The Forgotten Night (2 page)

Five Months Later…

C
assidy Ames sat in the corner at the Winbright’s annual Christmas Eve party, listening to the cheerful holiday music playing in the background as she read the book she’d managed to sneak in her clutch. All around her were people in nice Armani suits or beautiful Chanel gowns. She’d always hated holiday parties, especially those thrown by rich businessmen, though she had no right to say anything because her parents threw one every New Year’s Eve. She was glad she had gone with the green dress, which allowed her to bring her larger matching clutch. Had she worn the red dress her mother always insisted on, she would be carrying the small black clutch that could only carry a few essentials.

Unfortunately, Cassidy couldn’t focus on her book, due to the loud music and the many people crowding around her, but mostly because she felt Andrew Winbright’s gaze on her. She’d known the minute he had laid eyes on her, and it didn’t help that she couldn’t stop blushing. She had known him since she was ten years old. Why did her body react to his penetrating gaze in such a manner?

It was obvious. Well, not to him, and certainly not to anyone else, but she knew. She knew it was because she loved him. The second she had laid eyes on him twelve years ago she’d known. It wasn’t because he had saved her life that day at the pool or because he wouldn’t let her out of his sight the rest of the day, but because of the way he looked at her, as though he were the first person to actually see her.

Before him, she had been a nobody. True, her parents were multimillionaires, but she felt like no one saw her for her, but only as an heiress to a tidy sum. But he was different, he had seen the real Cassidy. She wasn’t just his sister’s best friend or the girl who almost drowned in the kiddy pool, but Cassie. She was his Cassie, and he was her Andy.

Andrew caught her gazing at him and smiled, causing her cheeks to heat in embarrassment.

Finally
, he walked across the large room and stood in front of her. “Why aren’t you enjoying the party?” he asked, leaning down to her ear so she could hear him.

Cassidy fumbled with her book, which dropped on her lap, closing neatly. “Now why would someone think that?” she asked, hiding her smile.

Andrew held out his hand. “Dance with me.” It wasn’t a question or a command, just an understanding. Cassidy had to will her heart to stop beating fast at his words. It was only a dance, a tradition of sorts ever since she attended her first Christmas Party at Andrew’s house. Cassidy looked up at his clear, deep blue eyes and soft, brown hair that hung just a little too long around his face and smiled. “I would, but I don’t have a place for my book and purse.”

“Had you given Roger your clutch with your coat, we wouldn’t be in this mess, but as it so happens, I do have a pocket,” he said, taking the book and clutch from her hands. “
Pride and Prejudice
,” he said, looking at her book. “I should have known. Haven’t you read this a million times?”

“It was, uh, the only book that would fit in the clutch,” she answered lamely, hoping he didn’t realize how much more the book had come to mean to her since they’d shared that plane ride last summer.

Andrew laughed softly as he unbuttoned his suit jacket. “So what part are you on?”

“What?” Cassidy asked, confused.

“You know, in your book, you had this dreamy look on your face earlier.”

“Oh…um, I was reading the part where Darcy and Elizabeth are dancing together at the Netherfield ball.”

“How fitting then, that we are going to dance. Now all we need is someone to congratulate us later on how superb we are at dancing.” Andrew laughed.

“Ha ha. Andrew Winbright, you know as well as I do that Aunt Cecile always tells us how wonderful we dance,” Cassidy said, referring to Andrew’s aunt, who watched
Dancing with the Stars
and therefore thought she knew everything about dancing in general.

When they were younger, their parents had hired a private dance tutor for the three of them, but it did not mean that they were experts. They were better than the average person, but once Andrew joined a football team and Rachel joined a martial arts class, they had stopped taking lessons.

“I really don’t think it’s going to fit,” Cassidy said, as Andrew tried to put her book in his pocket.

“Then you haven’t seen the size of my pockets.” He chuckled and tucked the book away safely then took her hand in his, her purse in the other. They walked out of the living room to the door where Roger, the Winbright’s household manager, stood. “Roger, please make sure to take extra care of Cassie’s purse.” He smiled, handing the purse over before Cassidy could protest.

“Don’t worry, Miss Cassidy, your purse will be safe with me,” Roger assured her.

