Read The Forgotten Night Online
Authors: Becky Andrews
The Forgotten Night
THE FORGOTTEN NIGHT
by
BECKY ANDREWS
OTHER BOOKS
My Brother's Best Friend
The Forgotten Night
The Forgotten Night. 1st Edition
Copyright © 2013
All Rights Reserved
Cover Art and Design by
Humble Nations
This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locations are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously.
All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real.
Table of Contents
Prologue
“I
can’t believe our parents agreed to this,” Cassidy Ames said as she boarded the plane headed from New York to Los Angeles.
“You mean you can’t believe your parents let you come, your dad in particular,” Andrew Winbright said, sitting down in his aisle seat in first class. He smiled to himself as Cassidy glared at him, taking her window seat across from him. She was very east to annoy, and he found that one of the most adorable things about her.
“Just drop it,” Andrew’s sister Rachel said, sitting on her knees and looking over her seat in front of Andrew’s. “We’re here to have fun, not argue over how overprotective Cassie’s dad is.”
“So where’s Sandy? I thought you’d bring your girlfriend,” Cassidy commented, but the way she said it made Andrew look at her closely.
“We broke up,” he said simply.
“Broke up? When, I mean why?” Cassidy asked, and this time something in her voice made Andrew sure she was pleased to hear it.
“Two weeks ago, and because I knew she wasn’t the right one for me, or me for her,” he stated. Cassidy was his sister’s best friend, but he’d always had a thing for her, and now he was starting to wonder if she felt the same. Perhaps this vacation the three of them were taking to California might give him a chance to explore that further.
Cassidy nodded. “So why do we all have our own row?” she asked, obviously trying to change the subject.
“Because this is a six-hour flight, Cassie. Believe me, you’ll want your space,” Andrew said, smiling at her.
Cassidy gave him a weak smile in return and buckled her seat belt just as the captain came over the intercom with his pre-flight instructions.
Andrew flipped through one of the in-flight magazines, watching Cassie close her eyes and give the arm of her seat a white-knuckled grip. “Are you afraid to fly?”
“Not really, but I’ve heard that most accidents happen within the first five minutes, so I’m always glad when they’re over,” she replied as the engines began to rev up for takeoff.
Andrew watched her for another few seconds, noting how pale she was, and then quickly undid his seatbelt and crossed the aisle, buckling himself in beside her. He gripped her hand, trying to give her a little courage. She was obviously scared to death.
“What are you doing?” she cried as his hand closed around hers. “Put your seatbelt on, we’re about to take off!”
“It’s on, Cassie,” he said with a smile.
“Oh,” she said, looking down at his buckled belt. Seconds later, the plane lurched forward and she grasped his hand tighter. He looked down at her and couldn’t help but caress her hand with his thumb. She seemed to relax and his stomach tied in knots as he hoped it was because of his touch.
For the next few minutes, as the plane climbed through the clouds, they sat that way, hand in hand.
“I seem to recall you saying you wanted your space. You don’t have to sit here with me. It’s been five minutes, I’m fine,” Cassidy said, finally opening her eyes.
“I said that?” he asked, feigning confusion. “I couldn’t have been more wrong, I think I like sitting right here.”
“Well, now I think I want a whole row to myself.” She smiled at him, letting him know she wasn’t serious.
“You’re not going to get rid of me that easy,” he said playfully, poking her until she laughed.
“You two need to stop it right now, you sound like two lovers,” Rachel called from the seat in front of them.
Cassidy turned bright red and refused to look at Andrew.
“Well, maybe we are secret lovers and this trip is a front for our torrid love affair,” Andrew replied and noticed Cassidy turning redder.
“God, if it is, you know I’m on the first plane home and you two can explain yourself to Cassie’s father, because I don’t think he would approve of the two of you alone, unchaperoned,” Rachel replied, turning around in her seat so she could see them across the aisle.
“Then you don’t know my dad. He actually likes Andy,” Cassidy said and then bit her lip.
“See, Rach. I’m practically part of the family,” Andrew said.
To cover up her obvious embarrassment at his jest, Cassidy hit him playfully.
“Well then, maybe while we’re in LA we can drive up to Vegas and you two could get hitched. How does that sound?” Rachel smiled and turned back around in her seat, sticking the headphones to her mp3 player back on.
Andrew blessed his little sister. He had a feeling she knew that he like Cassie and was purposely giving them some time to talk.
