One Summer Evening - One Summer Evening Part 9
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One Summer Evening Part 9

"Why don't you stay permanently and run the hotel in my place?"

Cassie's mouth gaped.

"Surely you're not serious?"

"I've never been more serious in my life," Wilma said.

"You've been working in various offices and even in some hotels, or so

you told us." "That's true," Cassie said again, her mind reeling, so much so that she sat back down.

"Someday my shares in the Hillcrest Hotels will be yours and Tyler's.

You might as well take over now, since I'm somewhat under the weather."

When Cassie failed to answer, Wilma went on.

"Besides, we've been robbed of our grandson long enough. We want to get reacquainted with him and have him become a part of our lives."

"And I want that, too, of course. Still, what you've asked is so suddenthat I" -- The doorbell pealed, stopping Cassie's words and splinteringher thoughts even more. She frowned. "Who on earth is that at seveno'clock in the morning?" Actually, she was glad of the interruption; sheneeded time to digest what her mother had proposed.

"I suspect it's Austin," James said, smiling and craning his head towardthe hall.

Austin!

Cassie's breath left her lungs in a swish, and she almost grabbed her chest as though she were having a heart attack. Dear Lord, it couldn't be. He was the last person she'd expected or wanted to see.

What to do? If their visitor was indeed Austin, then one, if not her worst, nightmare had come to pass. Her heart raced, and she broke out in a cold sweat. But she couldn't let her torn emotions show. She had to keep her cool.

"What's going on this morning?" Austin asked, sauntering into the room,

a grin on his lips.

Cool be damned. Cassie's first inclination was to flee the room, to jump up and run like hell. She couldn't; she was trapped.

But so was he.

When Austin saw her, he stopped abruptly, and she watched the color fade from his face and his eyes narrow to slits.

"Good God, is that you, Cassie?" His voice sounded hoarse, as if he hada dilly of a sore throat.

"It sure is," James said, his face and voice glowing. "She surprised usyesterday."

Cassie didn't utter a word. All she could do was sit there like an idiot and stare, that funny feeling of old invading her system, bringing withit a churning nausea.

Admittedly, the intervening years had been more than kind to him, atleast physically. Emotionally and mentally, she couldn't be sure.

Having lost a wife and unborn child was bound to have left deep scars.

Cassie ached to look away, but she couldn't do that, either. His hairwas still dark, though she could see streaks of silver threadedthroughout. His tanned face had gained some deep grooves and lines, aswell, but rather than detracting from his sultry looks, they enhancedthem.

In fact, this more mature Austin exuded an in-your- face,don't-give-a-shit sex appeal that hadn't been there before.

Now that she was face-to-face with him again, she couldn't believe ithad been nine years since she'd seen him. Once they had returned to thetable after their tryst in the sand and then his engagement to Aliciahad been announced, Austin had walked out of her life and stayed put.

But then, that lengthy separation hadn't been by accident. She hadworked long and hard to make sure their paths did not cross. Inhindsight, that feat had not been difficult to pull off.

Distance had been on her side; she had lived in La- fayette and Austinin Baton Rouge. Their jobs had been another factor in her favor; bothwere extremely busy. And the few times she had visited her parents,she'd made sure in a discreet way that Austin was otherwise committedand wouldn't show up.

Austin himself, she suspected, had also played a role in keeping themapart.

She was convinced that he'd been as eager to avoid her as she had him.

But their luck had finally run out.

"Before you arrived," Wilma said into the growing silence, "I was tryingto entice her not to leave us again."

Austin grab a cup off the sideboard and poured himself somecoffee--without being invited, Cassie noticed, which meant he felt athome there.

"By the way," James said, facing Cassie, "speaking of the hotels, Austinis now your mother's partner, having inherited Alicia's half, ofcourse."

Terrific, Cassie thought, feeling faint.

"Excuse me for interrupting, Ms. Cassie," Joy said unexpectedly from the doorway, "but Tyler's up and asking for you."

Tyler!

Terror now rendered Cassie completely immobile.

Finally she was able to get to her feet, though she was shaking both

inside and out.

"Uh, tell him I'll be right there."

