A Family Affair: Summer: Truth in Lies, Book 3 (21 page)

Dear Cash:

You and Nate have been friends a long time, despite an eight-year
hiatus. That boy was going down a bad path of misery, bursting with enough anger and resentment to fill a pond. But then, miracle of miracles, Christine walked into his life. Now how’s that for trouble? You see them now all lovey-dovey, but don’t go thinking it was all rosy for them because it was more thorns than petals. But then one day they really looked at each other, really talked, and really fell in love. I’m sure you know the other near-disaster that happened after they were married. Almost tore poor Nate apart. But they worked through it and their love is stronger than steel.

You and Tess belong together
, like Nate and Christine. Give love a chance. We’re all cheering for you.

Fondly,

Betty Rafferty

Cash set that one aside and reached for another.

Cash:

Lucy and I had our share of struggles, but we never let the crabgrass strangle us. Grab onto Tess’s hand and pull her out of the weeds. You two belong together, barefoot in a field of clover
.

And as my Lucy used to say,
“Be happy with the life you got, not the one you didn’t get.”

Pop Benito

The third letter was
not a letter at all, but a photograph of Tess, Gina, and Bree, laughing into the camera, arms flung around each other’s waists. His gaze zeroed in on Tess and the gown she wore: her wedding gown. Had they taken this the night he’d shot JJ? Maybe at the exact moment the boy drew his last breath? Cash stared at the photo so hard and long his eyes hurt, then he flipped it over and looked on the back.
You and Tess need to smile again. Gina
.

“Hello. Hello.”

Cash turned to find a young girl standing on the other side of the screen door with a shoebox in her hands. She was small-built with thick black hair and glasses. “Hi.” He tossed the picture of Tess, Gina, and Bree on the table and made his way toward the girl. “Can I help you?”

“I’m Lily.” She smiled up at him as he opened the door and thrust the box toward him. “These are from Pop. He said they are supposed to sweeten you up.”
The smile spread. “He’s silly.”

So, this was Lily Desantro, Nate’s sister. Christine’s, too.
He only seen her once or twice, when she was a baby. “Come on in, Lily. I’m Cash.”

“I know.” She glanced around the family room and kitchen. “Do you have a clock?”

“On the microwave. Why?”

She
headed toward the kitchen and the digital display on the microwave. “Four-o-five. Nate said I can only stay five minutes and then I have to go find him in the barn because he doesn’t want me to bug you.”

Cash laughed. “You aren’t bugging me.”

Her blue eyes grew shiny behind her thick glasses. “Can you ask him if I can stay longer? I don’t want to ask because he’ll get all frowny.”

“Okay, I’ll ask. Now how about
we see what Pop sent that’s supposed to sweeten me up?” He lifted the shoebox and peeked inside even though he had a pretty good idea what was in there. Sure enough, three stacks of pizzelles sat on a folded paper towel. Cash removed two pizzelles, handed one to Lily. “My favorite.” He bit into one, chewed. “How about a glass of ice tea or lemonade?”

“Sure. Lemonade please.” Lily scooted onto a kitchen chair and munched on her pizzelle.
“Cash?”

“Huh?” He plunked a couple of ice cubes in each glass and poured the lemonade.

“I don’t think you have a pig head.”

He almost dropped the pitcher when she said that. Cash swung around and stared at her. “What are you talking about?”

She shrugged. “Pop said you had a pig head.” She paused. “He said things could work out if you weren’t a pig head. What does that mean?”

Good old Pop
. He called it like he saw it. And he saw Cash as pig-headed. “You’ll have to ask Pop.”

Lily let out a little puff of breath
, like that was not what she wanted to do. “Okay.” And then, she glanced at the letters scattered on the corner of the table. “What are all those pieces of paper?”

“Just letters.”

“Uh-uh.” She leaned forward and located the picture of Tess, Gina, and Bree. “Not this one. Ooohhh.” She pointed to the trio, her voice soft, almost reverent. “Tess. She’s beautiful.” She glanced up, studied him. “Pop said she was your girlfriend. You were gonna marry her and then it all went south. What did he mean, ‘went south,’ and why didn’t you marry her?”

What the hell was Pop doing, chronicling the rise and fall of Daniel Casherdon, complete with commentaries? “You should ask Pop,” he said in a quiet voice. Was every person he met going to dissect his past relationship
with Tess Carrick?

“Can’t you tell me, Cash?” Her eyes turned bluer, her voice softer. “And can’t you fix it so it doesn’t go south?” She lifted the photo and traced Tess’s face. “So maybe you can still fall in love and get married. And live happily ever after.”

***

Tess lugged the suitcase outside and was negotiating the porch steps when Cash
barreled down the street in Will’s old truck, well above the posted speed limit. He pulled in the driveway and hopped out, moving toward her with determined steps and a fierce expression on his face.

