Last One Home

  He knelt down on one knee over the gravestone. Then he brushed aside grass clippings from the freshly mowed lawn so that her name could be clearly read. The flowers he’d delivered on his last visit had been removed, so he filled the container with the fresh ones he’d brought with him. Alicia had always loved red tulips, and they were in season.

  “There’s a woman I met,” he said, standing now, his hands hanging awkwardly at his side. “She’s stubborn as a mule … I met her at Habitat and I’ve been thinking about her a lot.” He paused, unsure he should even mention Cassie. “She had an accident recently and I drove her to the ER.”

  He remembered how Cassie had tried to insist that she was fine and that all she really needed was for him to bandage her arm. The pain hadn’t hit her yet, and when it did she went pale and silent. Not once did Cassie let on that she was in agony, but he could see it in her eyes and the way she clenched her jaw to keep from groaning.

  She had intensely disliked being at the hospital, although the staff were wonderful. Steve had hated it, too. While sitting in the waiting room, he’d been flooded with memories, the very ones he was trying to put behind him. Alicia had been in this very hospital. By the time Cassie appeared, her arm bandaged, he was more than ready to leave.

  Once again his mind was on Cassie. He focused his eyes on Alicia’s gravestone, feeling somewhat guilty to be at his wife’s grave site and thinking about another woman. They’d been close, Alicia and him, and his life felt empty without her. She’d been gone three years now and the ache wasn’t as piercing as it had been that first year, but the closeness he felt toward her remained. Alicia would always be a part of him, even if she wasn’t with him physically.

  “Her name is Cassie,” he whispered. He buried his hands in his pockets and then stood silent for a couple minutes. Before he left, he squatted down, placed his fingertips against his lips, and then placed them on her name then he returned to his truck and drove away.

  What he’d told Alicia was true. His head had been full of Cassie for a long time now. Being that he was the one responsible for the construction site, he felt it was his obligation to check in and see how she was doing. That was the excuse he gave himself as he pulled up in front of Cassie’s apartment. He sat in his truck for several minutes, silently debating if dropping by unannounced was in his own best interest. A phone call would do just as well, but he had the urge—okay, the need—to see for himself how Cassie was doing.

  Her daughter answered the door and her eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning when she saw it was him. “Hi, Steve,” Amiee greeted him, as if they were the best of friends. “Mom’s home.” She held the door wide open for him to come inside.

  Steve could see Cassie standing by the stove. It looked as if she was cooking dinner. Right away he noticed how pale she was. It was the same pained look he recognized from the day before when he drove her to the hospital.

  For a long moment they did nothing but stare at each other. Steve felt Amiee’s eyes travel from him to her mother and then back to him.

  “What are you doing here?” Cassie asked, and looked none too pleased to see him.

  This woman didn’t do a lot to build up his ego. “I came to check on you, seeing there’s a liability issue here.”

  Right away Cassie frowned. “Liability issue? Do you seriously think I would sue Habitat?”

  The fire he’d so often seen was back in her eyes. “No, but it’s a logical concern.”

  “Logical?” she repeated, snickering softly.

  He was making a mess of this. He might as well be honest before he dug himself in a hole too deep to climb out of. “Actually, I stopped by to see how you’re doing.”

  “Mom worked today,” Amiee told him. “Most everyone takes Mondays off, but not Mom, because she needs to make extra money so we can drive to Spokane—”

  “Amiee.” Her mother cast her daughter a look that immediately silenced the twelve-year-old.

  “Okay, okay, but I thought Steve should know.”

  “You were at the salon?” He couldn’t begin to imagine how painful it must have been for Cassie to repeatedly lift her arm while dealing with her clients. He’d assumed she would take the day off due to her injury, and he couldn’t believe she hadn’t. Didn’t she know that she should give her body at least one day to recover?

