Following Your Heart (Love Conquers All) (12 page)

Cassie shook her
head; she didn't understand where Courtney was going with the story.  “That doesn't explain about today and what happened between you and Brad.  I can't lie, I saw Seth hugging you.”

“He was just consoling me.  When we went out to eat for lunch, a discussion was brought up about Rebecca, Seth, and you.”

“Courtney, that's nuts.  I will call Brad right now and tell him that I am not trying to come between anyone.  I couldn't come between them; he obviously loves her if they're getting married.”

“He does love her, but you really need to talk to Seth.”

“I will tomorrow after church.  We're going on a picnic.  We'll be alone and we can have a conversation.  Tomorrow when you see Brad, you need to talk to him.  If you want me to say something, I will.”

“No, that's alright.  I don't think I'm going to church.  Brad may just need some time away from
things; away from me...I'm going to give him that.”

“He doesn't know what he's doing.  I am sure it's not you he needs time away from.  By the sound of it, it's me.  I am so sorry, I had no idea.  He will soon understand that Seth and I both know that everything's in the past.”  Cassie thought for a moment and grimaced.  “I guess Seth and I will have to play it coy tomorrow.  We can't exactly make him believe nothing is going on when we're going on a picnic.  Maybe it isn't a good idea.”

“No!  You have to do this, promise me you won't change your plans.”

“Okay, but we'll just make sure he doesn't notice us leaving together.” Courtney sighed heavily, bringing Cassie to wonder what that was all about.  “I'll leave you to rest, you need it.  Do you need anything?”

“No, I think I'm just going to lie down for awhile.  Wedding planning is tiring.”

Cassie smiled, “Okay, holler if you want something.”

When she closed the door, she thought about their conversation.  There was nothing going on and what Rebecca and Seth had, it obviously was special.  Brad would understand; she would be upset if she caused a distance between them.  There was no way that was going to happen.

_________________________

Seth walked into his parent's house and was relieved to see that they were both at the jewelry shop.  He took a seat and pulled out his cell phone.  Dialing the number, he suddenly became worried.  He hadn't talked to her since the night she called the wedding off.  When she answered he thought about hanging up.  “Hello?  Seth...are you there?”

“Uh...hi, Rebecca.”

“Hello, this is a surprise.”

“How are you doing?”  He wasn't one to make small talk, but he had to approach the subject carefully.

“I'm doing well. How about you?”

“I'm doing alright.”

He paused for a moment and almost made a lame excuse to disconnect the call.  “That's good.”  She replied quietly and by the uneasy silence, he knew she had to be confused.  “Um...did you need something?  I mean, you're more than welcome to call me out of the blue, but...”

“Yeah, you're right...it's a little weird?”

Rebecca chuckled, “To say the least.”

“Well you're not off base.  I do need something.”

There was another silence and then he heard her clear her throat.  “Okay.”

“Today, I
kind of got into it with your brother.”

“What happened?”

He questioned if he wanted to tell her the entire truth.  “He asked what happened between us.  He wanted to know who broke up with whom and the reasons behind it.”

“Okay...” she didn't continue so he went on.

“I explained to him that you had the final decision and you chose to end the engagement.”

“That's right.”

“However, your brother is upset with me because he thinks it is all about Cassie.”

“So, he thinks that you're the jerk that hurt his little sister?”

“Something like that.”

“Seth, I never expected any of this to happen.  I just was tired of having to compete with your first love.”

He felt a pain shoot through him.  “I am sorry that I made you feel that way.  I really just wanted you to be happy and felt loved.  I never...”

“Seth, I did.  I felt a love from you and I know that if I would have continued with the wedding planning and went through with it...you would have made me the luckiest girl in the world.  That wasn't fair to you and that's why I broke off the engagement.  You deserve to be happy, that I know for sure.  So do I and I want to find someone that loves me and only me.”

Seth was relieved to hear her say that.  “My concern is that Brad got on Courtney's case, saying she was defending Cassie.  Cassie is back in town and once Courtney learned we had broken up, she has tried to play matchmaker.  However...”

“Have you told her?”

“No, Cassie doesn't know we're no longer getting married.”

