One Summer Evening - One Summer Evening Part 43
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One Summer Evening Part 43

"Thank goodness for that."

"So, where's the grub?" Jo Nell asked, changing the subject.

"I'm starving."

Cassie reached into her carryall and pulled out two sacks. She had

stopped at her favorite deli and picked up sandwiches and chips. They

munched in silence for a while.

"Whatcha smiling about?" Though Jo Nell's mouth was full of turkey, she talked around it.

"You."

"Me?"

"Yep. I was just thinking how much I needed a Jo Nell fix."

Jo Nell stopped chewing and quirked one eyebrow. "Is that a compliment?"

"Of course," Cassie said, chuckling.

"Works for me, then."

Another silence followed while they finished eating, slapping at flies

along the way.

"So, you went to New Orleans," Jo Nell finally said, wadding up her sack and pitching it into the nearby garbage can.

"And with Austin, no less."

Cassie's stomach tightened.

"How'd you know?"

"Wilma told me."

"Oh."

"When were you going to share that tidbit with me?"

"Today."

"So what happened? Did you like what you saw?"

Cassie told her about the site, opting to leave out the personal aspects

of the trip, too embarrassed and confused to share them, even with her best friend. But she would have to be careful. Jo Nell could read her like a book.

"You mean there were actually people living in that rat-infested

building?" Disgust rearranged Jo Nell's features.

' "At one time. Maybe now. Who knows? Hell, Austin wasn't even aware there was a building on the property."

"You believe that?"

"Yes, I do. Austin may be a lot of things, but dishonest he's not. The situation upset him, too."

"What about his friend? You know, that attorney who engineered the

deal?"

"Right now, I'd hate to be in Randall's shoes." "Reckon that's a deal breaker?" Jo Nell asked, sucking the last of her drink from the straw.

Cassie pursued her lips.

"As far as I'm concerned, it is. While it's a great location, on the

water and all that, I still want to improve what we already have, not spend money tearing something else down.

Period."

"So I can expect the sparks to fly?" Jo Nell paused and gave her an odd look.

"Or are they already flying?"

"They're flying, all right, but not the kind you're talking about,"

Cassie said, lying through her teeth.

"Whatever you say."

"Dammit, Jo Nell! You're a born troublemaker."

Jo Nell looked incredulous.

"Me? You're the one on the defensive."

"I don't want to talk about it," Cassie said, squirming in her seat.

"Why not, unless you have something to hide?"

"Give it a rest, okay?"

"I'll say this, then I'll hush. Be careful." Jo Nell's tone lacked

humor.

"Austin's not for you now any more than he was nine years ago."

"Don't you think I know that?" Cassie snapped, only to follow that with

an apology and a smile. "Sorry."

Jo Nell flapped her hand.

"No apology necessary. You're just suffering from PMS." "You think so?"

Cassie asked on a forlorn note.

Jo Nell's eyes twinkled.

"Yep. But it's okay. You're entitled."

After more chuckles and polishing off a peach tart apiece, Cassie bid Jo

goodbye and headed back to the hotel. By the time she reached theentrance, rain was falling. Hopefully it would be a fast-moving front,as she'd promised to go swimming with Tyler later that afternoon.

Since returning to Jasmine, she hadn't seen as much of her son as shewould have liked, though she was thrilled he had made friends throughthe church, friends who invited him places and kept him occupied.

However, Cassie missed their time together more than she cared to admit.Her baby boy was growing up, and that depressed her. Thinking aboutTyler brought a smile to her lips that remained after she'd walked intoher office.

A few minutes later, she was behind her desk jotting down ideas forrenovating. She was so deep in thought that she didn't realize she wasno longer alone.

"Hello, Cassie."

She jerked her head up, and at the same time her heart jumped into her

throat, almost gagging her. She blinked, then blinked again, but the image in front of didn't change. "You!"

FR1;Twenty-One Ohe couldn't pass out, Cassie told herself. But her head

spun and the room seemed to tilt. She gasped deeply for air just to breathe, when all she wanted to do was scream.

Lester? It couldn't be. God wouldn't play that kind of trick on her.

But he had. Her ex-husband, in the flesh, was standing in front of her.

"I'm no ghost who's going to disappear." His chuckle was cynical andvicious. Cassie's skin crawled at the veiled warning, and a loathing as deadly as poison shot through her system. She had sworn that she would kill Lesterif he ever came near her or Tyler again. She hadn't meant that, notliterally, of course. But now, she wasn't so sure. When it came toprotecting her son against this man, she would do whatever it took. Godhelp her.

How had the unthinkable happened? How had he gotten out of prison?

She had been assured that wouldn't happen, only it had. She bit down on her lower lip so hard she tasted her own blood.

"Yo, Cassie, darling'."

Cringing at that sarcastic endearment, she glared at him.