Petite Madeleine: Drew's Story (Meadows Shore Book 3) (19 page)

Luke had just detonated a bomb on the porch, and he wasn’t done. But neither was Cole.

“He’s just like him,” Luke sneered.

“Like who?” growled Cole.

“Like your father.”

“We have the same father, and I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“He knew. He knew it was risky to take that trip, and he went anyway.”

“So you’re saying he knew that they were going to be killed, and he took Mom along anyway?”

“He was a United States senator, and Uncle Sam was a fucking ambassador—he was head of the Foreign Service Corps. How could they have not known something was up?”

“How do you know this?” asked Will quietly, defusing some of the animosity around him.

Luke glanced at Will, but didn’t answer him.

“Those records are still classified.”

Luke stormed out without another word, and Will sent a raised eyebrow Cole’s way.

“What he said makes some sense,” Mark offered, leaning back in his chair.

“He would never have taken her if he’d known the danger.”

“She would have never stayed home if she thought he’d be in danger.”

“Mom wouldn’t have left knowing we’d be parentless. There was always some element of danger. She could have followed him everywhere, any time he went away, but she didn’t. It’s not like you were raised by nannies who wiped your ass. She was always there for us, and so was he, more often than most people in his position would have been. I don’t believe any of them knew what they were getting into. They wouldn’t have gone if they’d known.”

“It was an important trip, and we were all adults by then, doing our own thing.”

“Not Lukie. He was here, dealing with a world of hurt we knew nothing about.”

* * *

“How did it go down there?” Alexa asked Cole when he finally made his way to bed.

“Will’s on board. Jake too, I think. Jury’s still out on the rest.” With a loud whoosh, he blew out a deep breath “I learned some things tonight that broke my heart.”

He was sitting on the edge of the mattress, and Alexa rolled over and pulled him into bed with her. “Tell me,” she said, hugging her husband tight.

“Apparently Luke was handling a lot more than any of us knew after my parents died. More than I knew. I—”

“Shh. No beating yourself up, not tonight. You’re a great brother, you always have been.”

“You think much more highly of me than I deserve.”

“Uh-uh. I see you for exactly who you are. And I love what I see, always.”

He squeezed her shoulders. “My brothers took the news about Cassie kind of hard. They’re worried about Drew if something happens to her. But I think you’re right, they’re also worried about themselves.”

“They just heard about it. They’ll get on board, but it might take a little time to process everything.”

“Is that what you were doing down there, helping them process everything?”

“Yes and no. I helped them cut right to the chase. Psychoanalysis has fallen out of favor these days, and for good reason, it takes too much time.”

Cole chuckled.

“So I laid the issues right out for them in black and white. It’s not the best way to go about it, but it certainly is expedient.”

“Sounds more like the lawyer talking than the social worker.” He rolled on top of her and slid his hands and mouth over her skin until she was writhing under him. “Hold onto the headboard and don’t let go.”

She gazed up at him. “But then my hands won’t be free to touch you.”

“That’s too bad, especially for me. Maybe I’ll let you use your hands a little later.” He rocked his hips forward, pressing his erection into her belly. “You’ve already had your fun outside. It’s my turn now. Don’t let go until I tell you to,” he warned, catching her nipple with his mouth.

* * *

“I came over for a kiss or two, and to let you know I told my brothers about the breast cancer.” He shed his clothes and crawled into bed beside her. “I know I should’ve checked with you first, but I figured everyone over here knew, and I didn’t want them to hear about it secondhand.”

“It’s not a secret, Drew.”

“I know that, but I also know it’s not something you like to share with everyone.”

“I’m glad you told them. I feel like it’s an obstacle out of our way.”

“I love my brothers Cassie, a lot, but I’d never let any one of them come between us.”

“I would hate…”

“Shh.” He curled around her tightly.

“How’d they take it?”

“Hard to tell. I left them with Cole, he can answer whatever questions they have. I didn’t want to listen to them talking about your breasts. I’d have to beat them up, and then my hands would be too sore to touch you,” he said sliding his hands over her.

“
Mmmm
,” she snuggled against him, “feels so good, but you can’t stay here tonight.”

“What?”

“You can’t stay here. Everyone will know.”

“Uh, Cass, my cousins, they look angelic and all, and my brothers and I like to pretend that they’re virgins—even Sophie, and she’s been married twice and has a kid. But I’m pretty sure they’ve all done the deed.”

“They have.”

“Even Juliana? Wait! Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know,” he growled at the unpleasant thought.

“I don’t care about your cousins, it’s about your grandmother.”

“She’s sleeping, in a different house.”

“She’ll know.”

“So what? It’s not like we’re teenagers. I’ll even change the sheets so Rosa doesn’t have to deal with it.”

“It’s a matter of respect. She cares about that stuff, just like my parents do, and Yai-yai would. You need to go back next door.”

“You’re kicking me out, really?”

“Mm-hm, but kiss me again, a few more of those sweet kisses before you go.”

* * *

The next morning was awkward at the Harringtons. She knew they knew, and they knew she knew that they knew, but no one said a thing. Not one word. But at least they didn’t look at her like she was about to die. Jake, Will, and Cole treated her pretty much the way they always had. But Mark avoided her, and when she reached over to kiss Luke good-bye, he iced her out. Well, three out of five wasn’t so bad, and she had Alexa in her corner, sending disapproving looks in the direction of anyone who couldn’t be civil.