“Well, I love my brother.  I do, but he has no right getting on your case or Courtney's case.  I will talk to him.  As soon as we get off the phone, I'll give him a call.  I'll make him realize that it isn't your fault.  You can't control who you fall in love with first and I'll make it right.”

“I hate to ask you to do that, but...”

“Don't give it a thought.  In a way, this is my fault.”

“I wouldn't go that far.”

“I would, but don't worry.  It will be fine.  It was good talking with you Seth.”

“Likewise Rebecca, bye.”  He disconnected the call and let out a long breath, which he didn't realize he was holding.  This had to work; only time would tell.

Cassie looked over at the pew across from
her; Seth had come in late and slid into the only empty spot.  She was so focused on watching him, that she didn't notice when the pastor had finished talking and everyone was starting to leave.  “Cassie, are you staying here all day?”  Her mother teased.

“No, I was just thinking.”  Cassie replied, quickly getting up.

“I'm sure you were.”

Cassie shot her a look, “Mom, don't start.  I guess I'll have Seth bring me home after the picnic.”

“Okay, we'll see you later.”

Cassie left the church and waited for Seth in the church yard.  She was doing well avoiding Brad and she wanted to keep it that way.  She thought she had missed Seth, because it seemed like forever, but finally she saw him exit the church.  When he looked at her he smiled and then headed her way.  “Hey Cass, I'm parked over here.” 

They were heading towards his truck, when Cassie saw Brad heading their way.  She saw Seth hesitate before stopping and waiting for Brad to reach them.  “Hey guys.”

“Brad.”  Seth replied, Cassie noticed the nervousness in his voice.

“Hello Brad,” Cassie didn't want to make things worse, but it was too late to deny they were about to leave together.

“Where's Courtney?”  Brad asked directing his attention to Cassie.

“She didn't feel well.”

“Oh, sorry to hear that.  Seth, can I talk to you for a moment?”

He nodded and turned to Cassie.  “I'll wait by the truck.”

He mouthed his thanks and she headed to the truck.  She wanted to hear what they were saying, but she knew that Seth would tell her if he wanted her to know.  She just had to trust that he would.

______________________

Seth hoped this was good news, but he was going to be prepared for the worst.  “So, are you and Cassie going somewhere?”

Seth rolled his eyes, “We're friends.  We have a right to be out in the public together.  It's not your concern, but we're taking a picnic.  I need to tell her about Rebecca and myself.”

“Do you think it will make a difference?”

Seth shrugged, “I don't know.  I guess we'll see.  Did you come over here to get on my case about Cassie?”

Brad shook his head,
and then a smile crossed his lips.  “Seth, I'm sorry.  I am Rebecca's older brother.  I owe it to her to protect her.”

“You're only a year older than
her; she doesn't need you to be overprotective.”

“I get that and when she called me last night and yelled at me, she said the same exact thing.  I apologize, really I do.  She made me realize that I had it all wrong.  I had you all wrong.  I don't want things to be awkward between us, after all you're my Best Man and that wasn't just because you were marrying my sister.  I like you Seth and I want us to still be friends.”

“I do too.”

Brad looked away in Cassie's direction.  “
She’s a great girl and once I marry her sister, she'll be family.  You better not hurt her.”

Seth laughed, “I have to first see if she would even want to pursue a relationship.  She still lives in a different state.”

“You can make it work, just tell her how it is.”  He put out his hand and Seth shook it.  “Now, I have a woman I have to go plead with to forgive me.  Take care.”  Seth watched as he walked away, it went so much better than he had hoped.  When he reached his truck he saw the concerned look on Cassie's face.

“Everything alright?”

He nodded, “Better than alright.”

He open
ed her door and she paused for a moment.  “You know, I appreciate the fact that you are being courteous with holding open doors and pulling out chairs...but, it's not necessary.”

“I know it's not.”  He replied quietly.

“Then, why do you do it?”

He smiled, “I like to.” 

The answer was simple, yet complicated.  “Okay, just wanted to know.”  She snickered as she got in the front and he closed the door on her.

“Did you have a nice night last night?”  She looked at him, caught off guard at the small talk that was taking place.

