Broken (4 page)

If he were going to do this, he needed to be subtle, persuasive. Hell, he needed to dry out. Get in shape. Really live instead of simply going through the motions.

For a moment, Max wavered. Was Cassidy really worth the effort it would take to win her? He snorted. Clearly his brain must be more pickled than he’d thought. Did he even need to ask? This is the woman he’d been tying himself in knots over for more than two years. Of course she was worth everything he had to give and more.

Max spent the hours until dawn formulating a game plan.

One month later…

C
lean-shaven and sober, Max sat in West Chester, parked in the driveway of a moderately sized Ranch-styled brick home sitting on a nice sized lot. The property deed stated the house belonged to one Cassidy Brannon. This home was a far cry from the sophisticated one in Philly she and Phillip had owned. This one had the feel of being deep in the middle of farm country rather than the heart of a bustling metropolis.

Max noted with some concern the specially built wheelchair ramp leading from the driveway to the front door. He took another look around. From the large, double-car paved driveway leading to a one-car garage, the ramp, and the gently sloping property, this place had to have been purchased with American Disability’s Act accommodations in mind.

It was quiet, still early for a Sunday morning. The neighborhood consisted of five spacious lots on one block. From the records he knew the three-bedroom, two-bath home sat on a half-acre lot. He didn’t see Cassidy’s vehicle but assumed it was in the garage.

Max wiped sweaty palms on his black jeans. He hadn’t called ahead and had no idea what his reception would be. His main focus was on seeing Cassidy and gaining access into the home. His odds of re-establishing a relationship with her increased every minute she didn’t shove him out the door.

Taking a deep breath, he exited the car and went to ring the bell. Desperately wishing for a drink to steady his nerves, Max sternly reminded himself he no longer drank. At least, he didn’t drink the hard stuff. His limit was a beer a day, when he allowed himself to indulge.

The fancy wood door suddenly swung inward, and Cassidy stood on the other side of the glass storm door, her pretty brown eyes gazing at him in a combination of shock and puzzlement. “Max? What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

Here goes nothing
, he thought. “Hi. I know this is unexpected, but can we talk?”

Puzzlement turned into wariness in a blink of the eye. “Talk about what?” she asked, her tone cautious and guarded.

“May I come inside?” he asked.

She glanced over her shoulder into the interior of the house. Max experienced a flare of panic. What if she wasn’t alone? What if she’d already found a lover? When she turned to him and reached reluctantly for the door latch, he quietly exhaled in relief.

She shoved the door opened and Max caught it before it could swing shut. Cassidy turned and walked into the living room. As he watched, Max didn’t see any sign of the limp she’d displayed the other night. Glancing around, he noted the fancy walking stick propped near the door within easy reach. So, she didn’t always depend on it, he thought.

Cassidy wore the familiar yoga pants, blue this time, and one of the simple tanks he remembered her favoring during their time together. Her glossy brown hair was pulled into a messy ponytail. Those narrow feet he used to nibble on were bare. It was now even more evident she’d lost weight. Her curvy hips were less full and even her apple-sized breasts appeared smaller. Before she could turn and notice him checking her out, he switched his gaze to examine the house.

The house had an open floor plan, gleaming wood floors, and vaulted ceilings. He noticed a fireplace in one section of the room he imaged would get plenty of use come winter. There was a flat screen television mounted on the wall above it.

The furniture was a deep rich brown. It was, in fact, a blending of the furniture she’d had in her apartment and the furniture she’d purchased with Phillip. She’d used accent pillows and throws in jeweled-tone colors to tie everything together. The effect was cool and comfortable.

There was no clutter anywhere. Here and there he saw signs a small child occupant. Children’s books stacked neatly in a corner of a bookshelf, low where little hands could reach. The high chair cozied up to the kitchen table. One small shoe stuck out from under the couch.

Cassidy sat in a recliner, leaving him the option of sitting across the room from her in the matching armchair or closer to her on the couch. He chose the sofa. Once seated on its edge, he turned to face her, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his thighs. “I want to apologize,” he began.