“Roger, for the last time, please just call me Cassidy or Cass, if you prefer. We’ve known each other for twelve years,” she said with a hint of exasperation.

“Cassie, he won’t even call me Andrew and he’s known me all my life. Isn’t that right, Rog?” Andrew smiled up at the man. Cassie knew Andrew had the utmost respect for the man and valued their friendship.

“Yes, Master Andrew.” Roger nodded, and Andrew’s smile broadened.

“His ego is already large enough, Roger. Do you have to inflate it more by calling him master?” Cassidy asked, a smile still on her face.

“Don’t worry, Miss Cassidy, it his ego gets too large, I’ll deflate it myself,” Roger replied with a quick grin.

Cassidy laughed softly before Andrew pulled her toward the large ballroom on the other side of the house, mansion more precisely, where most of the guests had congregated to dance.

As they walked inside, Cassidy spotted Rachel Winbright, Andrew’s sister, dancing with her current boyfriend. She smiled. The two of them had become best friends in the third grade when Cassidy had stood up to playground bullies for Rachel. They hadn’t meshed right way, but after a few weeks and a whole lot of isolation together after school, they clicked and now nothing could ever tear them apart. Cassidy loved Rachel like a sister and so it was only natural that she would fall in love with her best friend’s brother, right?

“
C'est magnifique
!” Cassidy breathed.

“By the way, how goes the French?” Andrew asked, smiling down at her as he swung her around to face him, placing a hand on her hip and taking her other hand in his.

“
C'est génial! Il ne me reste plus que quelques cours pour remplir les conditions de spécialisations
.” Cassidy laughed as Andrew furrowed his brows at her.

“What did you say? You know some of us aren’t double majoring in Linguistics and French.”

“Sorry, just the look on your face, it was priceless.”

“Why? I just couldn’t understand what you were saying. It sounded good,” he hastened to reassure her.

Cassidy studied Andrew a moment longer, hoping she could catch a glimmer of what had really passed through his head the moment she began speaking to him. “I was just saying that classes were good—”

“I gathered that,” he said with a smile.

“Yes, then I said that I only have a few more classes to fulfill my course requirements. I also said you have no idea what I’m talking about.”

“So are you and my sister going to take that long awaited cruise you’ve both been talking about non-stop since your freshman year?”

Cassidy laughed as Andrew spun her out and back into him. “I’m not sure, I’m applying for grad school and if I get accepted into the program I want, I would have to start this next summer to finish in two years.

“You want Columbia, right?” Andrew asked and Cassidy nodded.

“How’s your first year of law school?” Cassidy asked, moving in step with Andrew to the music. Andrew was in his first year at Yale University. Cassidy knew he had his heart set on Harvard, but he wanted to know he had been accepted for his academia and not based on the fact that his parents were alumni and just happened to be one of the richest families in the Northeast. Andrew had applied secretly and when he had received his acceptance letter from Harvard, Cassidy was the first to know about it. She was happy for him, even if it meant being further away from him. It wasn’t until he received a second letter from the Dean that he knew his parents had made a phone call. It was after this that Andrew decided upon Yale.

“Cassie?”

Cassidy looked up at Andrew. “Huh? Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

Andrew smiled at her. “I was just saying that the first year has been difficult, but worth every minute.”

“I’m glad,” she said, smiling back just as the music stopped.

“Oh children, that was wonderful! Sexy ten!” Aunt Cecile cried, mimicking Bruno from
Dancing with the Stars
.

Cassidy had a soft spot for the aging woman, but groaned at the thought of Aunt Cecile saying ‘sexy ten’. Something about the way she said it just made the words anything but sexy. “Thanks, Aunt Cecile.”

The woman nodded and walked away to join the other women congregating in the corner.

Andrew let out the laugh he had been holding and Cassidy joined in. “You should have seen your face when she said ‘sexy ten’.” Andrew smiled. “It wasn’t that bad, was it?”

Cassidy groaned and buried her head against his chest. “The dancing or your aunt?”

“My aunt…or the dancing…both,” he said defensively.

Cassidy laughed and lifted her head to look at Andrew. “The dancing was perfect, Andy, as it always is. The comment however, I could’ve lived without the whole ‘sexy ten’. She’s getting worse, I hope you realize.”

