Beyond the Breaking Point (10 page)

Cassidy pushed thoughts of Phillip out of her mind as she toted the empty boxes inside her hotel room, filled them again, and reloaded them into her SUV. This time she hauled them up to the apartment and left them in their appropriate area. It would give her something to do tomorrow while she waited.

At the elevator, Cassidy reached for her phone again, and this time she didn’t stop herself from sending Erika a text.
I’m home. Need a shoulder. Dillan’s tonight @ 8
?

Before she reached her vehicle, her phone rang. “Hel—”

“What are you doing home? You’re supposed to be sunning in sunny Florida! I was looking forward to my souvenir,” Erika demanded.

“Change of plans,” she said brightly, not wanting to get into it over the phone. “So, you free?”

There was silence on the other end. Then Erika asked in a quiet voice, “Cassidy, what’s wrong?”

Cassidy leaned against her SUV, blinking rapidly against sudden tears.
Where’d they come from
? “I left Phillip. I spent today moving into my new apartment,” she said, dropping the artificially cheerful voice.

“Scum-sucking bastard! Whatever happened, I know it was his fault. Listen, let me call Dave and arrange for him to pick up Macey. They can have a father/daughter night while you and I hang out. Deal?”

“Deal. And Erika, thanks.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

Less than ten minutes later, Erika called again. “Can you meet now? Dave said it would be no problem, and for us to take as long as we want.”

Cassidy glanced down at herself. “I’m a bit grubby from cleaning. Let me go to the hotel and take a shower. Shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

“A hotel! Cassidy Brannon, you know—” She paused, took a deep breath, and then continued in a calmer voice. “I’m going to wait for you to tell me what happened before I begin yelling. An hour’s good. It will give me time to change out of these scrubs and into some jeans. If you arrive before me, get a table for us. You know Dillan’s fills up quickly at night.”

“Will do,” Cassidy promised, feeling better already.

An hour later, a showered and changed Cassidy watched Erika stride through the restaurant’s doors. She waved a hand, catching her friend’s attention. As she neared the table, Cassidy stood and gave the much shorter, Asian woman a big hug. “You don’t know how glad I am to see you.”

“Ditto. Now what the hell is going on?” Erika demanded. She sat and immediately leaned forward, elbows on the table. Her silky black hair swung forward, almost in emphasis.

Cassidy sighed. Now that Erika was here, she didn’t know where to start. At the beginning, she supposed. Erika was familiar with both Max and Amber from the gatherings at Cassidy and Phillip’s home, so she didn’t have to waste time explaining whom anyone was.

Cassidy launched into the story without any embellishments. What happened was bad enough without her adding to it. She stayed on track, ignoring Erika’s outbursts of indignation when she got to the part about Phillip and Amber. Cassidy told her everything except for the part about her and Max having sex. Confession only went so far, even with a friend as good as Erika.

“So to sum up,” Erika said, fire in her slanted doe-brown eyes, “while you were gone, Max’s girlfriend made a play for Phillip and instead of knocking her on her ass, he lay back and took it.”

Erika’s summary forced a bitter chuckle out of Cassidy. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

“And then had the nerve to say it wasn’t his fault, that what he’d done wasn’t sex so therefore, technically, he hadn’t been caught cheating,” Erika continued, disdain dripping from every word.

Cassidy raised her virgin strawberry daiquiri that had arrived during the telling in a toast, acknowledging Erika’s brilliance. “Yep, you got it. And I didn’t even have to use big words.”

Erika’s lips lifted into a smile, recognizing Cassidy’s reference to her sometimes too- impressive vocabulary of ten-dollar words, but the eyes remained angry.  “So you came home and moved out. What’s next?”

“Divorce,” Cassidy said decisively.

“Good.” Erika nodded her approval. “You have a lawyer?”

Cassidy sighed, relaxed into her seat, and stuck out one leg into a more comfortable position, glad the hard part was over. “No,” she admitted, playing with the decoration in her drink. “My first priority was finding a place and getting my stuff out of the house before Phillip returned.”

Erika pointed her swizzle stick at Cassidy. “I’m still pissed that you didn’t call me and Dave for help.”

Cassidy pushed away the niggling of guilt she felt. “I know, but I wasn’t in any mood to speak with anyone. Not even you. Not then.”

