Letting Go of Us (Anchored Hearts Vol. 3) (19 page)

“
Don’t make me regret
walking away.”

I didn’t respond and
watched as he walked out the door. A few seconds later, Cassidy
walked through the door. She must not have seen him in the hall
because she was looking for him.

“
He left.”

“
Oh, ok. I’m
sorry.”

“
Stop. It’s ok. I’m
famished. What’d you bring me?” I didn’t have the heart to tell her
that Paul had quit. That was his story to tell. And I hoped that if
he was gone all of her attention would be on us. She pulled some
Thai food out of the bag and I grabbed some bottles of water from
my mini fridge.

“
Is everything else
ok?”

“
Yes. Everything’s good. I
need to finalize the prints so they can pour the
foundation.”

“
Cool.” She was holding
back.

“
Do you want to see them
again?” I placed my hand on hers, “Cassidy, as far as I’m concerned
this is your house.”

“
No, it’s
our
house.” She smiled
brightly, “I’d like to look at them again.”

Over an hour later her
phone started ringing. She pulled it out of her purse and began
cursing. “Everything ok?”

“
Yes, no. I’m supposed to
be at the dress shop for Jane’s final fitting and mine. I have to
go.”

“
Ok. We still on for
tonight?”

She kissed me quickly and
said, “We better be.” She stood and headed for the door and I
followed.

“
Hey, Ryan with
you?”

“
One of the guys is in the
lobby, impatiently waiting I’m sure.”

“
Ok.”

We walked to the lobby and
I put her and security in the elevator. I didn’t catch his name,
but knew Smith had it covered. We’d finalized the foundation, a
little bigger than she originally wanted, but I knew we wouldn’t
regret having the extra space. Plus, we could always add on if we
wanted. I sent the drawings down to Paul’s office and got back to
work.

C
hapter
12
~
F
oundations

~ CASSIDY ~

“
There you are! You look
amazing. What’s going on with you?” Jane was full of energy as I
laughed at her. “You have a secret! Tell me.”

I dropped my bag and my
body to the couch and she joined me. “I have too many
secrets.”

“
Oh?”

“
James and I. We’re trying
to work it out.”

She flung her arms around
my neck and squealed in my ear. “Thank God.”

“
Cal’s going to have a
coronary.”

“
Bah. Don’t worry about
him. I’ll handle him.” She grabbed my hands, “Details. Well, not
too many.”

I snickered, “Um, we’re
taking it slow and going to therapy. Together.” She just nodded and
then asked about Paul. “Jane, I care about him, I do. But, James is
my husband and at the end of the day, he’s who I want.” We sat
quiet for a moment. “I feel horrible. I’ve really hurt
him.”

“
James?”

“
No, well probably him
too, but I was referring to Paul.”

“
Hey. He’ll get over it.
He knew you were married. I don’t know what he expected. He’s a big
boy. He can handle it.” I smirked and she added, “I’m pretty sure I
know at least one girl who’s interested in him.”

“
Oh?”

“
Lena.” I laughed and
agreed. It was pretty obvious that Lena had a crush on
him.

I smiled at her and then it
was time to try on the dresses, again. She’d scheduled another
fitting, having changed a couple things on the dress, but hadn’t
told her mom. She wanted to surprise her and I was a little envious
of their relationship. I’d never get that experience with my mother
and while I was at peace with it, it deeply saddened me.

When I pulled in the drive
after the fitting and work, James was waiting for me, his bike
parked in front. He was sitting on the front steps dressed in
boots, dark jeans and his leather jacket.
Fuck!
He was sexy as sin. Even his
hair was down and I momentarily thought that he was tormenting
me.

“
Hurry up woman! We have
things to do.”

I chuckled as I made my way
past him on the steps, trying to ignore his presence. His arms
circled around my knees and pulled my back into his lap. With a big
grin on his face, he lowered his mouth to mine. Just before I got
lost in the kiss, he put me back on my feet and told me to hurry
up.

I put on some jeans, boots,
a t-shirt and found my purple jacket that he’d given me for my
birthday. He was standing in the foyer waiting for me. I was
walking down the stairs and pulling my hair back as he opened the
door for me. He handed me my helmet and then got on the bike. I
climbed on behind him and grabbed on tight as he peeled
out.

We rode for a while and I
soon realized he was headed up to the lot. A lot of the land had
been excavated and dug up, but our tree was still there. He parked
and we started walking around after removing our
helmets.

“
They’ll pour the
foundation later this week or next week.” He started talking about
things and pointing out where the front of the house would be. I
was in awe of him. “I saved the tree. Come on.”

He pulled me toward the
tree and when we got there, he yanked a pocket knife out of his
jacket. He started carving our initials in the tree. It took him a
while, but soon there was a large heart with ‘JB3 & CC’ carved
in the side of it.

“
There. James Benedict the
third & Cassidy Charles.” He was smiling like a big dork and I
didn’t have the gumption to remind him that my name was no longer
Charles, but Benedict, legally speaking.

“
So, remind me. How much
land do you have here?”

“
Enough.”

“
Well, if you weren’t on
my brother’s shit list, I’d say we should convince them to build
here too. Benedict Commune.”

He laughed and added,
“Maybe Smith and Delaney on the other side.”

“
We’d always have family
and friends nearby.”

“
Yes, we
would.”