“How does that sound to you?” Andrew asked and suddenly realized that a lifetime with Cassidy wouldn’t be such a bad thing. His heart flipped in his chest at the mere thought of spending his life with her.
“Shut up, Andy,” she said playfully, hitting him on the arm again, but she smiled as though she was thinking about it too.
“What are you smiling at, Cassie?” Andrew asked, seeing the dreamy look in her eyes. “Thinking about a lifetime with me and how wonderful it would be?”
“Ha ha, Andy! Yes, I was dreaming of how I couldn’t live without you, how my life wouldn’t be the same without you in it. Dreaming of our kids and what they’d look like and what their names would be,” she said overdramatically.
“Okay, okay, you can stop, but just to clarify, we would have one hell of a beautiful family,” he said with a smirk and turned back to the magazine in his hands.
Cassidy opened her mouth to say something in response, but nothing came out. She was obviously wondering if he was serious.
“And just for the record, since you're still staring at me,” he said, flipping through the magazine as if they weren’t talking about anything out of the ordinary. “I like the names Benjamin and Marisa.”
“Marisa?”
“Yes, well, what names do you like?” He turned back to her briefly before returning to the page he was on, trying not to look too interested.
“I like Benjamin, you know that, and for a girl I like the name Mikayla.”
Andrew smiled then turned to face her. “Wanna watch something?”
“Excuse me?” she asked not sure what to make of his abrupt change in topic.
“A movie, I’ll pay.” He smiled, handing her the magazine with possible movies listed. Cassidy took the magazine and perused the titles, one catching her eye in particular. Andrew saw the corners of her mouth curl up and her attempt to hide it. He knew exactly what movie title she had just seen and had planned on watching that one anyway.
“I don’t know, you pick,” she said, handing the magazine back to him like she really didn’t care.
Andrew turned on their call light and one of the flight attendants came by. He held up the magazine out of Cassidy’s sight and pointed to one of the movie titles, then handed her his credit card. The woman walked away and came back a few minutes later with Andrew’s card and receipt. “Thank you,” he said and put his card away.
“So which movie did you choose?” Cassidy asked.
“Well, I was in the mood for
Lost in Translation
,” Andrew said, waiting to see her reaction.
“Oh, okay, but you do know that I don’t particularly care for that one,” Cassidy said.
“You just haven’t watched it with me,” Andrew smirked.
“You forget that I’ve watched it twice with you, both times I fell asleep before it was over.”
“Well, if you fall asleep I won’t wake you.”
Cassidy narrowed her eyes at him as she put her ear buds in her ears. Andrew copied her action and waited for the movie to start up. He smiled secretly to himself.
The movie started and even before the opening scene appeared, Cassidy gasped, her lips curving into a smile. “
Pride and Prejudice
? I thought—”
“I wanted to surprise you. I saw your eyes light up when you read over the title.”
“But you hate this movie.”
“Correction, I hate reading the book, but the movie’s all right. I mean, Kierra Knightly is pretty hot.”
Cassidy hit him again as she curled up on the seat. She took the liberty of grabbing his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. Andrew smiled as she snuggled up to him. His stomach knotted as she rested her head on him, and he had to resist the urge to wrap his arm around her. He truly had hated reading the book, but he really didn’t mind watching the movie, but not for the reason he told Cassidy. It was the one girly movie he really enjoyed and more so because it was one of Cassidy’s favorites.
When the movie ended, Cassidy had a huge grin on her face. “I just love the story and the movie. I want Mr. Darcy.” She sighed.
“Because he has money, a huge house, and is full of pride?”
“No, because he’s so sweet. Besides, it wasn’t pride. He loved Elizabeth from the first moment he laid eyes on her, he was just shy,” Cassidy argued, untangling herself to dig around in her bag.
Andrew said nothing but suddenly his heart flipped in his chest. He looked down at her, her hair falling to one side and he knew, like Darcy, he had loved his ‘Elizabeth’ since the first moment he had laid eyes on her.
They saw each other infrequently, but when they did, he couldn’t tell how she felt. Some days he believed she felt the same way, but other days he couldn’t tell what was going through her head. He didn’t want to ruin their friendship and most of all he didn’t want to hurt his sister so he held his tongue.
But every year, their families spent the holidays together. Christmas Eve at Andrew’s house and New Year’s Eve at Cassidy’s. This year, he resolved that when they all got together again, he would let her know how he felt.
Chapter One