She stiffened, her spine going rigid as she seemed to brace herself. “For?”

Max took a deep breath. This was it. Her reaction to his apology would set the tone for how he proceeded from this point forward. “I wasn’t told about the accident, about your injuries. Had I known, I would have flown home and been there for you, if you allowed me to,” he said as sincerely as he knew how.

For a minute, some ugly emotion crossed Cassidy’s face. “Because we were once
friends
?” While he was still trying to understand the biting sarcasm in her tone, she closed her eyes briefly, and when she reopened them, he could see her remorse. “I’m sorry. Not only was it uncalled for, it wasn’t fair of me. I promised you if you changed your mind waiting for me or decided you wanted someone else, I wouldn’t hold it against you.” She sighed. “There’s no need to apologize, Max. It is what it—”

“Hold up. Back up.” He had his hand up like a cop in a demand for silence. “What the hell do you mean, if
I
changed
my
mind? You’re the one who decided to stay with Phillip,” he said, outraged she was trying to shift the blame of their separation onto him.

Cassidy stared at him blankly. Then she tilted her head to the side, a frown marring her beautiful face. “Remaining with Phillip was never an option. You know that.” Even her voice showed her confusion.

“No, that’s not true,” he said, adamant now. “I waited for you to call me and tell me Phillip had signed the divorce papers and they’d been filed, just as we’d agreed. Hell, when a year passed with no word, I went searching through public records for proof that you’d filed, even if the dissolution wasn’t final.”

Cassidy shifted like she wanted to get up and pace the way she used to when agitated. “Max,” she said his name slowly, patiently as though explaining something to a child. “Phillip died before I could convince him to sign the paperwork. However, I did call,
before
the accident. When Nicco first told me you said our relationship was a mistake and you hoped I’d understand, I didn’t believe him. I tried calling your cell, but you’d changed numbers. You’d quit your job and moved. I finally got the message.” A little bitterness seeped into her tone at the end though it didn’t show in her expression.

Max jumped to his feet. “No, no, no, no! I never said any of that, and I damned sure didn’t ask Nicco to,” he denied hotly. It felt like a flaming red poker burned in his belly.

Cassidy shrugged, trying to brush it off even as her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “It doesn’t matter now. You moved on with your life and I’ve moved on with mine. You have a wife and I—”

“
Why the hell does everyone keep saying that
?” he exploded, shoving both hands through his wildly curling hair, knocking the tie securing it at his nape loose. He planted his hands on his hips and leaned forward aggressively to convey in no uncertain terms, “I am not, nor have I ever been, married.”

Cassidy’s eyes grew wide and her mouth gaped before she quickly snapped it shut. Her tawny complexion paled. Finally, she shook her head, closed her shadowed eyelids, and brought a trembling hand to her forehead. “I should have known,” she muttered.

He threw himself down on the sofa. “Enlighten me, ’cause I don’t know what the hell is going on around here. The last message I had from you said you wouldn’t be calling until everything was over. That Phillip was getting suspicious and you needed to be careful. That was in December, around Christmas.” 

Cassidy kept her head lowered, but he could see tears trailing down her cheeks. “That message didn’t come from me. Phillip
had
been suspicious, but he limited himself to random phone checks to make sure you weren’t calling or texting me. That, and dropping by the apartment at all hours of the night to make sure you weren’t there.”

Slowly, she dropped her hand to her lap and lifted her chin. The pain in her eyes was staggering. His breath caught in response. “In the beginning, I phoned once a week. I didn’t text because… Well, I just told you why. When Nicco asked me to cut back, I switched to every other week. More and more my calls went to voicemail. Finally, in February, he answered and said he’d been dodging my calls because he hadn’t known how to break the news he knew would hurt me. Then he told me what you’d said. When I asked why you’d left him to do your dirty work, he said you hadn’t wanted to cause trouble between me and Phillip. You know the rest.” Cassidy sank into the cradle of her chair as though the telling had exhausted her.

