Two of hearts, p.5
Two of Hearts, page 5
“We can divvy up those, if you want,” she said. “Why don’t I do the retail shops and you do the restaurants? And I’ll go talk to Lucy about whether Sterling wants to be Santa again. We can regroup next week at some point and see where we are.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
He watched as Cassidy snapped her laptop shut and stood. His eyes followed her as she made her way through the front room of Two Beans, with only one person stopping her to chat. She pushed open the coffee shop’s front door and disappeared into the bright light outside.
Inside, Two Beans seemed a little dimmer to Matt. The electricity that was Cassidy Trevor was gone now. She was smart, organized, thoughtful. Beautiful. He reached out and yanked his mind back. No point in wandering down that neural pathway. Cassidy was out of his league.
He had never needed his family to point that out, either.
Chapter 5
“You got up early.”
Cassidy started at the sudden appearance of her sister in the doorway to their apartment’s kitchen. She’d been so engrossed in what she was doing—staring intently at a draft of her resume and wondering how to spin the fact that her job experience was limited to one job and a couple of internships—that she hadn’t even heard the shower turn off down the hall. It was Saturday morning and both of them were scheduled to work at Quilt Therapy that day.
“I woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep.”
“Totally unfamiliar with that problem.” Natalie walked over to the coffee maker and poured herself the last cup.
Yeah, Natalie rarely went to bed before midnight. Little chance of her waking up before dawn the way Cassidy did these days. On the whole, she liked living with her younger sister. They knew each other’s habits, knew which buttons not to push. But increasingly her sister’s lifestyle, which entailed more parties and less worry, made Cassidy feel just a wee bit older.
“Whatcha doing?” Natalie headed toward Cassidy. Cassidy closed her laptop as nonchalantly as she could.
“Just surfing.” She stood and dumped the remains of her third cup of coffee down the sink. “Can you drop me off at Lucy’s studio on your way in? I signed up for the eight o’clock class.”
Her sister’s eyes dropped to take in Cassidy’s yoga pants and tank top. “Sure thing. Better if you’re all yogified before you get to the store.”
It had been their mother’s idea for Cassidy to begin taking yoga classes “to relax.” After spending an hour and a half trying to make her resume sound more impressive to business schools, she needed a yoga class in the worst way. Heck, she hadn’t even written a resume since her final semester of college and only then because one of her classes had required it.
Cassidy Trevor, Business Manager, Quilt Therapy LLC.
It would be a lot easier if she actually had something to put on her resume. Maybe her mom would let her be the “vice president of business operations,” just for the purposes of her resume. She had done well on the GMAT. Her grades in college were excellent. But her work experience was thin, and there was no real way to spin that. She worked at a small family-run business—a quilt shop, no less. And yes, Lauren was right, she had more responsibility in her job than a lot of twenty-seven-year-olds did. It just didn’t look that way on paper.
Twenty minutes later, Cassidy hopped out of Natalie’s silver Honda, her rolled-up yoga mat and a bag filled with a change of clothes slung over her shoulder. “See you in an hour,” she said, waving as her sister drove off.
Inside Studio L Yoga, students from the previous class were slipping feet into flip flops, readjusting ponytails, and sucking water from water bottles. Cassidy signed in on the iPad, then threaded her way down the hall to the storage cubbies, where she stashed her purse and work clothes. She kicked off her slip-on sneakers and headed into the studio. She liked to snag a spot in the back of the room.
She unrolled her mat next to Ashley Wardman, who was gently stretching.
“Hey there, Ash.”
Ashley twisted her torso to look back up at Cassidy. She looked even thinner to Cassidy than she had two weeks ago—and at this point, it was hardly possible for Ashley to lose any more weight.
“Hi. Long time no see.” Ashley untwisted her body and leaned back on her hands.
“I was at a wedding in Texas,” Cassidy replied.
“Ah. Was it fun?”
Cassidy nodded. “My college roommate got married.” The studio was filling up with more students, mostly younger. On Saturdays, the classes were attended by more of the students from Talbot College and St. Caroline High School. Another thing that was starting to make her feel old.