"Cassie, bring him back down," James said. "Breakfast is about ready,

and I want Austin to meet him."

No! God, no. She couldn't let that happen, but how could she prevent it?

She couldn't. Fate had dealt her another underhanded blow.

When Austin saw Tyler would he guess the truth?

"Mom?"

"What, hon?"

"Papa wants to take me to work with him."

Cassie smiled down at her son, who was in her bedroom. They had both

been up a while, but she had just gotten dressed, opting not to godownstairs for coffee. She hated to admit it, but she feared a repeat ofyesterday, for more reasons than one.

The delving questions aside, it was the thought of seeing Austin againthat made her skin break out in a cold sweat. Thrusting thoughts of himaside, she forced herself to concentrate on her son.

"Do you want to go?" she asked Tyler who was sitting on the edge of herbed, bouncing up and down like a rubber ball. "Stop that," she added ina calm tone.

He stilled his body, then asked, "Will you come with us?"

"No, but you may go. I'll stay with Grandmother."

Apparently satisfied with that, Tyler jumped up and ran toward the door.

"See ya later."

"Whoa, young man, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Aw, Mom," he whined, though he raced back across the room and planted a

moist kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks, buddy." She hit him playfully on the arm. "Your kiss is my morning pusholine."

Tyler rolled his eyes before turning and racing out the door.

Afterward, Cassie remained seated on her dressing table stool, smiling.

What a great kid, she told herself, patting herself on the back,something she rarely did.

She was delighted, too, at the rapport that seemed to have redevelopedbetween her daddy and her son. Before they had gone underground, Tylerhad thought James was a cool grand daddy despite the fact that he was apreacher.

At that time Tyler had been only three, and James's occupation hadn'tbeen important. Even though she and Lester had lived in Lafayette, acouple of hours' drive away, she had made sure that Tyler got to knowhis grandparents.

And while Wilma certainly loved him, it had been James who doted on himand vice versa.

She hadn't excluded Lester's parents, either. Dewitt and CharlotteSullivan had spent time with Tyler though not as much as her parents.

Suddenly Cassie grabbed her stomach, feeling an acute stab of pain.

Too bad extenuating circumstances were going to force all that to changeyet again. To counteract the burgeoning pain, Cassie lurched to her feetand walked to the window of the bedroom that had been hers since the dayshe was brought home from the hospital, the first and only child ofJames and Wilma Wortham.

The grounds, as she looked across them, were once again glorious.

Money. Old money. That was what it took to maintain an estate such asthis.

And that was what her mother had inherited from her parents.

Without question, the Worthams lived the life of the Southern rich. Tothe outside world, everything was ginger-peachy.

Wilma saw to that. Her mother coveted her privacy and, despite being apreacher's wife, could be vicious when it came to protecting it. If anyproblems arose, Wilma demanded they be kept behind the closed doors ofthis house. She would have it no other way.

That was why her own scandalous divorce and subsequent disappearance hadbeen a blow to her parents from which they hadn't recovered and neverwould.

But neither would she. Cassie sighed, trying to concentrate on thebeauty filling her gaze. Tall oaks, pecans and a multitude of othertrees covered the rolling grounds. Nestled under and around them werebeds filled with flowers so colorful they were blinding.

Cassie didn't want to cry, but she felt the tears well up behind hereyes as that old feeling of panicked fear clawed at her insides, thekind of fear she had hoped never to feel again, especially now thatLester no longer posed a threat.

What a joke on her. When Austin had waltzed into that room, fate hadstabbed another knife into her heart.

Releasing a pent-up sigh, Cassie turned away from the window, yet shedidn't move. Her limbs seemed frozen, while her mind was a melting potof thoughts and images. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

Nothing helped.

Austin's face and the shock she had seen mirrored there would not go away.

Keeping her eyes closed, Cassie leaned against the wall for support asthe past, in the form of a million fire ants, stung her mind, forcingher to recall the events that had unfolded at the dinner party after herfling on the beach.

When her daddy had stood and toasted her birthday in the same sentencewith Austin's engagement to her aunt, her life had plunged from lightinto darkness.