  “She wouldn’t take her pain pills, either, because she said she needed a clear head,” Amiee blurted out, and then turned to face her mother, her hands braced against her hips. “You can be mad at me if you want, but Steve needs to know. He told me to make sure you took the pain pills and got lots of rest and you didn’t. You wouldn’t take the pills and you were up half the night, and I know because I heard you.”

  “Amiee,” Cassie said, her face flushed with embarrassment. “Give it a rest, will you?”

  “Steve would want me to tell,” her daughter insisted, squaring her shoulders as if to say she’d be willing to accept her punishment.

  Steve couldn’t take his eyes off Cassie. “You must be exhausted.”

  Stubborn woman that she was, Cassie didn’t confirm or deny her condition.

  “Come sit,” he said, making sure his voice was even and low. When she didn’t move right away he walked over to her, took her by the hand, and then gently led her to the sofa. Looking over his shoulder, he instructed Amiee, “Get me some ice.”

  “Okay.” Eager to be of help, Amiee hurried to the refrigerator, opened the freezer door, and brought out an ice-cube tray. “Now what?” she asked, looking to Steve to supply the instructions.

  “Put the ice in a plastic bag and bring it to me wrapped in a towel.”

  The fact that Cassie wasn’t fighting him was all the evidence he needed—she had overextended herself too soon. Amiee dumped the ice into an empty bread bag and returned from the bathroom with a clean towel. “Here,” she said proudly.

  Gently Steve set Cassie down on the sofa, lifted her arm, and wrapped the towel and ice around the upper part of her arm. “Feel better?” he asked.

  She nodded and closed her eyes. It seemed her entire body relaxed as she pressed her head against the back of the sofa.

  “Should I get the pain meds?” Amiee asked, eager to assist.

  “No,” Cassie protested. “They make me sleepy.”

  Steve clenched his jaw, and when he spoke he did his best to hide his irritation. This woman was beyond stubborn. “In case you haven’t figured this out, your body needs to rest in order for you to heal.”

  On hearing him, Amiee raced into the bathroom and returned with the prescription bottle and a glass of water. “Listen to the man,” she said, as she handed her mother the pill and a glass of water.

  Cassie didn’t put up a fuss.

  “What’s your mom’s favorite meal when she has a special treat?” he whispered to Amiee.

  “A Whopper. I like KFC.”

  Steve hid a smile. “I sorta got that impression already.”

  Amiee grinned and lowered her voice. “I had a thigh for breakfast this morning and it was almost as good as it was last night.”

  His decision made, he said in the same low tone he’d used earlier, “Put away whatever it was your mother is cooking and then the two of us will make a food run.”

  Amiee’s eyes brightened. “Really?”

  “Really,” he echoed.

  The twelve-year-old looked absolutely delighted. “I told Mom she should marry someone like you and you know what she said?” She didn’t wait for him to respond. “She said men like you don’t marry women like her. I said she was wrong and then she said she didn’t want to talk about it. She gets grumpy like that sometimes.” As she spoke she removed the pan from the stovetop and took out two hot dogs from the boiling water and stuck them in a small plastic sandwich bag before setting them in the refrigerator.

  “You ready?” he asked, thankful Cassie was already dozing.

  “If you married my mom, could I get a mini iPad?”

  “Ah …?
?? Steve was rarely at a loss for words, but Amiee had completely flummoxed him.

  Amiee hesitated. “I shouldn’t have asked you that, right?”

  He placed his hand on her shoulder. “It’s a whole lot premature.”

  “Don’t tell my mom, okay? She’d be upset enough to lay an egg.”

  He grinned. “It’ll be our secret.”

  By the time they returned, Cassie was sound asleep. Amiee tiptoed over to her mother. “Should I wake her?”

  “No, let her sleep.” He’d stop by tomorrow and make sure she’d changed the bandage.

  Amiee looked uncertain. “Mom would want that Whopper.”

  “She can eat it when she wakes up.” Steve spread the afghan over Cassie, tucking it in over her torso. If Amiee wasn’t there to witness it, he would have kissed her forehead.

