Beyond the Breaking Point (6 page)

They managed to catch the one o’clock flight out. She still hadn’t answered any of Phillip’s calls. By now you’d think he’d have gotten the message, but Phillip was nothing if not persistent. Cassidy eventually had to turn off the phone.

While Max closed his eyes and caught up on some much-needed sleep, Cassidy made a list of everything she needed to do. First on her list was clearing out as much of her things as possible before Phillip arrived home. Her friends, if they knew her intentions, would say she was crazy. She could hear them now. “Keep the house. Put his ass out.” That’s what she’d done the first time.

Unfortunately she’d learned the law didn’t care about her hurt feelings. Legally, the house was in both Phillip and her names. She’d changed the locks and boxed up his stuff only to have the police, which he’d called, make her let him in. It had added insult to injury and almost pushed her to violence. No, this time
she’d
leave.

Possession might be nine-tenths of the law but at this point, Cassidy didn’t care. All she wanted was to clean the slate and move forward. Let Phillip keep the house. Ditto the furniture and accessories they’d picked out together. Eventually she’d buy a new home, but for now that led her to the second item on her list—a place to stay.

While surfing the web yesterday she’d found several potential prospects.  A one-bedroom was more than enough to suit her needs and would fit her budget better. Maybe somewhere near her job? Or maybe an older but well-maintained apartment complex in a good neighborhood whose rent would be cheaper than the newer, more popular complexes? Hopefully she’d find a place that wouldn’t make her wait until the first of the month to move in. Two weeks in a hotel was not in her plans, not even those geared toward corporate types that charged by the week.

She had friends and even a cousin she could impose upon, but right now she didn’t want to have to explain what was going on within her marriage. It was too new, too raw, to become the topic of speculation. She’d spend the rest of her vacation taking care of business and report to work on Monday with none the wiser.

Cassidy woke Max as the pilot made the announcement that they were preparing to land. Fifteen minutes later they were walking through the concourse to pick up their luggage.

“I’ll drop you off at your place,” Max said.

“There’s no need. I can catch a cab,” Cassidy told him.

“I’ll drop you off at your place,” he repeated in a tone that said not to argue. “Do you want me to stay with you in case Phillip shows up?” Cassidy had told Max of her intentions to pack her things and leave.

She shook her head. “Even if he does, he’s not the violent type. I’m more likely to get physical than him.”

“You need any help packing?”

She smiled. “Thanks for the offer, but no.”

The carousal beeped a warning and the light started flashing. Along with the other passengers they moved forward to keep a sharp look out for their baggage. Max found his first. Cassidy’s arrived shortly after. As they headed for Max’s sport’s car in long-term parking, the thought occurred to her that if she wanted to be nasty, she could take Phillip’s car and leave him to catch a cab. But Cassidy didn’t want to start a war. She just wanted to be left alone.

She waited until Max was loading their luggage to say, “I’m sorry things didn’t work out between you and Amber.” No need to tell Max she’d never liked the bitch.

He glanced at her and smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s not your fault. Better I find out now than after the wedding.”

She visibly winced. “Yeah,” she muttered, and headed for the passenger door.

“Oh, damn, I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me,” he said, catching her by the arm to stop her from leaving.

Cassidy let him pull her into a hug. “No, it’s the truth. I’d hate for you to be going through what I am.”

Max held her close and she let herself rest her head on his shoulder and accept the comfort he offered. After a while she said, “We’d better get going. I’ve got a lot to do.”

They separated. He closed the trunk and came around and did the gentlemanly thing, opening her car door before opening his. A short time later they were on the expressway.

Cassidy remained quiet for the duration of the ride. There was still a low-burning anger in her gut. As long as she focused on it, she wouldn’t have to deal with the underlying hurt. Anger was good. Anger kept her focused on what needed to be done and gave her the energy she needed to keep moving. When she stopped…?

Well, she’d deal with that when the time came.

Twenty minutes later, Max brought the car to a halt on the street in front of her home. Cassidy sat for a moment staring at the three-story home they’d purchased for a steal. It had been less than forty-eight hours since she’d left it and her whole world had changed.