He stopped at the bottom of the steps and said in a voice raw with emotion, “Don’t go.
Please. I can’t lose you again. Will you give us another chance? I don’t want to live in the past anymore.” He paused, sucked in a deep breath, and plowed on. “I need you in my life and I’ll take anything you’re offering. If we can’t have kids, we’ll adopt. If we can’t adopt, we’ll foster. Hell, we’ll babysit Nate and Bree’s kids, and who knows, maybe one day, Gina’s? Or we’ll get a bunch of dogs.” He held his hands out to her, palms up. “Anything. Just don’t leave me again.”

Tess released her hand on the suitcase and moved toward him. “I’m not going anywhere.” She
offered him a hesitant smile. “But if you’ll keep talking like that, I’ll pretend I am just to hear more.”

He glanced at the suitcase and the
boxes stacked on the front porch. “What’s all this?”

“Mom’s having surgery next week and I’m delivering her suitcase to Uncle Will’s so she can recover there.” She cleared her throat and said, “Supposedly she’s staying at his house because he only has one flight of stairs and she has two here. I’m not so sure I buy that, but I’m happy for them.”

“Oh.” The faintest pink crept up his neck, landed on his cheeks. “And what about the boxes?”

“JJ’s.” Her voice dipped. “Mom and I thought it was time to pack up his clothes. Somebody might get some use out of them.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets, the pink on his neck and cheeks turning five shades deeper. “Good idea.” His gaze zeroed in on the boxes.

Obviously, he was re
gretting the adrenaline-fueled profession of “need and can’t live without you” he’d just delivered on her front lawn. Well, he wasn’t getting out of the truth this time, and neither was she. Tess touched his cheek, traced the line of his jaw, stepped closer. “If I pretended I was leaving, would you tell me again how much you need me and want to be with me?”

His lips twitched. “I might.” He buried his hands in her hair and eased her toward him. “Or I might just tell you I love you and have never stopped loving you.”

She leaned on tiptoe, placed a soft kiss on his mouth. “I love you, Daniel Casherdon, and if you give me a chance, I will spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.”

“
Now that is something I could get used to.” He deepened the kiss, fitting her body to his in a pledge of love and commitment. “Let’s take this inside,” he murmured against her lips. “To your bed…where I will undress you and taste you…” He slid a hand down her back, cupped her butt. “And pleasure you until the whole town hears you shout my name.”

“Yes.” She
lifted her head to the sun as he trailed his tongue along the opening of her shirt. “Oh, yes.”

Cash pulled back and lifted her in his arms. “If we don’t go inside, we’re going to give your neighbor a real show.” Tess laughed and glanced toward Edith Finnegan’s window.
The curtain didn’t move because it had been pulled wide open and there stood Edith, expression intent as she witnessed Cash and Tess pledging their hearts to one another, from this day forward. And then, miracle of all miracles, Edith Finnegan smiled.

Two months later

Three days before Cash and Tess’s wedding

“Why don’t you just ask the doctor if you’re having a boy and be done with it?” Gina shook her head and gathered a length of pink tulle.

Bree ignored her and fished around for another blue Jordan almond. No one commented that she was supposed to be placing the almonds, even the blue ones, in netting and tying it with a white satin ribbon. Christine and Tess had a small mound of the Jordan almond party favors in front of them, while Bree had fewer than ten in her stack. “Brody is certain this baby is going to be his Brody Junior.” She popped a blue Jordan almond in her mouth and chewed. “I think he’s right this time. We changed things up a bit when I conceived and that’s going to make a difference; you just wait and see.”

Gina coughed
and rolled her eyes. Christine smiled and Tess laughed. What would these gatherings be like without Bree’s too-honest and often too-personal comments? She and Brody were determined that baby Kinkaid number four would be a boy. But what if it weren’t? Would Brody push for baby number five, six, and seven, until he had a son? At this rate, Bree would have her own basketball team in two years and a football team before she hit forty. There might not be anything left of her, but Brody would have his “brood” and maybe even a boy.

“How’s your mother doing?”

Tess could always count on Christine to steer the conversation to more acceptable topics. “She’s doing great. Of course, Uncle Will is spoiling her with his chicken piccata and beef burgundy. The man cooks, cleans,” she paused, raised a brow, “even does toilets. And he grocery-shops and brings her fresh flowers every day. I think he irons, too.”

Bree sighed. “A twilight romance. I’d be happy if Brody remembered to close the toilet lid every now and again.”

What to say to that? Bree called her husband a “man’s man” and maybe that was true, though Cash and Nate had other thoughts on Brody Kinkaid and his Neanderthal tactics. But Bree loved him, had always loved him, and she’d take her last breath professing that love.

“Do you think your mother will stay at Will’s?” Bree set aside five blue almonds. “Maybe
even get married?”

