Beyond the Breaking Point (12 page)

“I was going to say you’re in the process of getting divorced from a man who never deserved you. Why not give Max a chance?” Erika continued steadily, as though Cassidy had never spoken.

“Reason number one,” Cassidy ticked them off on her fingers, “getting divorced is just another way of saying still married. Number two, Max was Phillip’s best friend. That’s wrong on so many levels, I don’t even want to contemplate it. And reason number three, both of us were hurt by this. I don’t want to compound the hurt by being his rebound fling or he mine. He loved Amber. You should have seen his face when he found the right ring. He was excited. You don’t get over feelings like that in a day, or a week, no matter what the other party has done.”

“You’ve got a point. I thought it would be nice if you had someone. Then you could rub it in Phillip’s face and say, ‘Ha! Didn’t need you after all, buddy’.”

Cassidy laughed. “As tempting as that sounds, it’s not worth it. I know some people believe the best way to get over an old love is to find a new one. I’m not one of them. I don’t think it’s fair to either party. Phillip and I were together over ten years when you add in dating time. That’s a long time to be connected to one person. I need time to grieve. Time to get used to being single again before I throw my hat out into the dating ring and start looking around.”

“That’s what you say now, but when word gets out that you’re free again, men are going to come knocking. What will you do then?” Erika asked seriously.

Cassidy twirled her wedding ring, round and round on her finger. “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

“Then, my friend, I suggest you figure it out and do so quickly. You know how Temple is. Once word spreads that you’re on the market, you’re going to have doctors coming on to you from every which direction,” Erika warned.

She pondered her friend’s words the rest of the drive into A.C.

Chapter Seven

There was nothing like a few days of self-indulgent, extravagant pampering in luxurious surroundings to put a woman in a happy state of mind, Cassidy thought. That pleasure was doubled when shared with a friend as easygoing as Erika.

“That was, hands down, the most amazing mini-vacation I’ve ever had,” Erika said with a satisfied sigh as they headed back to Philly.

“Definitely worth every penny I spent,” Cassidy agreed.

“Thanks for inviting me to tag along.”

Cassidy snorted, flicking an amused glance at her friend who slouched in the passenger seat like a very attractive, Asian slug. “You invited yourself,” she reminded her.

“You would have asked me to come. I just saved you the trouble,” Erika assured her.

Cassidy couldn’t help but laugh at her. “Thanks for coming. I would have enjoyed myself without you—it was totally relaxing and I so needed it—but having you with me to share it made it that much better.”

“What can I say? That’s what…”

“…friends are for,” Cassidy finished with her, grinning.

“So what do you have planned for the last few remaining hours of your vacation? And when am I going to see this apartment of yours?” Erika demanded

It was still early afternoon. They’d left Atlantic City after eating a late-morning brunch. “You can come over now and get a look at my new furniture. In fact, why don’t you call Dave, have him get Macey, and you three can be my first official guests in my new place.”

When Erika failed to immediately respond, Cassidy glanced over in surprise. Erika was always up for socializing. She lived for gatherings. “Erika?”

“I’m thinking. On the surface it sounds like a great idea, but I wonder how much of this spontaneity of yours is due to you not wanting to be alone with Max.”

“Max? What’s he got to do with anything?” Cassidy asked, completely bewildered.

“Well,” Erika drawled, “he has your keys. He has to return said keys to you. I’m thinking maybe you’d like us there as a buffer, to keep things from getting out of hand between you and him in that empty apartment with that brand-new queen-sized bed of yours. After all, the only thing that could top off a weekend as great as this is a night of fantastic sex.”

Cassidy punched Erika on the forearm.

“Ow!”

“Stop that!”

“Stop what?” Erika asked, but she was grinning mischievously when she said it.

“Stop matchmaking,” Cassidy ordered. “You are prohibited from trying to fix me up.”

“But—”

“No,” Cassidy said as firmly as she knew how. Her friend was an incurable romantic. “I
told
you there’s nothing between me and Max. You’re not allowed to go putting ideas in my head, trying to make it more than it is. This is not one of your romance novels, Erika. It’s my life.”

“But…” Erika sputtered.

“No buts. I mean it. I’ll deal with this thing with Max and Phillip in my own time, and in my own way.”

Erika immediately pounced. “So you’re admitting there’s a thing between you and Max?”

“No! I’m not,” Cassidy said, almost shouting. She clenched the steering wheel so tightly, her knuckles showed white. She loved her friend, but Erika could make her crazy at times. She took a deep breath and said in a much-calmer voice, “Erika, if you love me at all, if you have compassion and caring in you and don’t want to see our friendship damaged beyond repair, don’t do this.”