“Yes, but no one can convince her to stop watching the show. You know she lives for Monday night.” Andrew smiled.

Cassidy hit him playfully on the chest. “Stop joking, she probably does live for
Dancing with the Stars
.”

Andrew caught her hand before she could hit him again and brought it up to his lips and kissed it gently. Cassidy never took her eyes off his, even when she felt tingles branch up through her arm, sending shivers down her back. “I'll see you later tonight, Cassie, but for now I must bid you farewell,” he said with an over-exaggerated bow. “I must perform my sonly duties and mingle with the guests.”

Cassidy watched as he retreated into the crowd and began talking with some men she could only assume worked for Andrew's father.

“Hey Cass, what did Aunt Cecile say this time?” Rachel asked as she came up beside Cassie.

“Ugh, you don’t want to know,” Cassidy replied.

“That bad, huh?” Rachel asked.

“Does ‘sexy ten’ sound bad to you?”

“She didn’t? Really? She’s getting worse.”

“Exactly what I told your brother, Rach,” Cassidy said. “I think I’m ready for some alcohol, so I can get these horrible images out of my head.”

Cassidy laughed with her friend as they made their way over to the bar for a couple of drinks. “Shit!” Cassidy said softly as she took the drink offered to her.

“What?” Rachel asked as she too took her drink.

“I just realized that my book is in Andy’s coat pocket.”

“You’ll see him again before you leave. Don’t forget you have to haul his drunken ass up to his room.” Rachael smiled. “I still don’t understand why he only wants you to help him every year.”

“Maybe I’ll ask him tonight in his drunken stupor.” Cassie laughed, taking a sip of her drink. It had become somewhat of a Christmas Eve tradition between them. Andrew was actually not much of a drinker, but every year, at this party, he let himself kick loose, and Cassie always mopped up the mess.

“You can always read when you get home, it’s not like you haven’t read it before,” Rachel said pointedly.

“How do you know which book I brought?” Cassie asked, raising a brow.

“Cass, it’s the same book you always bring to a party. You’ve read it a million times. I would think you’d have it memorized by now,” Rachel joked.

Cassidy laughed and continued to sip her drink, knowing it was going to be a long night without any real entertainment. She wouldn’t see Andrew again until someone came to fetch her to notify her of his drunken state.

Cassidy never minded doing her job, even though sometimes she grumbled for outward appearances. She always found him absolutely adorable when he was sloppy drunk. Of course, she found him adorable all the time, so that wasn’t really a surprise.

“Hello Cassidy, Rachel,” Ashley Kingston said in a syrupy sweet tone behind them.

Cassidy turned, as did Rachel. Cassidy gave an inner moan, knowing the night was about to get worse. She and Ashley had never gotten along.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Ashley Kingston,” Cassidy said, matching Ashley’s over-sweet manner. “I haven’t seen you since last summer when you had to get your implants repositioned.”

Ashley narrowed her eyes at Cassidy. “Wow, Cassidy, I didn’t know you actually liked to have fun at a party. Aren’t you normally reading in the corner somewhere?”

“Listen, Ashley, the only reason why you are even allowed in this house is because my parents invited your parents,” Rachel said, setting her drink down.

“Just because you don’t like me and don’t want me here doesn’t mean that Drew feels the same,” Ashley smirked.

Cassidy narrowed her eyes at Ashley. “Andy wouldn’t give you the time of day when we were in high school, and he hasn’t paid you any attention since then either. What makes you think he feels differently now?”

“You don’t know everything about Drew, Cassidy.” Ashley smiled and walked off.

“
Chienne
,” Cassidy said under her breath.

“You got that right,” Rachel agreed.

“You know what I said?” Cassidy asked with a smile on her face.

“The one thing I have learned from all these years of listening to you speak French, would be curses. You just called her a bitch, and I couldn’t agree with you more.” Rachel smiled.

“That would be the only thing you’d learn,” Cassidy said then laughed with her friend.

* * *

A couple hours later, Brian Fisher, one of Andrew’s best friends, found Cassidy in the ballroom, dancing with her father. “Cassidy,” Brian said, interrupting the dance.