Gina interrupted before Tess could answer. “Nobody’s getting married before Tess. And we’re not talking about anybody getting married until after Tess and Cash tie the knot.” She pinned Bree with a “do you understand?” look.

“Okay, just asking.” Bree patted her very large belly and sighed. “There’s a special someone out there for every person walking this earth, and I think it’s wonderful when the stars bring them together.”

Of course Gina was not about to let that go. “Not everyone is looking for that special someone. There are a lot of people who are perfectly happy by themselves.”

Bree cast her a “You don’t really mean that” look and popped another almond in her mouth.

They’d been working on the wedding checklist for the past two nights.
Tess’s old house was the perfect spot since no one was around to disturb the “production and assembly” table. Christine had replaced Gina as the organizer with the spreadsheets, but Gina still liked to keep the details streamlined and the production process going. Bree, on the other hand, was not a piece worker. She gabbed, stopped, popped a blue Jordan almond in her mouth, rubbed her belly, took a bathroom break. Still the same Bree. A few months ago, Tess could not have imagined she’d be sitting with her friends, working on arrangements for a wedding she thought would never happen. It had been years coming, but in three days she would marry Daniel Casherdon, the only man she ever loved.

Since the afternoon in the driveway where they’d professed their love, witnessed by the now “almost friendly” Edith Finnegan, Tess and Cash had opened up to each other and shared their dreams, their hopes, even their fears. Would there be a baby? If not, an adoption? Was Cash really okay with the not knowing? He was.
Cash eventually told her the real reason he left the force in Philly, how he’d hesitated the night he was shot because the shooter reminded him of JJ. He’d never confessed that truth to anyone else but he’d needed to share it with her.

L
ove and trust opened up so many possibilities. Cash talked about working with Nate in the furniture business and how he’d come up with a few ideas to expand the business. He thought Tess’s sales knowledge could help market their products and Nate liked the idea. So did she. He’d also shared his desire to start a youth camp for troubled kids with her help and Will’s, probably Nate and Christine’s too.
Your uncle might not have had kids of his own, but he’s been a father and a mentor to me. I want to do the same. If he hadn’t given me a chance, I’d have gone down a different road.
He’d paused, held her gaze.
And not a good one
. Once the wedding and the honeymoon to Niagara Falls were over, they’d begin mapping out serious plans for the camp. He’d even talked about a dog or two…
Rescues
, he’d said with a big grin.
Just like us
.

When the doorbell rang a half
-hour later, Tess, Bree, and Gina looked at each other, mouths pinched, their eyes wide. Eight years ago, Bree had opened the door to a bloody and desperate Cash.

Christine must have sensed their fear because she pushed back her chair and said, “I’ll get it.” She moved toward the door and opened it
. Cash stood on the other side, a big smile on his face, and he was not alone.

“
Happy almost Wedding Day!” Cash, Nate, Brody, and Cash’s buddy, Ben Reed, barreled through the door with a bouquet of pink and white balloons, two bottles of wine, a huge box of chocolate meltaways, and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. The latter had clearly been opened and enjoyed if the flushed faces and grins were any indication.

Brody
’s baritone filled the room as he sang “Truly” a cappella. Cash made his way to Tess, leaned over, and kissed her long and slow. Nate grabbed Christine’s hand and led her to Olivia’s piano, where he sat down and patted the seat beside him. Christine slid next to her husband and kissed him. Brody moved toward his wife and pulled her to her feet as he belted out the love ballad. Gina scratched her jaw, caught Ben Reed watching her, and turned her back to him. When Nate began playing “I Will Always Love You” they all gathered round, joining in the song of love, commitment, and forever.

Cash slung his arm around Tess’s waist as they swayed to the music, her head on his shoulder,
as he softly sang in her ear. Oh, yes, the men had been doing a bit of celebrating. Cash didn’t sing in the shower but he was singing now; so was Nate, which was as funny as it was endearing and really should be videotaped. No one had the nerve to do it and face Nate Desantro’s wrath tomorrow. So they’d commit this night to memory and pull it out years from now, faded, worn, but still capable of pulling a smile from their faces. Five songs later, Ben opened the bottles of wine and filled Olivia Carrick’s juice glasses. Bree abstained, for obvious reasons. “Let’s toast,” Ben said, “to the future Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Casherdron; may they enjoy long nights and long lives together.”

“May they create memories every day,” Bree added, saluting them with her bottle of water.

“And every night.” Brody whistled and cheered.

Christine raised her glass. “May they find true peace and contentment
.”

“And learn tolerance and patience,” Nate said,
with a grin, stroking the piano keys.

Gina was the
last one to offer a toast. She raised her glass, looked at Cash and Tess, and said in a quiet voice filled with conviction, “It’s been a long road back to each other, but you’ve made it because you belong together, because true love never gives up and never dies.” She paused and her dark eyes grew bright. “Open your arms and your hearts and embrace the journey.”

And three days later that’s exactly what
they did.