Erika frowned and took a sip of her
Pina Colada
before waving her hand in benediction, absolving Cassidy of her transgression. “I understand. If it were me and Dave, I probably wouldn’t have been in any state to call either. Have you told your folks?”

“No, just you. Phillip doesn’t even know I’m gone.”

At this tidbit, Erika’s eyes widened with evil glee. Cassidy was surprised her friend didn’t start cackling. “Good. Serves his ass right. When’s he due home?”

Cassidy shrugged. “Don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him. He may be home now. I’ve been letting his calls go to voicemail.”

“I’d say your leaving him gets your point across loud and clear. Now about the lawyer, if you don’t have one, I have a cousin who’s a family lawyer. She’s experienced, a bulldog when it comes to her clients and she just opened her own practice, so she’s hungry for business. You want me to give her a call?”

She shook her head. “Just give me the number. I’ll call.”

After she’d programmed Erika’s cousin’s name and number into her cell phone, they sat silent for a moment. Then Cassidy said, “Since we’re here, we might as well eat.”

“Especially since I told Dave I’d be eating out.”

They spent a few minutes reviewing the menu. They’d placed their dinner order and requested refills on the drinks when Erika leaned forward again, her gaze sorrowful. She placed a hand on Cassidy’s, which rested on the table. “I’m sorry this happened, honey. I know how much you love him.”

Cassidy blinked rapidly to dispel the tears before they could fall. “Yes, I do. I wish I didn’t. It wouldn’t hurt as much.”

“You know I’m all for you getting rid of his ass, but I have to ask, have you thought this through? Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Erika’s expression showed that no matter what Cassidy’s answer, she’d stick by and support her friend, just as she’d always done.

“I’m sure. You can’t love without trust and I’d always be wondering, always be waiting for the next slip-up. I can’t live my life that way,” she said, having given the matter a lot of thought over the last few days.

“I’m here for you. Whenever you need an ear, you know you can call.”

Cassidy squeezed Erika’s hand. “Thank you.”

Erika shrugged. “That’s what friends are for.”

Chapter Six

Cassidy successfully dodged Phillip’s calls for the rest of the week. She’d listened to one of his many voicemail messages only long enough to realize he was home and pissed as hell that she wasn’t there. Asshole. As if she’d be sitting around, waiting on him. She deleted the rest.

Friday evening, Cassidy impulsively decided to reward herself. She’d earned her vacation, damn it, and she wasn’t going to let Phillip ruin it for her.

She called Erika.

“Hey, everything okay?” Erika asked upon answering.

“Just dandy. Listen, I need a huge favor. Some of my furniture isn’t being delivered until tomorrow morning at ten. Is there any way you can be here to receive it?” she asked hopefully.

“Sure, but just where will you be?” Erika asked, sounding amused and puzzled at the same time.

“In Atlantic City, treating myself to a spa weekend.”

“Ooh, now I’m jealous as hell. You know that’s the kind of thing you should experience with a friend,” Erika chided.

“Yeah, but if you’re with me, who’s going to be here for the delivery? I wouldn’t trust just anyone with the key to my apartment, and besides, with anyone else I’d have to explain what’s going on between me and Phillip,” Cassidy said, frowning. A weekend with Erika sounded like a lot of fun, and just the thing she needed to de-stress.

“Damn,” Erika said, sounding disappointed. “What about Dave? He’d do it.”

“You don’t even know if he’ll agree to let you go. Besides, if he’s here, who’ll be watching Macey?”

“Damn, there is that. Tell you what, let me see if my loving hubby will go for me having a girl’s weekend out. Then I’ll call Mom and see if she can watch the rug rat, that way we’ll both have some ‘me’ time.”

“While you’re doing that, there is one person I can call,” Cassidy said slowly, thinking of Max. If he wasn’t busy, he’d do it for her.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Get busy. Atlantic City is calling.”

Cassidy laughed. “All right already. I’ll call you in about fifteen minutes.”

After wiping sweaty palms on her hands, she scrolled through her contacts and dialed Max’s number. It rang a few times and then he spoke, “Cassidy? It’s good to hear from you.”

“Hi, Max. How’s it going?”

She could almost see him shrug. “It’s going. What about you?”

She swallowed, took a deep breath, and then plunged in. “That’s why I’m calling. I need a favor.”