But what broke her heart was when she went to throw a wrapper in the trash, and lying right on top of the garbage was a bag of Swedish fish and another filled with orange jellybeans.

* * *

Cassie scrubbed her hands under hot sudsy water, trying to wash off the remnants of butter she’d used for the puff pastry dough. This would be her final week in Baltimore, working in the kitchen at Lola’s. Tim and his wife took some time off before the sale of the bakery was final. It would be a long time before they had another day off, and she was glad to pitch in, glad to have another week all to herself in the kitchen she’d so lovingly designed.

“There’s a smokin’ hot, and I mean
smokin’
hot, guy out there looking for you. Says his name is Mark. Since you and Drew are an item, can I have him?” begged Lindsey shamelessly.

Cassie rolled her eyes. “Tell him I’ll be right out.”

Hmmm
, Mark. Mark Harrington, she assumed from Lindsey’s description. What could he want? She shuddered thinking about the possibilities.

“Mark, it’s nice to see you.”

He lowered his head and kissed her cheek. “Nice place. Not sad to leave it?”

“No not really … well, maybe a little. Iced tea?”

“Sure, and can I get an éclair, too?” he asked sheepishly.

“I think that can be arranged.”

She brought an assortment of pastry and a couple of cold drinks to the table where he was sitting.

“This stuff looks great. I may have to fight Drew for you.”

She smiled. “I’m happy you stopped by, but I’m thinking that it probably wasn’t for a cold drink and an éclair.”

“If I knew the baked goods tasted like this, I’d been camped out here a long time ago… But no, after last weekend, I wanted to talk to you in person about your relationship with Drew.”

She sucked in as much air as her lungs could hold, not sure if she’d be able to breathe once he started talking. “I’m listening.”

“Drew and I shared a room until I got to high school. We were both middle children, but I was the oldest middle. Incredibly immature, impulsive, an all-around pain in the ass.” He gave her that lethal Harrington smile, “I bet that surprises you.”

Mark took a bite from a mini pecan tart. “These are awesome, too. Anyway, I had every bad trait associated with middle children, and Drew had none. Not one. I once heard a teacher at school say, ‘it’s a good thing Drew is nothing like Mark; otherwise, Jake and Luke would never have been born.’”

“That was mean. And so not true. Your parents adored you.”

He shrugged. “You didn’t know me then. I was always getting myself into some kind of hot water. Drew always defended me, and helped settle me. He’s the person who made my life a whole lot easier.”

“And you’d like him to have an easier life, too. I understand. There was a part of me that wanted that for him too. It’s one of the reasons that it took a while for us to get back together.”

“What changed your mind?”

“Love. I couldn’t bear to live without him. I don’t plan on getting sick again. But I might.”

“Alexa said something last weekend that I know now is true, even though at the time I wanted to tell her to shut up.”

“I’m sure that would have gone over well with Cole.”

“Have you ever seen Alexa get all pissy? Wow. I mean,
wow
.”

She chuckled, and made a mental note to ask Alexa about exactly what she’d said to them.

“She said that we were afraid as much for ourselves as for Drew. And it’s true Cass, the other night I was afraid for all of us.”

“What about now?”

“Not as much. And I think with a little time, I won’t think about it all.”

“But you still wish he’d choose someone else.”

“No, Cass, I never wished that, not for a minute. I just wish we knew you were going to stay healthy.”

Mark. He made her smile because he was so Mark. So brutally honest. You might not like what he had to say, and chances are you wouldn’t like how he said it, but it would always be the truth. The unadorned truth. And the nice thing about the truth was, no matter what it turned out to be, you could work with it, because you always knew exactly where you stood.

“I think Drew and I are going to be together for a long time. I hope it doesn’t mean that you guys will avoid me, or worse, avoid Drew. That would be more painful to him than something happening to me.”

“I don’t know about that, but of course we wouldn’t avoid Drew, or you. Family’s family.”

* * *

“Cass, you okay? You don’t sound too good.”

“I’ve just been working hard, trying to get everything ready to move, and settling the changeover for the bakery.”

“Maybe you need to take a day or two off. You were awfully pale last weekend.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Are you still bleeding like you were? ...Cass?”

“Yes.” Her voice trailed off.

“I’m not an expert on this, but you’ve had your period now for a long time.”

“That’s because I haven’t had it in so many years.”

“So why now?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because my well-endowed boyfriend is insatiable.”

“Your attempt at humor and distraction isn’t going to work. Call the doctor.”

“I told you, I did. She said to give it a few days.”

“It’s been a few days. You need to call her back.”

“I will tomorrow if there’s no change.”

“Let me look at my schedule, maybe I can come down for a night.”

“Drew, women have been menstruating since the beginning of time. We don’t need men holding our hands between cramps. I just need a good night’s sleep. I’m going to finish up here, and then I’ll take tomorrow morning off, maybe sleep in.”

Cassie hung up and finished packing up her small office. After lifting the box onto the kitchen counter she began feeling light-headed.
I must have gotten up too quickly.

She was at the sink for some water when a wave of nausea swept over her, and she began to feel weaker right before the spots appeared, blurring her vision. Gripping the countertop for support, she slid to the floor, and that’s where the cleaning crew found her.

* * *

After the EMTs stabilized her and they were on the way to the hospital, they called the last person she’d spoken to. Drew. And he pulled every string he had to get to Baltimore with little delay.