  Amiee watched every move he made. “This is where she slept last night, too.”

  The ice had melted and the fact she didn’t feel the bag leaking on her arm was a testament to how exhausted Cassie must be. The tenderness that swelled in him was hard to explain.

  “I’d better head out,” he said.

  “Should I have Mom call you when she wakes?” the kid asked hopefully.

  “No, that’s fine. Let her rest.” He’d better get going before Amiee started looking at pictures of wedding dresses for her mother.

  “Okay.” Amiee sounded disappointed as she walked him to the front door. “You can stop by anytime,” she assured him.

  “Even if I don’t bring KFC?” he teased.

  “Oh sure,” she said, taking him seriously. “But if you do happen to have a bucket with you, all the better.”

  Steve headed out to his truck and couldn’t keep from chuckling.

  Chapter 14

  For the whole following week, Steve refused to allow Cassie on the construction site. It both angered and frustrated her—at this rate, it would take years to get in her hours. While Cassie might not have had any contact with Steve, he communicated with Amiee on a regular basis. Cassie overheard their phone calls, which her daughter did her best to keep secret. She let Amiee believe she didn’t have a clue what was transpiring between the two.

  From what Cassie could make out, Steve was checking up on her, making sure she was taking her meds and not working too hard at the salon. Actually, the injury was pretty much self-limiting. Cassie had overdone it that Monday and had paid a steep price. By the time Steve arrived she’d been ready to collapse.

  On Monday, eight days after the accident, Cassie was starting to feel more like herself. It was a gorgeous day in the Pacific Northwest. The sun was out and the temperatures were in the mid-seventies with a light breeze. Amiee finished with her homework in record time without Cassie even needing to ask, which came as a surprise. She assumed her daughter wanted to get out into the gorgeous sunshiny day with her friends, but she hung around even when her homework was done.

  Cassie was thinking about mixing up a big salad for dinner when someone knocked on the front door.

  “I’ll get it.” Amiee tore out of her room like a prisoner set free. She opened the door and then a high, overly loud voice said, “Oh hi, Steve, what a surprise to see you.”

  Cassie didn’t know what these two had concocted, but she was fairly certain she was about to find out.

  Steve came into her apartment with his fingertips tucked in his back pockets. “How are you feeling?” he asked, his eyes on her.

  “She’s in a much better mood,” Amiee answered for her mother.

  Cassie tore her gaze away from Steve long enough to glare at her daughter. “I can answer for myself, thank you.” That said, she returned her attention to Steve and announced, “I’m in a much better mood.”

  He grinned, and once more it came unbidden to her how sexy he looked. She really shouldn’t be thinking these kinds of thoughts about him and at the same time was completely helpless to stop.

  “I’m glad to hear that,” he said casually. “Are you up to a little outing?”

  “Mom and I would love—”

  Cassie cut her daughter off with a single look. “What do you have in mind?” she asked, as if the possibility existed that she might have other plans.

  “I know you heard about the building lot Habitat recently purchased not far from here.”

  Cassie could feel her heart starting to race. “I did hear something about it.” Megan had casually mentioned it, but Cassie had been afraid to press for more details. She was only one of several people on the waiting list for new homes and it seemed wrong to ask for this piece of land when there were surely others on the list ahead of her.

  “Being it’s such a nice afternoon, I thought you might like to take a look at that lot,” Steve said.

  Amiee folded her hands like she was in deep prayer, and she looked to Cassie, her eyes wide and appealing. “Please, Mom, can we at least look at the property?”

  Cassie had no intention of refusing. “I think we could squeeze it into our busy schedule.”

  Unable to hold back her glee, Amiee jumped up and down, clapping her hands.

  “If you can behave yourself,” Cassie added under her breath.

  “I’ll be good, I promise,” Amiee assured her.

  “It’s a go?” Steve looked to Cassie.

  “It’s a go.”