“Sure, whatever you need.”

“Um, I moved out, like I said I would. The thing is, I’m expecting a furniture delivery tomorrow, but Erika and I are trying to arrange a girl’s getaway out of town. I know it’s a huge imposition—”

“Cass,” he interrupted gently, “I already said I would. Just tell me where and what time.”

“Oh!” Stunned senseless, she couldn’t speak for a moment.

“Cass?” he prompted.

“I’m sorry, Max. Your easy agreement caught me by surprise,” she explained.

“I offered to help you move. Since it seems you’ve already handled that part of it, this is the least I can do.”

“Thanks, Max.” She gave him her address, apartment number, and the time of the delivery. “I’ll leave a spare with the Super. You’ll need this code to get in the door downstairs.” She rattled it off once he gave the go-ahead.

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather come get it tonight. That way you can show me where you want everything.”

“Oh, okay.” She glanced nervously around her almost-empty apartment. “What time should I expect you?”

“I’m not too far from there. Give me about twenty minutes.”

“See you then,” she said.

“Later.”

Cassidy sat on her bed, her bedroom being the only room with furniture, and contemplated seeing Max again. Max, in her space. A shiver shot through her. She was calling it nerves but deep in the part of herself she didn’t want to acknowledge, feared it was something else entirely.

The sudden blare of the phone caught her by surprise and she jumped. Erika. “Yes, ma’am?”

“We’re on! Mom’s going to watch Macey, and Dave said he’d be happy to take your delivery for you,” Erika said excitedly.

Cassidy smiled at her enthusiasm. “Tell Dave thanks but never mind. I found someone. In fact, he’s on his way over here now.”

“He?” Erika pounced on the word.

“Max. He offered to help me move, but I didn’t call him. Now he’s on his way over to pick up the key and see how I want things set up.”
Shut up
, she commanded herself.
You’re over-explaining.

“Hmm…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cassidy asked defensively.

“Oh, nothing. I thought Max was Phillip’s friend, not yours,” Erika said, sounding like she was drawing conclusions.

“Let’s just say Max and I had one hell of a bonding experience and leave it at that,” Cassidy said wryly.

“Okay, if you say so,” Erika said speculatively.

“I do. His almost-fiancée, my husband, caught cheating together,” Cassidy reminded her pointedly.

Erika laughed. “I’m just teasing, Cassidy. Don’t get bent out of shape. If you and Max did have something going…well, who could blame you? Besides, he’s a nice guy. You could do worse.”

“If I were looking for someone, that would be true,” Cassidy supposed.

“We have the whole weekend to discuss men.” Erika squealed. “I’m so excited. How soon can we leave?”

Cassidy glanced at her watch. “I should be to your house in an hour, hour and a half at the latest. Will that work?”

“Sure does. Gives me time to pack and make sure things are situated on my end. Atlantic City, here I come!”

Now Cassidy was the one laughing. The knock at the door came quicker than expected. “Got to go. Max is here and I haven’t packed yet.”

“See you in a bit.”

Cassidy tossed the phone to the side. Crossing to the mirror, she tugged on her shirt, ran trembling fingers through her hair and wondered briefly if she had time to throw on some makeup. Appalled, her hand froze in mid-air.
What are you thinking? This is Max. Get it together and stop primping.

He knocked again, calling out, “Cass, it’s me, Max.”

“Coming!”
Oh yeah, does that man know how to make you come
, her libido whispered.

Stop it!
she commanded and shoved all thoughts of Max and sex out of her mind. Or tried. Cassidy flipped open the locks and tugged open the door, bracing her weight against it. “Max!”

He glanced at the small opening and her body, which blocked part of it. Lifting a brow, he asked, “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

Cassidy flushed all the way to her hairline. Slapping a hand on her hot cheek, she said, “Yes, come in. I don’t know what I was thinking,” she lied. She was thinking that Max looked entirely too good and sexy in snug black jeans and equally black pullover that outlined every bulge and muscle in faithful detail. It was all she could do not to allow her eyes to roam.

She stepped to the side and widened the opening. As Max passed by, she couldn’t stop herself from checking out the rearview. She’d held those tight glutes in her hands as he’d pumped into her. Marred that muscular back with her nails. Absently she wondered if the scratches had healed.