“How’s Ben?” Cassidy asked quietly.
Ashley gave her a tight, sad smile. “The same. Thanks for asking.”
Cassidy knew Ben Wardman wasn’t the same. She’d overheard some women in the shop discussing him the other day. Ben’s brain cancer had been diagnosed over the summer, and the prognosis wasn’t good. But before she could dwell on that, Lucy glided into the studio and closed the door behind her. “How is everyone?”
Lucy took her spot at the front of the room, looking impossibly put-together even though she’d been teaching classes since six that morning. Her brown hair was pulled up into a perfect ballet bun with barely a single strand of hair loose. Her dusty purple leggings with the strippy cutouts along the calves and her Studio L tank top looked fresh and pristine. Cassidy could swear the woman didn’t sweat.
“It’s the weekend, right?” Lucy went on, “We’re here to relax and re-center. Whatever happened this week at work or at school, that’s all outside this room.” She gestured toward the ceiling. “Let it all go. Set your intention for the next sixty minutes.”
Cassidy closed her eyes and searched her brain. After four months of yoga, she still didn’t have an “intention” for her “practice.” The best she could hope for was to not topple over during class and knock everyone else over too, like a row of dominoes. And hair? The class hadn’t even begun, but already her ponytail had lost any pretense to tight sleekness.
All the same, it was hard to resist Lucy’s enthusiasm and her sincere interest in everyone leaving Studio L Yoga feeling better than when they walked in. So Cassidy took a deep breath and then exhaled, letting go of her inability to unearth an intention inside herself. If she could manage to forget about her to-do list for the next hour, that would be enough.
Finish resume.
Create short list of schools to apply to.
E-mail copy for winter festival social media to Matt.
Nail down mom on Black Friday hours.
Normally, her mother liked to keep Quilt Therapy closed on the day after Thanksgiving. It was a day people should spend with their families, she believed. But it was Cassidy who spent more time poring over the shop’s finances, and she was arguing for being open on Black Friday this year. They could use the sales.
“Let’s get started, shall we?” Lucy was sitting on her mat at the front of the room now, her legs folded in.
Focus. Cassidy hadn’t even noticed when Lucy sat down. Live in the moment. That should be my intention. She glued her gaze onto Lucy, following her every move. But when she twisted into a torso stretch, she couldn’t help but notice Ashley again. She could see the outline of the other woman’s ribs beneath her thin top. Ben Wardman was only in his thirties. He wasn’t supposed to get sick. But it happens.
“Exhale and twist a little deeper.” Lucy’s voice was soothing, but Ashley’s ribs were still there and Cassidy couldn’t pull her eyes away from them.
What if I get in an accident like Matt’s sister-in-law did? She pushed the breath from her lungs and twisted her body half an inch further. Next week? Today? There were so many things she hadn’t done yet. Places she hadn’t seen. People she hadn’t met yet. She’d never been in love. How will I do that if I never leave St. Caroline? It was rare for new people to move to town and, even if someone did, what were the odds he would fall in love with her? Or her with him? Yeah, she could “lower her standards,” as everyone told her to, but …
I don’t think my standards are that unreasonable. Gainful employment. A sense of humor. A nice smile. How unreasonable were those? She was pretty flexible on body types, too. No one ever gave her credit for that. She found lots of body types to be attractive. Tall and thin. Short and muscled. Even a few extra pounds wasn’t a dealbreaker for her. And of course, she wanted some chemistry with a person. How is that too much to expect?
She unwound her body and followed Lucy and the rest of the class into a locust pose on her stomach. She lifted her shoulders and feet off the mat.
“Don’t forget to breathe,” Lucy reminded.
I want a man who will make me forget to breathe.
Okay, so that was probably too much to ask for.
When class ended, Cassidy rolled up her mat and tried to restore some semblance of order to her ponytail. She hung back while the other students said goodbye to Lucy, some of them lingering to chat. Normally, Cassidy was one of the first out the door, rushing off to the shop, but she needed to talk to Lucy today.