“Are you okay?” Max asked, his concern evident.

She sighed. “Yes, just thinking about how much has changed since I left here two days ago. I’d better go. The sooner I get inside, the sooner I can get out of here.”

He unloaded her luggage and brought it into the house for her. Before leaving he said, “If you need help moving, give me a call.”

“I will,” Cassidy agreed, knowing she’d do no such thing. Given Max’s feelings, putting him and Phillip together for any length of time didn’t seem wise, and somehow she didn’t see Phillip being reasonable and simply allowing her to take what she wanted and leave without him being present. If the situation was reversed, she wouldn’t.

Once Max left, Cassidy pulled out her luggage set and had her dresser drawers emptied and packed in record time. The clothes in the closet she carried out to the car on their hangers. Cursing the lack of boxes in the house, she grabbed a few trash bags and collected all of her shoes. Then she went to work in the bathroom and cleared the dresser tops. It took a lot of trips and she was winded and exhausted by the time she finished, but ninety minutes later she had everything that really mattered to her loaded into her car, reset the house alarm, and was pulling away from the house.

Cassidy cut on her cell phone to check the location of one of those extended-stay hotels. Thirty-two missed calls: twenty-eight from Phillip, three unknowns and one from her mother. She huffed in exasperation.

Half an hour later, the room key was in her hand and she’d begun the arduous process of transferring all her belongings to her room. At two hundred dollars a week, she needed to find somewhere to stay fast. Thank God for credit cards.

Cassidy made herself leave and travel to a nearby grocery store for enough staples to get her through the week. No way was she wasting money eating out every day. She thought with longing the money they’d spent for their “fabulous” weeklong vacation in Florida. Money she could now use. At least they hadn’t pre-purchased theme park tickets, instead deciding to wait until they’d arrived to see which parks they really wanted to visit.

Two hours later, she’d eaten—if a half-container of yogurt, all her stomach could handle, counted as eating—showered and changed into something comfortable. There was a nagging ache in her head and her stomach was doing flips. The knots in her stomach made her wish fancifully for a personal masseuse. Deciding she was as ready as she’d ever be, she checked her voicemail.

“
Cassidy, baby, you didn’t call and let me know where you are. Call and let me know you’re okay.”

“Cassidy, baby, I guess you’re still sleep. I haven’t slept all night. Call me soon so we can talk.”

There were several more along these lines before the tenor of the messages changed.

“
Cassidy, this has gone on long enough. Call so we can straighten things out
.”

“
Cassidy, where the hell are you? How long are you going to make me suffer? I said I was sorry.
” A heavy exhale. “
Look, we can work through this. I know we can, but only if we talk. Give me a call
.”

“
Look, I know you’re angry and after I thought about it, I realized you’re justified. I understand if you don’t want to talk to me right now, but at least text me and let me know you’re not dead.”

The last message was from her mother
.
“
Cassidy, what in the world is going on? Phillip called and he’s frantic. He said you two had a misunderstanding which got blown out of proportion, you’d left the condo in Florida in a snit, and now all your calls are going to voicemail. I’m sure whatever the problem is, you two can work it out. All he wants you to do is call and let him know you’re okay. Whatever he did, I’m sure he’s sorry. Call him and if you need to vent, I’m here for you.
”

“A
misunderstanding which got blown out of proportion
?” While Cassidy appreciated him not dragging her mother into the fray, his understatement of matters pissed her off all over again.

While she was fuming, the bastard called again. “What!”

“Where the hell are you? I’ve been calling all day. Neither you nor Max are answering your phones. No one has heard from you. I was beginning to start calling hospitals,” Phillip said angrily.

“I’m fine,” she said shortly.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

Do I really have to state the obvious
? “Because I didn’t, and don’t, want to talk to you.”

He sighed. “You’re still angry. Look, tell me where you’re staying and I’ll come over. We can sit down and talk this out. We have too much invested in our marriage to let things end this way.”

“I caught a flight home.”

