Mourning Becomes Cassandra (51 page)
Read Mourning Becomes Cassandra Online
Authors: Christina Dudley
His blue eyes searched mine. “You mean you’ll stay, but you won’t date me yet.”
Deep breath. “I’ll stay, but I won’t date you. Can we start over a third time, as friends?”
“Does that mean you’ll be dating other people?”
I laughed. “I don’t know where you get this idea—nobody’s beating down the door to go out with me. One thing at a time. I just got dumped, remember? I have no plans to date anyone right now. But…but I wouldn’t mind if you date around. In fact, it might make me feel better—reassure me that you’re not sitting there, scheming, but you’re actually exploring…thinking about who you’re becoming and what you really want.”
“What about being Friends with Benefits?” he persisted. I got the feeling he wasn’t listening to me. “Not sleeping together, of course, but with the occasional make-out session to look forward to.” He took another step toward me, but I evaded his hands.
“That won’t help me make rational decisions,” I objected. “Not everyone can maintain their detachment like you do.”
He cornered me again, brushing his face against my hair. “You might get better with practice, Cass.”
My heartbeat accelerated wildly, but I elbowed him in the ribs. “No. No, Daniel. We’re not going to do this now—
you’re
not going to do this now. I can’t stay here unless you agree.”
An exasperated sigh. “Tiresome woman.” Obediently, he backed a decent distance from me. “Fine. If I keep my hands off you for six months and don’t harass you constantly to marry me, you’ll stay?”
“And date another person or two,” I put in doggedly.
“Define ‘date.’”
“You know—you ask someone out or someone asks you out, and you go out a few times and make a sincere effort to determine whether or not that would be a better match.”
“But what if I become a good Christian boy? I’m not going to go around playing with people’s hearts. Not when I’m in love with someone else.” Seeing my brows draw together, he added piously, “And I wouldn’t want to go out with a godless heathen anyway. My standards are at least as high as yours.”
“I’m sure the Christian girls will be after you now, too,” I said dryly. “Do we have a deal?”
“Six months?”“At least. I’ll only have had the baby a little while in six months.”
“Can I just kiss you one more time before I swear off?” That would be one time too many for my resolve, so I shook my head. Daniel, reading my mind, bit back a smile, and who knows what would have happened if we hadn’t been interrupted by a banging on the window.
Joanie popped her head out. I didn’t know how much she’d seen, but from the look she gave the both of us I knew I was in for explanations later. “Good morning, you two. Happy Almost-Memorial Day! Phyl’s made mimosas—want some?”
When we were gathered in the sunshine on the deck a minute later, champagne flutes in hand, Daniel announced, “Forget Almost-Memorial Day. This is the real celebration. Cass has agreed to stay.”
Joanie and Phyl nearly cost me my mimosa, with their screaming and jumping up and down and hugging me, but I managed to hang on.
“A toast!” demanded Joanie, with Phyl echoing her. “This calls for a toast, Cass.”
Laughing and raising my glass I looked at each one of them in turn: lovely, peacemaking, loyal Phyl; blunt, passionate Joanie, who threw me the rope last summer to climb out of my abyss; and now Daniel, the unexpected friend, solid as bedrock, who might yet become much, much dearer.
Clearing my throat, I said, “To happily-ever-after at the Palace.”
Three glasses clinked against mine. “The Palace.”
Reading Group Guide
1. If you were producing a film version of
Mourning Becomes Cassandra
, whom would you cast in the various roles?
2. Christina has been known to refer to this novel as a “Christian beach read.” Do you agree with this classification? In what ways does it conform to “Christian fiction” conventions? “Beach read” conventions? In what ways does it depart from them?
3. Cass and her friends christen their new home “the Palace” and Daniel’s in-law “the Lean-To.” How are these names appropriate to their role in the story? Does
Mourning
bear similarities to any fairy tales?
4. At the outset of the novel, Cass reflects on how her life experiences have estranged her from God. She compares His treatment of her to “having the faithful family guard dog, who rescued you from house fires in the past, turn on you and maul you.” Do you think this is a fair assessment? How does her understanding of God change over the course of the book?
5. What range of beliefs is represented in the book? Which characters move around on the spectrum as the story unfolds? Do the religious types behave as you would expect? Do the non-religious types?
6. Nadina struggles with substance abuse and a toxic boyfriend, two things with which Cass has no experience. How effective do you find Cass as a mentor, over the course of the story? In what ways do she and Nadina change each other?
7. In Chapter 12, Cass starts research for the
Antarctiquest!
video game and says of herself, “I wondered if I was always drawn to whatever I knew least about.” Do you find this an accurate description of her? What do the various video games, books, and other entertainment in the novel reveal about the characters?
8. When Nadina accuses Cass of using church and good deeds as a crutch in Chapter 13, Cass responds that, “Everyone’s got a crutch, but some of the things we use for crutches are God-given gifts, and other things are just going to break off in our hands and make us hurt worse than ever.” Do you agree with her? What are some of Cass’s crutches? Nadina’s? Daniel’s?
9. How would you characterize Cass’s views of love and marriage? How do they compare to Joanie’s and Phyl’s views? Did you initially think James or Daniel the better fit for her? Why?
10. In Chapter 22, Cass explains to Daniel how meeting Kyle propelled her into becoming a mentor. “You might call it coincidence,” she says, “but I chose to see it as an answer to prayer.” How does this attitude toward the events in her life inform her later decision to adopt Nadina’s baby? Do you tend to view life as a series of random events, or do you look for underlying trajectory?
11. Why was Cass so “bristly” toward Daniel for much of the book? How convincing was his transformation to you, the reader? Do you consider her decision at the end to put Daniel off reasonable or frustrating? Which other choices does Cass make, and did you agree or disagree with them?