At last, all of the students were gone except for Cassidy and Ashley, who was still lying on her mat, eyes closed, her chest rising and falling with her repeated deep inhales. Ashley ended every class that way, an hour’s worth of yoga not enough to counter what was happening in her life.
“Lucy, do you have a minute?” Cassidy took a few more steps toward the door, to give Ashley her privacy.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“So you’ve heard about the winter festival that the chamber is putting on this year?”
“I sure have.”
“Matt Wolfe and I are the co-chairs.”
“I did hear a rumor to that effect.” Lucy smiled. “Just so you know, Sterling is champing at the bit, ready to put something up on the Inn’s web site. And I’m going to offer discounted class packages from Thanksgiving right up to Christmas Eve. I’ve even ordered some nice red and gold gift boxes to make the gift cards easier to wrap.”
“Wow. You are on top of things.” Not that Cassidy ever doubted that Sterling and Lucy would be. “So … Matt and I were wondering whether Sterling was planning to play Santa again this year.”
“Oh good heavens, don’t even ask him. He was awful last year.” Lucy laughed out loud. “I love the man, but he still has way too big a stick up his ass for that.”
“Okay. I’m sure we can find someone else—”
“I’ll ask Douglas. He’d be perfect to play Santa.”
Cassidy didn’t know Doug Preston that well, other than that he was the director of the Kids Kamp at the Chesapeake Inn.
“Do you think he’ll do that?” she asked Lucy.
“Oh of course. I’ll twist his arm, for good measure. I’ll call him tonight and then let you know tomorrow. You don’t need to know before then, do you?”
Cassidy shook her head. “No rush. That would be awesome, Lucy.”
“I can do the photos again this year.” Ashley’s voice came from the back of the room, quiet but strong.
“Oh Ash, don’t worry about it,” Lucy answered. “We can find someone else.”
“I’d like to do it again.”
There was a moment of awkward quiet. Cassidy didn’t know what to say. Ashley had enough on her plate this year already. It was going to be the last Christmas she and Ben had together.
Ashley broke the moment for them. “Doing it was so much fun last year. I need a little fun in my life right now.” She stood and rolled up her mat. “I know everyone means well by treating me with kid gloves. But I’m not that fragile, guys. Let me have some normalcy in my life. Please.”
Cassidy mustered a wary smile. “Well then, consider yourself hired.”
The radio in ladder truck 7 squawked. Matt listened as the mutual aid call went out. St. Caroline’s fire department was requesting help from other departments in the area.
“That’s not good,” Jack said, from the driver’s seat of the truck.
“Nope.”
They were headed for the Lighthouse Apartments, on the western edge of the Talbot College campus. Until three years ago, the building had been a dormitory. Then the college sold it and built a newer, more modern dorm.
“We inspected this building when it was converted to apartments,” Matt added. “Dad recommended a new sprinkler system and new smoke detectors in every unit.”
“Think the new owner did any of that?” Jack asked, taking a wide turn onto Main Street, the fastest route across town to the college.
“No idea.” From the corner of his eye, Matt spotted three women standing on the sidewalk in front of Studio L Yoga. Lucy Wyndham, Ashley Wardman, and Cassidy. Cassidy was wearing some loose off white blouse and a pair of skinny pink jeans.
Cotton candy. Pink lemonade. Pink flowers.
He tore his gaze away. He couldn’t afford to be distracted right now by the thought of burying his face in all that blonde hair and taking a deep inhale … he’d bet she used some flowery-smelling shampoo. She seemed like that kind of girl.
Soft. Pretty. Feminine.
“Hoover dam,” he heard his brother mutter as the truck began to slow. Jack was turning into the apartment building’s parking lot. How’d they get here already?
Focus.
The call had said smoke was spotted coming from several second floor windows, alpha-delta corner—the front and right side of the building. From the looks of it, the fire had spread. A wall of smoke blanketed that entire corner now, from the second floor to the fourth, broken only by streaks of orange flame. Matt was out of the truck before Jack even set the brake.
