’t you worry about that,” he kissed her, happy for the first time in a very long time. “Do you need me to pick up Sophie from school?” he asked as he walked her back to the store.

She shrugged. “She usually walks home.”

“We might grab some things and have dinner waiting for when you got home.”

“That would be lovely.”

“I’ve got to show you I’m domesticated somehow.” She laughed as he leaned in to kiss her goodbye. “See you later.”

The house smelled amazing when she got home. Patrick and Sophie were in the kitchen chatting about how Sophie’s day had been, and neither of them heard her come in the door. For a moment she stood, watched and listened to them. The ease with which they could talk to each other brought a smile to her face. She was still angry that Sophie hadn’t told Cassie about the emails, but it had clearly led to the relationship they had now. Father and daughter.

“Hey you two,” she said, entering the room.

“Hey yourself,” said Patrick, turning to kiss her.

“That smells great. Did you make it?”

“Mostly Patrick,” said Sophie.

“Is it edible?”

Sophie giggled. “What do you mean?” Patrick asked, indignantly.

“Last time you cooked for me, it was awful if you remember.”

“Well, Miss Warren, there are a lot of things I’ve got better at over time.” She grinned, picking up his double meaning and nodded in response. “Sophie has been sitting here talking practically non stop since she got home from school.”

Cassie laughed. “I bet she has.”

“Was Mum like that when she was my age?” asked Sophie.

“To tell you the truth, Sophie, I didn’t talk to your Mum much outside school when we were your age. She scared me.”

“Mum scared you?” Sophie laughed at Cassie’s expression as she raised an eyebrow at Patrick.

“She was so smart. I tried so hard to keep up with her, but she kept beating me and coming top of the class. Sophie, I was sure that if I had an actual conversation with her that I would fry my brain with all the smart coming off her.”

“You are an idiot,” said Cassie laughing.

“No, I was just a crazy teenager who had a crush on the prettiest girl in school and was too stupid to do anything about it.”

“But you got over that and asked her out though, right?” asked Sophie.

“Eventually. Did some stupid things along the way but we got there in the end. Somehow managed to screw it up but for just a few weeks I had your mother eating out of my hand.”

“Did you know about her accident? The fire and stuff?”

“Not until recently. If I had known, I would have been by her side through the whole thing. We’ll can get things right this time though.” He slid his arm around Cassie’s waist and kissed the top of her head.

When Patrick went back to Auckland the following morning, he gave her a long lingering kiss goodbye and promised to come back soon. “It’s not the worst trip,” he said. “You could always move down here with me and commute.”

“I’ll need to see it to pass judgement.”

“Come and stay with me for a while, even a few days. You’ll love it.”

“Tell you what. I’ll think about it, but in the meantime you better give me a kiss to keep me going.”

Patrick grinned. “Whatever you want.”

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

It had only taken three nights, but Cassie hated going back to sleeping alone. Patrick was right at the other end of the phone, but it wasn’t the same as being with him. She was tempted to ask him to come back down or to give in and tell him they would move to be with him. He would be back soon though, and she would be in his arms working towards the day where she could be there permanently.

Just a few nights had done this to her, after fifteen months alone she now wanted to be greedy, and be with him all the time. As much as she loved Mark she knew they had years to catch up for. Telling Sophie about Patrick was forever in her thoughts too, and she wondered how her daughter would take the news. Seeing them together had only made being apart from Patrick all that harder.

“You should take a few days off and go and stay with him,” Lauren said at lunch on Tuesday. “Get some time alone and check out that house he bought you.”

“He didn’t buy me the house, he said he bought it for our future.”

“Cassie, he bought you the damn house. Go and see it. I’ll come and stay with Sophie. If nothing else, some time away will do you the world of good what with everything you’ve dealt with in the last eighteen months.”

“You’re right. Maybe later in the week if I can get the time off, I can get the weekend up there too.”

“Now you’re thinking. You two belong together, Cassie.”

“You would miss us if we moved away.”

“I might just follow. It’s not as if there’s anything keeping me here.”

“Do you really want to move to the big smoke?”

“Mark and I grew up here. We lived our whole lives here, and he was the one constant in my life. Now he’s gone, and you’re the next best thing I have. Can you blame me for wanting to follow you?”

“I can’t blame you at all. As it is I’ll miss you the most. So many of Mark’s friends drifted away when he became ill, and I don’t have very many people left. You’ve been like a sister to me, Lauren, and if you find something in Auckland for yourself then I will be happy if you move.”

Thursday made up her mind when she ran into Ian in the store. It was awkward, and she tried to avoid him but to no avail.

“Did you give any more thought to my proposition?” he asked her.

“Answer is still no.”

“It’s that doctor isn’t it?”

“As a matter of fact it is.”

Ian sneered. “Mark wouldn’t have liked that, he would want you with someone down to earth. Not some big city up himself doctor.”

“Mark gave us his approval before he died.”

He stared at her. “You’re kidding.”

“I’m not actually. Patrick is an old boyfriend of mine.”

“So you were sneaking around behind Mark’s back or what?”

“No. We just got back together. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”

By the end of the day he would have told Mark’s other friends but she no longer cared. Cassie grinned at the thought of seeing Patrick again, she might even give him an answer about moving in with him. A trip to Auckland was in order.

Mr Smedley gave her time off. He had been worried about her since Mark’s death as she had barely been away from work, and when she told him what she was doing he broke out into the biggest grin she had ever seen from him. “Excellent, Cassie. It sounds like just what you need. Can I just say it’s nice to see you happy again too.”