“Yes, thank you.  I'm sorry I didn't go out to eat with you guys; I heard things were tense at lunch.”

Seth was quiet for a moment and then nodded.  “Yeah, it did.  However, after talking with Brad...I'm sure everything will handle itself.”

When they pulled into the park parking lot, he was glad to see they were the only ones there.  As he opened the door for her, he felt like he could have kissed her, but he instantly wiped the thought out of his mind.  “Thank you,” she replied softly as he was inches from her.

“My pleasure;
” he smiled at her then went to the trunk and pulled out a basket and blanket.  “After you,” he stepped back and she led the way. 

She found a place under a large tree, “How about here?”

He nodded, “Works for me.”  He laid the blanket down and they sat down.

“I'm looking forward to seeing what you have packed.”

Seth laughed; “I hope I don't disappoint.”

“Never,
” He smiled to himself at the mindlessly flirting they were both doing.  He saw her look down and he figured she was thinking the same thing he was.  The redness on her cheeks was proof of that.

He opened the basket and pulled out a container.  “First off, fried chicken.”

“My favorite.”

“I remembered.”  He spoke with a grin and she just eyed the chicken.  “Then fruit salad, with lemonade and peanut butter cookies for dessert.

Cassie's eyes got big, “You did good Mr. Callahan.”

He smirked, “I have a confession.”

“Oh?”

“My mom made the fried chicken, but I squeezed the lemons.”

Cassie laughed, “I figured.  It doesn't make it any less special.  I bet Rebecca loves the little things you do.”

Seth didn't respond to her statement,   “Why don't we dig in.  When we're done we can take the stuff back to the car and have a nice long walk.  We have a lot to talk about.”  They grabbed hands and bowed their heads.  He tried to get past the pulse of her wrist against his hand.  The day could be the beginning of a new love and he wasn't going to mess that up.

____________________________

Cassie took the last drink of lemonade and smiled, “That was great Seth.  You'll have to thank your mom for me.  The lemonade wasn't bad either.”

They both laughed as they started to clean up their spot.  “I'm glad you liked it.”  She glanced at him, their eyes never wavering from each other.  She felt intensity in their stare.  He reached out and caressed her hand, it was a gentle touch and she closed to her eyes when she felt his smooth skin over hers.  Quickly she opened her eyes, realizing what easily could happen.  Pulling away her hand, she stood up.  He cleared his throat.  She sensed that he clearly felt the connection too.  “Let's take that walk.”  Cassie wrapped the blanket around her shoulders as the wind was beginning to pick up and the clouds were moving over the sun.   After Seth put the basket back in the car he walked back over to Cassie, he looked more nervous than Cassie had remembered ever seeing him.  Their steps fell into sync while they headed towards the trail.  The only sound Cassie could hear was the crunching of leaves beneath their feet.

The awkward silence was building until Cassie couldn't stand it any longer.  “So, I have been trying to find the right time to tell you this...” she began quietly. 

“Actually, let me go first...” he interrupted and Cassie was a bit relieved that she could wait a little longer to talk about Chad and her feelings.  “Cassie, the past 10 years have been of mixed emotions.  I was hurt, sad, angry, and lonely...wanting to know what went wrong between us and needing to know why it could not be fixed.  I honestly thought my life was over and when I met Rebecca...”

“You realized it was just beginning.  Seth, we don't have to go over this again.  We both agreed that it was a blessing I left, end of story.”

“Cassie,” he reached out and grabbed her hand, forcing her to stop and turn to him.  “I suppose I said that because I figured that's what you wanted.  I don't buy it.”

“I'm not following.” 

“I don't think it was a blessing that you left.  Not a day goes by that I don't think about you and wonder what could have been between us.  I have never stopped loving you Cassie and I think you feel the same way.”  Cassie's heart beat picked up speed as he moved closer to her, without thinking she allowed his lips to touch hers.  Her hand rested on his chest as they slowly kissed.

“Wait a minute,” Cassie whispered, her breathing was breathless and her eyes never left his lips.  “We can't do this.”  She pulled away, quickly moving further from him.  Thinking about the kiss and all of the memories rushing back to her, she made sure to keep her eyes off of his.  “Seth, this can't be happening.”  She turned back to him, she was sure that her eyes were shooting daggers in his direction.  “What are we doing here?”