“Weston FD is working the fire.” Heath, another St. Caroline firefighter was suddenly by Matt’s side. “We’re doing search.”
Matt headed for the building, running through the floor plan in his head. He’d been in the building only once, but he had a near photographic memory for stuff like that. He couldn’t focus on the present worth a damn, but if it happened in the past he could call it right up.
Jack caught up to him. “So you’ve been in here before?”
“Yup. First floor hallway runs parallel to the front side of the building. On the upper floors, though, the hall runs perpendicular to the front. Two stairways at alpha-delta and alpha-bravo. No elevator.”
“I’ll follow you then.”
“We’ll go alpha-bravo first.”
Inside, thick noxious smoke filled the hall. Visibility was zero, so Matt zeroed in on the picture in his mind. The units on the first floor were larger than the ones upstairs, so the doors were farther apart. He tapped his fist along the wall until he hit the first door. His hand slid down to the doorknob and turned it. Fortunately, it was unlocked. With any luck, that also meant the occupants were already outside. Matt had a vague memory of people milling about at the far edge of the parking lot. But he couldn’t focus on that particular picture right now. There were twenty-four units in the building, and they all needed to be checked.
He pushed open the door and entered the apartment. Even in the pitch black, he sensed his brother’s presence behind him, following closely.
“Fire department! Anyone in here?” he shouted. No answer. The lack of a response didn’t mean the place was empty, necessarily. Someone could be asleep or overcome already with smoke inhalation. A small child could be hiding beneath a bed or in a closet.
He and Jack quickly but methodically checked the apartment—first the living area and kitchen, then the two bedrooms and the bathroom. Closets, too.
“This one’s clear,” he said.
They checked the other apartments on the ground floor before heading up the stairs. They passed Heath on the second floor landing.
“We’ve got this floor. Go up to the fourth,” Heath said.
They searched three units on the fourth floor before coming to one that was locked. Matt ran his hand over the round doorknob, matching what he felt beneath his palm to the picture in his brain. The building’s new owner hadn’t upgraded the doors or locks.
“Stand back,” he said to Jack. He stepped away from the door, then hit it with a hard kick from his boot. It took two tries but the lock gave way and the door opened.
“Fire department! Anyone in here?” he shouted inside.
“It’s getting hotter up here,” Jack pointed out.
“I know it. You take the kitchen and living room. I’ll check the bedroom. This is one of the smaller units.”
Matt felt his way in the dark toward the bedroom, stumbling loudly over a loose rug on the floor.
“You okay?” Jack called out.
“Fine!” Matt shouted back.
He kicked the rug out of the way with his boot, so he wouldn’t trip over it on the way back. His hand found the bedroom door. He turned the knob and pushed it open, listening carefully as he moved into the room, counting each step. His knee hit the edge of a mattress. He bent over the bed, patting the surface. His hands hit a lump beneath the covers. There was a person in the bed.
“Got someone!”
Chapter 6
“You’re gonna do what?” Matt stared at his brother’s back. Jack was standing at the stove in their dad’s kitchen, flipping pancakes. From the dining room came the sound of flatware and plates clinking as Mason and Cam helped Becca set the table.
“Paint your room pink.” Jack flipped the pancakes onto a large plate, then poured more batter onto the cast iron griddle.
Matt thought on that for a minute. Jack had moved out of Matt’s cabin and back into their childhood home to keep their father company after their mother’s death. Becca had moved in, too. But it hadn’t occurred to Matt that they would materially change the house in any way.
“Not immediately,” Jack clarified without turning around from the griddle. “Just wanted to let you know. In case you want to take any final pictures.”
Matt knew his brother was smirking down at the pancakes. He was about to make some smart ass remark, when Mason and Cam clattered into the room. They’d spent the night here with his dad, Jack, and Becca after the hospital called Oliver with the news that the nurses had seen a slight improvement in Serena’s condition. Oliver had wanted to be there in case she woke up.