The rest of the week flew
by. That weekend was the auction at the art gallery. I tried to not
think about it, knowing I couldn’t afford to do anything. Even
Annie had said there was nothing I could do. Things at work were
going great. Jane’s wedding was keeping me busy as Lena handled the
other events going on. Melissa and I were getting along fine and
she was actually growing on me. I wasn’t ready to spill my secrets
to her, but she seemed to be a great fit in her new role. The only
issues were Linda. I couldn’t help but feel the woman was off
somehow. Who knew, maybe she just didn’t like me? Oh,
well.

James walked in my door
that night and ordered me to get dressed up. “Nothing too fancy,
but put on a skirt or a dress.”

“
Ok.”

Forty-five minutes later I
walked downstairs in the dress I’d planned to where to the
rehearsal dinner with my hair and makeup done. “Where we
going?”

“
You’ll see.”

We pulled into the parking
lot across from the art gallery and I paled. “James, I can’t. How’d
you find out?” He just smiled. Annie. Had to be. “I, James, I don’t
think I can.”

He grabbed my hand. “Yes
you can. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

There were some news
reporters, who of course flocked to us, to him. I smiled and tried
to ignore them as we made our way inside. A server walked by with a
tray of champagne and I snagged one and downed it.

“
Slow down.” I turned and
he was smiling at me, trying to lighten the mood. He winked as he
took my hand and led me through the gallery.

There were several
different artists work up for sale, but Holly’s was the main
feature. I didn’t even know how much work of hers they had that I
didn’t know about. My stomach felt like a lead ball as we
approached the room where her work was featured. I was still livid
with Sara and the owner of the gallery.

As we made it to the door,
I stopped in my tracks and James looked to me. “What is
it?”

“
I, I just need a
minute.”

He came in closer and
cupped my cheek. “It’s ok. I’m here with you.”

“
I know. I just wish she
was here to see this. Her work deserved to be featured, but not
like this.”

“
I know, baby. I got
you.”

I took a deep breath and we
headed into the center room. Some of the pieces I recognized and
others I didn’t. She had a LOT of work. It immediately caught my
eye as I walked over to a huge painting which was the focal point
of the room. It was the profile of a woman with ivory skin, blue
eyes and long flowing red hair. She was looking down to her hands,
where she held something in her hands that was hidden to onlookers.
I was drawn back to her hair. Hair so red and it flew out behind
her, like the wind was blowing. As my eyes took in the whole
painting, not just the details, my heart broke as I realized the
red hair blended into the wings of a phoenix.

“
Holly!” Her name was
barely a whisper as I realized that the painting was of
me.

His hand held the small of
my back as he confirmed, “She captured your likeness very well.” I
turned to smile at him as he wiped my tears away. “Do you know what
she has in your hand?” I just shook my head.

“
I have to have it. I’ll
pay you back.”

“
You don’t have to pay me
back. And, I want it. You can’t have it.” I smiled at him. “I’ll be
right back.”

I stared at the painting
for a moment longer before circling the room to look at her other
pieces. She’d even painted one of an anchor and wings with the
quote that was the inspiration for our tattoos. I wanted them all
and I knew I couldn’t have them. There were several candid
paintings. She loved to capture people on film and then paint them.
I recognized a couple of Sam, as well. There were a few landscapes
and some of people I didn’t recognize. She had been so
talented.

“
Hey. I talked to the
curator. It’s already sold.” My heart sank. “But the one with the
anchor is available. I told her we’d take it.”

“
Ok.”

“
I tried, I really
did.”

I squeezed his hand. “Thank
you. It’s better than nothing. I’ll take what I can get.” I turned
back to my painting, burning it into my memory, before I asked if
we could leave.

We drove to the little spot
he used to take me on his bike and he parked the truck. “Come on.
Time to cheer you up.” I looked to him as he ordered, “Get out of
the truck. I’ll be there in a sec.”

I stepped out as he rolled
down all the windows and cranked the sound system.
Summer
by Calvin Harris
began to play as he walked to my side. He started
swinging me around and I couldn’t help the laughter that filled me.
He was the best medicine, my antidote for any ailment. When the
song was over, another started and I wondered about his song
choice.
Take Me Home
by Cash Cash
played next and I knew this wasn’t his kind of
music.

“
Your choice of music is a
little surprising Mr. Benedict.”

“
Haven’t you learned by
now that I’m full of surprises?”

“
Hmm. Yeah,
yeah.”

“
So. I invited Delaney and
Smith over to play cards. I hope that’s ok.”

I pursed my lips at him,
“Worried you can’t be alone with me.”

He laughed, “Maybe.
Twenty-four days.”

“
But who’s
counting?”

“
Exactly.”

We picked up a pizza on the
way back to my place and found Smith and Delaney waiting for us on
the porch.

“’
Bout time love birds.”
Smith was ribbing us as we made our way inside. He and James
lingered back by the door as Delaney and I headed toward the
kitchen.

“
So. What’s going on,
girl?”

I laughed. “Not much. Why?”
She knew I was being sarcastic as I filled her in. “We’re working
on it.”

“
Well, I’m glad. You two
really are a great match. I’ve known him a long time, but I like
you more.” She winked at me as we giggled. “I got your back anytime
you need it.”

“
Thanks.”

“
So,” dropping her voice,
“what about Paul, the club?”

I blew some air out and
whispered, “He knows.” We both knew that the
he
I was referring to was James.
“We’re working past it.”

“
He has a knack for that.”
I titled my head at her as she added, “knowing everything.
He
knows
everything. It’s frustrating.”

“
Well, that might have
been something to know before I, err, did whom I did.” She shrugged
her shoulders as we laughed. “Live and learn I guess.”