Intersection (21 page)

Alex sat down on the edge of the large king size bed and put her face in her hands. Her anxiety was made worse by the presence of both Dylan and Rose. One thing she knew for certain after Cassidy’s afternoon kiss, making the presence of
family in the house a reason to postpone time alone with the blonde was not going to fly. Cassidy might be willing to give Alex space where the case was concerned, but when it came to their burgeoning relationship, Cassidy O’Brien was not going to be as patient and Alex knew it. “Alex!” Cassidy’s voice called up the stairs again. “Did you hear me?”

The agent took another deep breath and called back, “yeah…I’m coming.” She let out a nervous chuckle at the timeliness of her words amidst her current thoughts. “Shit.” She put her face back in her hands, shaking her head.

“She’s not gonna’ wait forever,” Rose joked from the hallway.

“What?” Alex jumped with a quiver in her voice that sounded as if she were a small child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Rose laughed. “She’s called up here twice already.” Alex let out an audible sigh of amusement and relief. Rose looked at the agent and offered her a motherly glance of understanding. “Alex…” The agent looked at the mother of the woman she loved and pressed her lips together tightly, wondering what Cassidy’s mother might say. “You love Cassidy, don’t you?”

Alex felt like someone had barreled her over, knocking the wind completely from her lungs. Cassidy’s mom really did just ‘know’ things. “It’s that obvious?” The agent asked a bit sheepishly.

“To me, yes.” Rose McCollum smiled. “Come on, we’d better get down there before she comes up here and reads us the riot act.” Alex pulled herself up and met the woman in the doorway. As they approached the stairs the agent felt a comforting touch on her back. “She loves you, Alex. I see it in her eyes every time she looks at you. Just be yourself…that’s who she fell in love with.”

Alex tried to breathe. She looked at the older woman as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Rose McCollum had the same eyes as her daughter. They were a vibrant green that occasionally changed offering a bluish hue that glistened in the most
peculiar and intoxicating way. The agent had never worried much about other people’s approval. She had never managed to garner the approval of her own parents and it taught her to be independently confident. But now, what Cassidy’s family thought of her, it mattered. “Rose, I…”

Rose gently prodded the agent forward toward the kitchen. “Agent Toles,” she said with a lighthearted sarcasm in her voice. “Cassie has never asked for my approval. She never had to. Neither do you.”

“What took you two so long?” Cassidy asked with mock annoyance as Agent Fallon unpacked cartons of Chinese food on the table behind her.

“Well,” her mother said, “perhaps if you traveled a bit lighter…”

Cassidy poked at her cheek with her tongue. “Very funny,” she quipped at her mother. “I am watching you two,” she pointed at them with a kidding sense of caution.

Alex laughed a bit and headed for the table. Dylan was opening the tops of the containers and peering into each curiously, one by one. “Chicken fingers!” He exclaimed.

“Good call,” Alex said to her partner.

“Yeah…I do have three kids, Toles.”

The group took their seats and enjoyed some lighthearted laughter over their dinner. As the cartons began to empty, Dylan looked at Alex. “Alex, can we go play pool?” The basement rec room had a large pool table in it and it was the most intriguing thing the boy had noticed on his exploration of the house.

Cassidy noted that Alex was searching for an answer. “Dylan, I think Alex and Mr. Fallon have some things to do.” She glanced at Alex. Alex smiled, looking into the Cassidy’s eyes. She felt as though the world disappeared every time Cassidy looked at her. She really did need to talk to Fallon, but in this moment she made the decision that there was something more important at stake, at least tonight. Dylan had been through a great deal the last two days and so had his mother. She needed to
keep them safe and she suddenly understood that meant more than just protecting them from physical harm. Rose caught the expression passing between her daughter and the agent and smiled. The agent turned to Dylan. “Actually, I do have to talk to Agent Fallon.” Dylan looked down at his plate in disappointment. “BUT…Fallon here, he thinks he’s quite the master at pool. I think we should prove him wrong.” Dylan looked up at her with a hopeful glance. “So…why don’t you help your mom and your grandma clean this up, get your pajamas on….and you and me, we’ll teach Fallon here a few things before bed. What do you say?” He nodded with excitement.

Cassidy looked at Alex, stunned and moved by the gesture. There was no doubt in the teacher’s mind that there had been a greater purpose than dinner to Fallon’s visit; after all he had his own family waiting for him. She didn’t even think as she looked into the agent’s eyes and mouthed the words, “I love you.” Alex forgot anyone was even there as a smile swept across her face; the exchange noticed by all.

“All right, Dylan,” Rose grabbed her plate. “Let’s get this mess cleaned up.”

Alex snapped out of her haze and was surprised that the public affection she had just shared with Cassidy did not bother her. She touched Fallon on the arm and the pair headed for the study. “See you in a few, Speed Racer,” she said. The boy nodded and picked up some napkins running for the garbage.

Cassidy met Rose at the sink. “Oh just say it,” the younger woman looked at her mother. Rose just smiled. “I know you want to say
something
.”

“No, Cassie, I just want you to be happy.”

Cassidy turned to her mother with a tear in her eye. “I am.”

Rose put her hand on her daughter’s cheek. “Then hold onto her,” she said before returning to the dishes.

“I will.”

Alex took the stack of files and opened the top one. “Anything stick out at you?”

“Not immediately…but it is strange, Toles.”

