One Summer Evening - One Summer Evening Part 10
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One Summer Evening Part 10

No one had known. Cassie had made sure of that. In fact, she had becomethe life of the party, refusing to give Austin so much as another look.That hadn't been hard, since he'd seemed as glad to avoid her as she hadhim.

Somehow she had gotten through the remainder of the evening and returnedto Jasmine, where she had buried that reckless encounter by pretendingit hadn't happened and going on with her plans to enter college.

A few weeks later, the reality of that evening had reached out andbrutally slapped her in the face.

"You're pregnant, Miss Wortham."

Cassie had stared at the on-campus doctor in total disbelief.

"That's wrong." She had clamped down on her bottom lip to hold itsteady.

"You're wrong. That can't be."

Stupefied as she was, she had watched his lips twitch at that laststatement.

"Oh, but it can. It is. And there's no mistake."

She hadn't argued anymore, not after she had barely made it to the restroom before losing the contents of her stomach.

Later, dazed and loaded down with literature and vitamins of all kinds,sizes and shapes, Cassie had walked out of the infirmary straight intoLester.

Fate.

At the time, she had deemed their meeting as just that. But instead offeeling relief at seeing a smiling, familiar face, she had burst intotears.

Over Cokes, on a nearby park bench, Lester had forced the truth out ofher.

"So you're pregnant," he said.

"I don't see a problem with that."

"Are you crazy?" Cassie's voice rose to the hysterical level.

"No. What I am is still wanting to marry you."

"You are crazy," she muttered, lowering her head to her chest.

Lester grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look at him.

"Listen to me. It'll work. I swear it will. We'll get married as soon as

we can get a license. Our parents will think you got pregnant the first time we did it."

Cassie's eyes widened.

"You mean you'd marry me knowing I'm pregnant with another man's child?"

"Yes."

"Why? What's in it for you?"

"I told you before. I love you."

Cassie covered her ears with her hands.

"Stop saying that! You still don't know what that word means, and neither do I."

"You have a better idea?" Lester demanded sullenly.

"No, not at the moment."

"And you won't. Being a preacher's kid, your daddy's going to shit a

brick, and your mother--well, with her rich-bitch attitude" -- "How dare you talk about my mother like that?"

Lester shrugged.

"It's the truth. You just won't admit it."

"Look, I appreciate your offer, but" -- "But what?" he interrupted.

"An abortion?"

She threw him a look.

"God, no."

That would be the last thing she would do. For starters, she thought that was a sin. Furthermore, she was too frightened of the physical part, not to mention the emotional consequences.

"Okay, will the kid's father marry you?"

"No!"

"You want to tell me who he is?" There was a bitter edge to Lester's

voice that didn't go unnoticed.

"It wouldn't change anything," she said dully.

"I could shoot him."

Her head jerked up.

"That's not funny."

"I didn't mean it to be."

"Dammit, Lester, don't play games with me."

"Okay. Then I don't see that you have a choice, unless you tell your

parents you're going to have a baby out of wedlock."

Her breath caught.

"I could never do that."

"So let's get hitched."

"Oh Lester, I don't know. I'm so sick and confused."

"More reason to trust me. I can sure as hell make the confusion go

away."

He'd worn her down, and three days later she had become Cassie Sullivanin a secret and private ceremony. Telling her parents that she was getting married had been another nightmare, one she wouldn't care ever to repeat. All hell had brokenloose. Wilma had grabbed her chest as if having a heart attack. Jameshad dug his fingers into the arm of the chair--to keep his knees frombuckling, Cassie had suspected.

"But why?" James had asked, white around the mouth.

"It doesn't make any sense."

"We're in love, sir."

This time Cassie hadn't challenged Lester's lie, asking instead, "How

can you get mad at us?" With that question the desperation gnawing at

her had quadrupled. But she refused to let it show.

"After all, you two ran off and got married when you were only eighteen."

And they had. They had been childhood sweethearts, and the nightfollowing their graduation from high school, they had eloped, much totheir parents' chagrin.

Countering with that indisputable fact seemed to have wilted her parentson the spot, taking the punch out of their argument. While they did notoffer their blessings, they promised to honor the marriage as long asshe and Lester promised to complete their educations.

When she had announced her pregnancy, after what she considered to be asafe amount of time, they were not happy about that, either. Still,they'd had no choice but to accept that fact, as well, then deal with itin their on way.

Thank goodness they hadn't disowned her.

If they had known the truth, they would have; Cassie had been sure of that.

But she'd never been sorry she hadn't told them that Lester was not

Tyler's biological father.

The truth would have done irreparable damage to too many lives, including of her own. Her parents could not have withstood the blow or

the scandal, not to mention the betrayal of trust that her daddy would have felt toward Austin.

The truth would have destroyed that friendship forever.

No, Cassie had never regretted her decision to keep the secret

concerning her child. What she had regretted was marrying Lester.

Living with him had been synonymous with living in a chamber of horrors.

However, her scars, along with her secret, would share her coffin.

Her cell phone rang, disrupting her train of thought. Having put the