Erika was silent for a long time. “You’re very sensitive about what happened with Max. I can’t even tease you,” she griped.

“Are you sure it’s just teasing?” Cassidy asked.

“Well, yeah,” Erika said.

Cassidy shook her head and then sighed. “Erika, try putting yourself in my position. Imagine if it had been Dave caught cheating on you. Then you compounded the situation by having drunken sex with Dave’s best friend. How would you feel if I keep bringing the incident up, teasing and trying to push you and the best friend together, all while you were still trying to deal with what happened with Dave?”

“First, Dave’s best friend is a female, which would totally make me gay, or at least bi, but I get what you’re saying. No, I wouldn’t be happy about things or in a mood to be teased, even if Shelly is totally hot.”

When Cassidy slid a narrow-eyed glance in her direction, Erika held up her hands in surrender and laughed. “I’m joking about the last part. I do totally get where you’re coming from, so I’ll show a tremendous strength of will and stop trying to make everything better by finding you a new man, even if I do think you and Max would make a totally killer couple. My God, the sexual chemistry between you must be totally off the charts.”

Cassidy replayed it all through her mind to make sure Erika said what Cassidy thought she had. Satisfied Erika had promised to stop the teasing and matchmaking and ignoring the part about her and Max, she said, “Good. Now call Dave. We’ll stop by the store and pick up tonight’s menu and while we’re at it, grab a couple of those Red Box movies.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Erika agreed, reaching for her phone.

Later in Wal-Mart, she texted Max as promised.

In town. At Wal-Mart, getting dinner fixings. You’re invited
.  

Courtesy demanded Cassidy invite Max to join her impromptu dinner party. She did owe him a big thank-you for doing her a favor, she thought as she swiped the screen. Then another thought occurred and she quickly keyed in another text.

Impromptu dinner and movie with friends. U R welcome to join us.

In the checkout line she told Erika, “I texted Max and invited him to join us. It’s the least I can do after the way he helped me.”

Erika’s expression held a touch of playful wickedness, but all she did was hum her agreement.

Max, slouched on the couch with a bag of chips on his left and a two-liter of Pepsi on his right, scowled when the phone rang. Glancing at the screen, he grunted when he saw who was calling and tossed his cell phone onto the coffee table where his bare feet were propped. Three calls later, Max realized ignoring the problem wouldn’t make it go away. Not this time. Phillip was determined to speak to him and had apparently decided to keep calling until Max answered.

Muttering a curse under his breath, Max answered with, “What?”

“Have you seen or talked with Cassidy?” Phillip asked without preamble.

“What’s the matter? Lost your wife?” Max asked with grim amusement.

“When I got home she was gone. Packed up her stuff and left. She’s not answering her phone, her folks don’t know where she is, and if her friends know, none of them are talking. You were my last resort,” Phillip said, angry frustration in every word.

“Maybe she finally realized what an S.O.B. you really are,” Max suggested mildly.

“What the hell is your problem?”

“I assume you mean other than the obvious,” he asked.

Phillip sputtered. “You should be thanking me. I told you she was no good from the beginning. It took a while for her true colors to show, but at least now you know truth
before
you married the bitch.”

“Amber may have been a bitch, but she was
my
bitch, and you had no right putting a hand on her. I don’t give a damn what she did. We were friends. What you did was wrong. Bottom of the barrel, scum-sucking slim wrong,” Max announced in his coldest voice.

“Look, I already said I was wrong. You’re right. It was uncalled for. I hope one day we can get past it but right now, I’m concerned with the whereabouts of my wife. Are you sure you haven’t heard from Cassidy?” Phillip asked, sounding a bit desperate.

Under other circumstances, Max would have felt sorry for him. Instead, he took perverse pleasure in asking, “Why would your wife call me?”

 “She wouldn’t, but I’m running out of options.”

“My advice? Leave her alone. When she’s ready to talk, she’ll call you.” His doorbell pealed.  “Got to go. Someone’s at the door.”

“If you do hear from her, ask her to call me. Please,” Phillip said.

“Sure, man. Whatever.” Max disconnected the call and headed for the door. Standing outside was the other piece of unfinished business in his life—Amber.

Opening the door, he said, “Your stuff’s boxed up and in the den,” and turned to go back to his game.

“Max!” she cried out. He could hear her feet fast-stepping as she chased after him. “Can’t we discuss this?”