  He led the way outside and waited while she locked the apartment door.

  Steve drove a car this time, a four-door sedan that looked as if he’d just driven it off the showroom floor. She’d only seen him with his truck. He must have read the question in her eyes because he opened the passenger door for her and stepped aside before explaining, “This was Alicia’s car.”

  “Oh.” This was the first time he’d mentioned his dead wife.

  Amiee hopped into the backseat and made loud sniffing sounds. “Wow, this car even smells new.”

  “It’s over three years old,” Steve said, as he slid into the driver’s seat. “Alicia didn’t get a chance to drive it much and I mostly drive my truck.”

  Cassie didn’t need to worry about carrying the conversation. Amiee chatted with Steve like they were longtime friends. She filled him in about her week at school, chatting about a difficult math test and her friend Claudia, who was no longer her BAE. “I hope you don’t mind me telling you these things,” she said, stopping in the middle of her long-winded story of why she’d downgraded Claudia.

  “Not at all,” Steve assured her. “This is fascinating.”

  “Mom insists on hearing every detail of my day,” her daughter added, as if burdened with the telling. “It was something Mom and her sisters did at the dinner table with their mom and dad, so now Mom makes me give her a minute-by-minute report of my day.”

  Steve took his gaze off the road long enough to make eye contact with Cassie. He arched his brows and she was left with no choice but to explain. “I wanted more than a one-word reply when we chat at dinner.”

  “See what I mean?” Amiee said, sighing with the weight of such a heavy burden.

  “Got it,” he said.

  It didn’t take more than ten minutes to reach the property, which was on the west hill of Kent. Steve had barely put the car in park when Amiee threw open the backseat passenger door and leaped out with all the urgency of someone avoiding an explosion.

  “This is it?” her daughter cried, already halfway onto the lot.

  “This is it,” Steve echoed, following her onto the land. “And it’s all yours.”

  Cassie had a hard time taking it in. The lot was huge, much bigger than anything she’d ever hoped or imagined. Slowly she joined her daughter. The back part of the lot had several trees tucked up against a fence. Steve followed her. “What kind of trees are these?” Cassie asked. She reached up and examined a small bud.

  “Apple. Two apple trees and a plum.”

  Cassie sucked in a deep breath. “Fruit trees.”

  “Mom, we can make applesauce. Claudia’s grandmother served us applesauce she c
ooked herself. It was so much better than what we buy at the store.”

  “I bet it was.”

  “Can we?”

  “If we get enough apples, then yes, we could do that.”

  In her enthusiasm, Amiee hugged the tree. “Give me apples,” she told the tree. “Lots and lots of apples.”

  Cassie caught sight of Steve doing his best to hide a smile. He glanced down at the ground and softly chuckled.

  Although there were neighbors on each side of the property, they both had fences up, so she had a clear idea of the lot size. It seemed immense. “Will there be room for a garden?” she asked Steve.

  “Would you like that?”

  Afraid her voice would betray the emotion that came over her, Cassie nodded. Her mother had kept a huge garden and it’d been her and her sisters’ job to weed it every summer. The three of them found ways to make games out of the task. Karen had taken delight in chasing her with a huge worm. Cassie had run through the sprinkler in order to avoid her sister and screamed loud enough to send her mother running out of the house.

  She looked up and noticed Steve was talking to her. “I’ll check with Stan and see if we can situate the house in such a way that you have ample room for a garden.”

  Cassie never dreamed it would be possible to own a home with enough space to grow vegetables. A lump filled her throat, making it impossible to speak. In an effort to hide the emotion, she walked around the property, counting the steps, barely absorbing how fortunate she was.

  “Do you know any of the neighbors?” Amiee asked, and then before Steve could answer, “Any girls my age? What about boys?”

  “Sorry, I haven’t met any of the neighbors,” Steve told Amiee. He turned his attention to Cassie. “Well, what do you think? Do you like it or would you rather wait for another lot to become available?”