 Max rose and stalked to the door. Fury and betrayal stabbed knives into his gut. “Nicco lied,” he said hoarsely, almost choking on the words. When he felt he had more control, he turned to face Cassidy who watched him carefully. “I never gave him a message to give to you. I’d been going out of my mind, worrying, wondering and,” he admitted, though it didn’t show him in the best light, “jealous as hell that Phillip could see you, be with you, and talk with you when I couldn’t. I changed my phone number because some damned scam artist got hold of my account and ran the bill up into the thousands. The only way to clear it was to change the number. I instructed Nicco to give you the new one.”

He began to pace the room, though Cassidy was the pacer. He had too much energy to stand still. “If you’ll remember, I’d already turned in my thirty-day resignation before we split, because working in the same law firm as Phillip was causing problems. Knowing he was the reason we weren’t together only made it worse. I had to leave town or jeopardize everything you were working for. Yet another message Nicco was supposed to pass along. I spent time traveling to all the places I’d wanted to see. Remember I told you once that, other than the occasional vacation, I’d never really been anywhere?”

Cassidy nodded.

“I traveled, making what amounted to little more than pit stops here in Philly until our agreed upon year was up. Then I came home. I think I lost my mind when I realized the divorce hadn’t gone through.” No “think” about it. He had gone a little crazy, but no sense admitting that to her.

She hugged herself as though trying to find comfort. “He didn’t give me your phone number. All I knew is that you were gone. A few weeks later, we were in the accident, and I was too busy fighting for my life to cry over the pain your leaving caused.”

Max clenched his hands at his side at the reminder she’d almost died.

Cassidy took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with the back of one hand. “I knew your family disapproved of our relationship. I didn’t realize they’d go to such lengths to keep us apart.”

Max still couldn’t wrap his brain around it. “Are you sure Nicco said I—”

“Very sure,” she said firmly, interrupting him.

He turned on one foot and strode for the door. “I need air.”

Outside, he stood on the ramp, looking across the yard to the field across the street. There had to be some kind of mistake. Maybe, despite her protestations to the contrary, Cassidy had misunderstood. She’d been under a lot of pressure at the time. Nicco wouldn’t deliberately sabotage his relationship with Cassidy. In fact, of all his siblings, Nicco was the one who liked Cassidy the most. He knew how much Max loved her. How important Cassidy was to him. He simply couldn’t believe…

Max began walking down the driveway to the road, needing to clear his head. Of the eight children his parents had birthed, he and Nicco were nearest in age, being less than a year apart. Nicco was the one he was closest to, the one he spoke to when he couldn’t talk to anyone else. Nicco couldn’t have, wouldn’t have betrayed him like this.
Would he
?

Frowning, Max ran through all the conversations he’d had with his brother concerning Cassidy. Nicco had always defended Cassidy and been protective of her. When jealousy had caused Max to blow up with Cassidy and make an ass of himself, it had been Nicco who had convinced Max he was the one in the wrong and told him to apologize.

In fact…

Max stopped walking as another memory surfaced. Two months into their separation, Max had been slowly going out of his mind. Even his new startup business hadn’t been enough to distract him from what might be going on between Phillip and Cassidy. Max had been desperate to see her, to touch her and assure himself she was still his. Christmas was the time to be with those you loved, and there was no one he loved more than Cassidy.

He’d asked Nicco to set up a meet. Max would have settled for some place public, like a restaurant or library. Even he didn’t trust himself to be alone with her after being so long without her. Nicco had argued against it.

“Cassidy said Phillip is already suspicious she’s been in contact with you. Are you trying to sabotage her?”

Max had run his hand through his hair, frustration in every move. “No, I just… I don’t know how much longer I can continue like this. Are you sure she hasn’t called, texted? Anything?”

His brother slowly shook his head. “She sent a text around Thanksgiving. I haven’t heard a word since.”

Something was wrong. Max could feel it. He’d said as much to Nicco
.

“Nothing’s wrong. You know what Phillip’s like. How do you know he doesn’t have someone watching her twenty-four/seven? Cassidy loves you. You know she does, but she’s trying to keep custody of her child. I’m sure this is much harder on her than it is you.”