“What’s that?” Alex said, peeling her eyes off the paper in front of her and looking upwards at the sound of Dylan’s laughter upstairs. She couldn’t help but shake her head with a smile. She loved the boy as much as she loved his mother.

Fallon sighed. “We can talk about it tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry, Fallon,” the agent said. “It’s just…he was so upset last night. He climbed in bed with us.” Fallon’s eyes became as wide as saucers. Seeing his expression, Alex let out an animated guffaw. “I didn’t
sleep
with her,” the agent continued to laugh.

The sound of small footsteps trampling the floor caught the attention of both agents. “I think,” Brian Fallon said to his friend, “that I should teach you who the senior agent is on the pool table. We can talk about this in the morning.” Alex was grateful for his understanding and for his friendship. She nodded and the pair began the short trek to meet the rest of the group in the basement.

“Hold on,” Alex put up a finger and scurried into the kitchen emerging with a small step stool she had noticed during dinner. “He’s gotta’ be able to reach,” she said as the pair headed down the stairs. Brian Fallon shook his head. Alex Toles suddenly had a family. He never thought he’d see that. “All right, Speed Racer!” Alex put the stool down next to the pool table and Dylan hopped up from his position between his mother and grandmother on the large leather sofa a few feet away. Cassidy watched as Alex helped the boy pick out a cue stick, showed him how to use the chalk and stood behind him, instructing him on how to hold the stick that was just as tall as he was. Dylan listened intently to all of the agent’s directions, nodding his understanding and concentrating as hard as his young mind would allow as they stepped to the table.

“You guys break,” Agent Fallon offered.

“Okay … that’s us, Speed Racer.”

Dylan looked at the agent. “Will you help?” He whispered.

Alex smiled. Dylan melted her heart every bit as much as his mother did. She silently winked and picked him up to put him on the stool. Cassidy and Rose watched as the tall, commanding woman at the billiard table gently placed her hands over the boy’s. She spoke softly to him as she helped him guide the stick back and forth. “Keep your eyes on that pack of balls, okay?” He nodded. “Now, feel the stick as it moves. Take your time.” There was no question that it was Alex’s strength behind the sound that erupted as the balls traveled across the table, leaving Dylan elated.

The game continued the same way. Fallon would deliberately set up an easy shot for the boy and Alex would help him sink the ball in the pocket. Then her partner would make a couple of shots before missing another deliberately. Rose watched Cassidy nearly as much as she did the game unfolding across the room. She had never seen such lightness about her daughter. There was no doubt in Rose McCollum’s mind as she watched her grandson high five the beautiful dark haired woman he clearly adored, her daughter had finally found what she’d always been missing, a complete family. “Okay…time for BED!” Rose called over to Dylan.

Fallon shook the boy’s hand and then winked at Toles. “I gotta’ go…Kate’s gonna’ kill me!”

“I’ll walk you out.”

“Nah… you need to stay here and practice,” he joked. “I expect a rematch.”

The boy’s mother moved to scoop up Dylan and Rose stopped her with her hand. “I’ve got him,” she said. Cassidy looked at her mother. “I think maybe Dylan will stay in
my
room tonight.” Rose raised an eyebrow at her daughter. Cassidy was used to her mother’s way, but she felt a bit embarrassed, suddenly realizing her mother’s agenda and her face flushed. “Cassie,” her mother whispered, “I wasn’t born yesterday….. say goodnight to your son and go spend some time with Alex.”

Cassidy kissed Dylan goodnight. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Mom,” he kissed her back on the cheek.

His mother watched as he clung to the beautiful woman that she could not keep her eyes off of. “Night, Speed Racer,” Alex said. “Sleep well.”

He looked up at her and pulled her down to him repeating the affectionate gesture he had shown his mother. “Love you, Alex,” he said to her.

Alex felt a tear form in her eye. “Love you too, Speed Racer.” Rose followed the boy out of the room and turned back to the two women behind her. She said nothing, just offered them a loving smile.

Cassidy was suddenly very nervous. She had been thinking about being alone with Alex all day. No one had ever made her feel the way that Alex Toles did. She knew that Alex loved her. She could feel it through her entire being. When they kissed she felt as though the world fell away from them and she longed to be closer to the woman, to feel Alex touch her and know what it was like to be loved completely by her. At the same time she was terrified. Alex was strong and confident. She was also experienced in ways that the small blonde woman was afraid to imagine. How on earth could she possibly measure up? She would have been shocked had she known that across the room, the woman she viewed as the picture of assuredness was quivering inside.

Alex held her breath for a moment looking at the beautiful woman just a few feet away. She had imagined over the last few days that when all of this was over, she would take Cassidy away somewhere, maybe by the ocean again, a room that looked out over the water. She would open a bottle of wine and spend a quiet evening with the woman who had unexpectedly captured her heart before gently taking her to a new place, someplace
Alex longed to travel. That was not going to happen. About the only thing she could take from that scenario now was a good bottle of wine. The two stayed still, waiting for the other to move. Alex lightly rubbed her eyebrow. This was awkward. She did not expect their first time to be so soon and she did not want the first time she made love to Cassidy to be awkward. Everything else in their relationship seemed to flow so naturally. “How about a glass of wine?”

“Sounds good. How about you teach
me
to play pool?” Alex was behind the bar opening the wine fridge. She was surprised at the suggestion, but it would be a welcome diversion for a while.

“You don’t play pool?” Alex asked as she opened a bottle of Chardonnay and poured two glasses.