“It feels good to be happy again. I’ll go tomorrow and spend the weekend, be back on Monday if that’s all right.”

“You take as long as you need.”

Sophie was irritated by the news. “It’s not fair. You get to go, and I have to stay and go to school.”

“Sweetheart there is plenty of time for you to visit. I need some time with Patrick so we can get to know each other again rather than rush things and have you hurt in the middle. Lauren will come and stay with you.”

“When do I get to go?”

“Maybe next time. I just need to make sure what I’m doing is the best thing for both of us, Sophie. Especially if it means leaving here and moving to Auckland.”

Sophie’s face lit up. “Are we really going to move?”

“Would you want to?”

“There’s heaps of stuff to do there, Mum. It’d be awesome.”

“Wouldn’t you miss school?”

Sophie shrugged. “Not really. I have to go to a new school next year anyway, what difference is it going to make?”

“I’ll keep that in mind while I decide what to do.”

Lauren turned up the following morning, ready to move in for a few days. “Have fun, Cassie,” she said as Cassie threw her bag into the back seat of the car. “Does Patrick know you’re on your way?”

“I haven’t told him I’m coming.”

Lauren laughed. “I’m sure he’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

“He had better be.” Cassie laughed, hugging Lauren goodbye. “Just take good care of my baby.”

“She’s safe with me. Get going and enjoy yourself.”

A warm breeze blew through the car’s open windows and Cassie smiled to herself thinking about being with Patrick again. He was such a beautiful man, and the thought of being in his bed sent chills up and down her spine.

In the years they had been apart, he had learned how to please a woman and now she was the benefactor of that experience and loving it. Mark had always joked that if she ever traded him in it would be for a younger model as he waited for her to hit her sexual peak. She would laugh and tell him to stay healthy he just needed to keep up with her. The memory of that stung, but now he and Patrick were living quite happily in her heart together.

She pulled up to the address Patrick had given her and paused before getting out to double check. It seemed impossible. He had told her that he’d bought a house ready for them all to live in, but this place was huge.

As she made her way to the front door, she looked at the garden. It was gorgeous, and she stopped to smell a rose bush just before the front door, smiling at the scent. This place was amazing. Her knock went unanswered, and she stepped back from the door to see if there was any sign of life before face-palming. “Cassie you idiot, he’ll be at work,” she muttered.

She pulled out her mobile and looked up the address of the clinic. She could go and get a key and come back to cook dinner for Patrick. She dialled the number she found, but the line was busy. Back in her car, she drove the short distance to the clinic, spotting Patrick’s car in the carpark. At least she knew she was in the right place, so she parked and walked into the reception area of the clinic.

Angela smiled as she entered. “May I help you?”

“I need to see Patrick Cross if he’s free,” Cassie replied. Looking around, she saw a girl sitting in the corner of the reception waiting. She had a sour expression on her face, and it felt as if it was directed at Cassie.

“He’s just with a patient at the moment, do you have an appointment?” Angela asked.

“I don’t, but I just arrived up from Hamilton to spend a few days with him. If he can give me a few minutes, I was just after a key to the house.”

Angela looked at her with one eyebrow raised. “May I ask your name? I’ll clear it with Doctor Cross.”

“Cassie Warren.”

At that Angela’s whole expression changed and she lit up, smiling warmly at Cassie. “Ahh the famous Cassie Warren. I’m so pleased to meet you. Patrick talks about you all the time.”

Cassie blushed and couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. “Don’t listen to him, I hate to think what he says about me.”

“Certainly nothing bad.” Angela laughed, but the young woman sitting beside her at the reception desk scowled. This was the weirdest greeting ever.

“That’s okay. I’m sorry, Patrick has told me nothing about his life here. I thought I would come and check everything out for myself.”

“I’m Angela, and I have known Patrick for a few years now, he’s like a son to me. I can tell you that he talks about you a lot.” She looked up at the young woman sitting in the corner, and her face dropped. “I am really pleased to meet you,” she murmured.

Patrick’s door opened, and an older woman came through to the reception area before pausing and turning to shake his hand. “We’ll talk soon, Mrs Jacobs.”

“Of course, Doctor Cross,” she said, flicking her hair through one hand.

Cassie caught Patrick’s eye with a “what the hell was that?” look.

“Cassie!” he exclaimed and took her by the hand pulling her to his side.

Mrs Jacobs looked at them sideways before turning to Angela to sort out her bill. Patrick pulled Cassie into his office, closing the door behind him. Before Cassie got a chance to tell him why she was there, his lips were on hers in a kiss that felt as if he had been starved for her.

“What are you doing here?” he asked when he finally let her go. Those were the kisses she had missed the past few days, and she would happily have that back every day.

“I came to spend a few days if that’s okay with you.”

“What do you mean if it’s okay? I love you being here.” He kissed her again, and she grinned as he nuzzled her nose with his.

“I wasn’t sure how you would feel about it. We’ve only ever been together at my place and never alone. I thought if we’re going to take this seriously we need time together to work out our feelings.”

“Cassie I don’t need to work out how I feel about you. I’ve never stopped feeling this way.”

“I know, but I need to work through it all. You have my heart Patrick, but I want to get used to being with you. After the years I had with Mark I need to treat you like you, it’s not the same as it was with him because you’re not him.”