“I thought that was obvious,” he replied with a smirk as he approached her.

“Stay back, Seth this is dangerous territory and we can't go back there.”

“Why not?”  He asked emphatically.  “Why can't we go back?  I know it's been 10 years but when we kissed it didn't feel like one day had gone by.  You still love me, why are you running from that?”

“Seth, someone is bound to get hurt.  There are other people's lives involved, not just ours.”

“There doesn't have to be.”  Cassie stared at him; sure that he had lost his mind.

“You're willing to give up on your relationship with Rebecca, when you are about to marry her?”  Cassie turned away, it was painful to think of him getting married to another woman but she did not have any room to stand in his way.

“Cassie,” she felt his hand on her shoulder.  “Please look at me.”

“I can't,” Cassie replied quietly, closing her eyes and trying to move past the way it felt to have his hand on her.

“Rebecca and I broke up.”  Cassie almost figured she heard the words wrong, until he spoke them again.  “Did you hear me?  Rebecca and I broke up.”

“What?”  Cassie asked as she slowly turned around to face him.  “When...how?”

“Last Saturday night, before I came back to Avery.”

“Why didn't you tell me?”

“I tried, on many occasions.  However, every time I mentioned Rebecca's name...someone interrupted me.”  Cassie knew that it was true; he told her that he had something to say, but somehow it never got said.  Cassie thought of what she wanted to say, but the words weren't clear to her.  “Cassie, say something...please.”

“I don't know what to say.  So, what do you expect me to do?  Are you just looking to hook up because you recently broke up with your
fiancée?  Maybe you figured that you can be with someone with no strings attached, because after all...I will be leaving soon.  Is that what we're doing here?  You're planning on hooking up with someone that doesn't expect anything in return?”

“What?  Cassie, that is not it at all.  How little can you possibly think of me?  This isn't about my relationship not lasting, this is about us.  Rebecca broke up with me.”

Cassie shook her head, “Perfect, so this is that you're out trying to heal your wounds that you were dumped.  Great, I hate to disappoint...I'm not going to be the fallback girl.  Sorry, I just can't do it.”  With that Cassie turned away from him and headed in the direction of the house.  She wasn't going to allow him to see the tears fall.  She ran as fast as she could.  The rain slowly began to fall.  The drops quickly drowning out his voice as he called for her to stop.  She was not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing just how deep her pain was.

_____________________

“Cassie wait.”  Seth called, begging her to stop running.  He grabbed his key and ran to his car, the storm was beginning to pick up and he was worried she would get sick, if she did not let him take her home.  He put the windshield wipers on full blast and made his way down the road Cassie was headed to.  As he approached her, he was glad to see she at least slowed down.  He rolled down his window and moved at a snail’s pace.  “Cassie, please just get in the car.”  She didn't look at him as he continued to drive.  “I am begging you, let me take you home.  This is obviously a misunderstanding and we can clear it up.  Just get in the car, before you get sick.”  When Cassie stopped and opened the door, he breathed a sigh of relief.  “Thank you.  Cassie, I am sorry I didn't tell you about Rebecca.  It's not as if I didn't try.  If I could take it all back I would, I swear I would have found some way to tell you sooner.  I...”

“Seth, stop talking.  This isn't about you not telling me that Rebecca and you are no longer engaged...it goes way beyond that.  In fact, it might even go back the past 10 years.”

“What do you mean?”

When she turned to face him, he saw the trickle of tears flowing down her cheeks.  “Recently Courtney told me something.  I suppose I haven't been able to get it off my mind.”

“I'm listening.”

“She told me that you were right, that the only person I care about is me. 
I went to New York to satisfy my needs and I didn't care about whoever I hurt in the process.”  Seth opened his mouth to say something, but she quickly stopped him.  “I guess I never figured you would be the kind of person to judge someone.  You were right before, maybe we wouldn't have worked out.  The past couple of times we spent together, they were nice.  I won't discount that, but it obviously didn't mean anything.  I am sorry that Rebecca and you called off your wedding, I’m not going to be the girl that you use to get back at her."