There was a long, disbelieving silence. “You left without me?”

“Did you really think I was returning to the condo with that woman?” she asked incredulously.

“Cassidy, if you felt that strongly about it, we could have found somewhere else to stay. It would probably have cost the earth, but if that’s what it took to make you happy, we could have managed it. You didn’t have to fly home. How am I supposed to get home?”

“Fly,” she said, wondering what the big deal was. Did he not see that she didn’t want to be with him, either?

“Cassidy, you have the paperwork. You took care of the travel arrangements. Of all the inconsiderate, imma—”

“Do you really think I give a flying flip how you get home after what you did? Go to hell!” she yelled and disconnected the call.

A pain spiked through her forehead and she threw her phone across the room. Grabbing a pillow, she lay on her side and curled into a fetal position on the bed.

Damn him to hell and back!

Chapter Four

The next morning, Cassidy faced her wan appearance in the bathroom mirror. This was the second night in a row that she hadn’t had much sleep and it showed. Unfortunately, she couldn’t blame Max this time, at least not directly.

A good portion of the anger sustaining her had dissolved during the night, giving her conscience a chance to kick in. Damn it, she didn’t want to feel guilty, not for having sex with Max nor for leaving Phillip stranded in Orlando. Unfortunately, her parents raised her to have good moral values and her recent behavior, no matter the provocation, went against everything she believed herself to be.

And if she lost herself, she’d lose everything that mattered.

Cassidy hung her head over the sink, warring within herself. She knew what she had to do but still had just enough anger inside to make the idea unpalatable. Phillip didn’t deserve it, but this wasn’t about him. This was about reclaiming the person she knew herself to be and not losing respect for the reflection in the mirror. 

Sighing, she washed her face, brushed her teeth and dressed in something comfortable for the day. She had a lot to do. Might as well get the unpleasant part done first.

She found her phone in the corner where she’d thrown it. Thank God for Otter Boxes, or she’d be purchasing a new iPhone. She dialed Max’s number.

The line rang a few times then she heard the sounds of fumbling before Max’s husky voice came on the line. “Cass, is everything okay?”

She shivered at the sensory memory of hearing that same husky voice on the pillow next to her yesterday morning. “Max, sorry to wake you. I didn’t check the time before I called.”

“It’s fine,” he said around a yawn. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I need the name of the resort where we stayed in Orlando. I can’t remember.”

“Summer Bay,” he answered readily. “Why do you need it?”

She sighed. “Because I need to fax Phillip a copy of the flight information. I took it with me when we left.”

There was a long pause. “And the problem with that is?”

She groaned. “Max, don’t. Yeah, part of me doesn’t care that I left him stranded. I know it’s the least of what he deserves, but unfortunately my conscience doesn’t agree.”

“Like I said, you’re a classy lady. Follow your conscience then, but I still don’t see why you need to fax the info. Can’t you simply email it to his phone?”

“Yeah, I could but I rather fax it to the front office with instructions to give it to Phillip when he checks out.” That way he could sweat a little, wondering how he’d get home.

That startled a chuckle out of Max. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but he doesn’t have to go into the office when he checks out.”

“Huh.” Cassidy thought about that a moment. Bounced what she wanted to do against what she knew she should do. “Damn.”

“Sweetheart, like I said before, you’re much too good for Phillip.”

There was a brief moment of uneasiness at the endearment before Cassidy realized Max didn’t mean anything by it. “Thanks, Max. Sorry I woke you.”

“Anytime. I mean that, Cass.”

She disconnected the call and spent a moment sitting on the side of the bed, letting her thoughts wander aimlessly. She hated this. Hated the drama, the turmoil and anger. All Cassidy wanted was peace.

She hurt in ways she hadn’t believed possible. This was worse than the first time. Cassidy had thought nothing could surpass the embarrassment, shock and horror of discovering she had a sexually transmitted disease. She let her thoughts drift.

“Mrs. Brannon, what can I do for you today?” her OB, Dr. Manning had asked. “From your chart I see it’s not time for your annual.”