Fullness Of Life Ch. 02

Robin was pulling into the driveway just as Cassidy was getting out of her vehicle. Cassidy waved at her then noticed that there was someone in the car with Robin. She squinted her eyes and recognized Van Henderson. Robin parked alongside her and the two got out.

"Hello Cassidy," Van said as he climbed out of Robin's car.

"Hello yourself," Cassidy responded. She wasn't as wowed by Van as everyone else seemed to be, so she felt no need to swoon at his feet.

By that time, Robin had come around the car and joined the two of them. "Let's go inside. Van wanted to come and see how the security system check went."

Cassidy nodded knowingly. She just bet that Van wanted to check out the system. More than likely, it was Robin that he wanted to check out! Anyway, there wasn't anything to see about the system yet.

Once they were in the house, Cassidy excused herself and went to her bedroom. She slipped off her boots and grabbed a pair of jogging pants. Barefooted and much more comfortable, she went back out into the living room.

Robin and Van were sitting on the couch, with their heads close together, talking rather intimately. Cassidy wished that she had stayed in the bedroom, but now it was too late. Thinking quickly, she said, "Robin, I hope you don't mind, but I'm feeling kind of under the weather. If it's all right with you, I'm going to call it an early night and just see if I can sleep it off."

Cassidy could have sworn that Van's eyes lit up the room at that instant. He stood up quickly, pulling Robin up with him. "In that case," Van said, "We need to get out of here so we won't bother you. We were planning to eat here with you, but if you don't feel well, we'll go out and grab some dinner."

The man was good - Cassidy had to give him that. He could think on his feet. Smiling slightly, Cassidy waved her hand in the air. "That sounds wonderful. You don't mind, do you, Robin?"

The blush on Robin's face told Cassidy all she needed to know. Without another word, Cassidy turned back to her bedroom.

It only took about five minutes before Cassidy heard the door open and shut behind the couple. She wandered out of the bedroom and went through the house. Not very hopeful of finding anything worthwhile on tv, Cassidy bypassed it and headed for the kitchen. She made herself a bowl of soup and sat down at the kitchen table. Once she had finished, she went into the living room and began looking through Robin's collection of books. After finding one that she liked, she curled up on the couch and began reading.

Cassidy found that the words on the page kept running together. She tried to focus, but her thoughts kept floating back to Jesse's kiss. It was the most incredible moment of her life - not that she had ever had much of a life, but that kiss was something else! Cassidy was lost in her thoughts when the ringing of the telephone startled her. Laying down her book and laughing at herself, she crossed the room and answered it.

Ray's voice leapt out at her over the wires, "Girl! I'm glad to hear your voice. How's everything going in the big city?"

For the next 30 minutes, Cassidy and Ray swapped stories. Cassidy found out that Cindy Ann had heard about Brad's outburst at the diner and had given him an ultimatum. According to her, he had soiled her reputation. The whole town knew that Brad had exactly one week to decide if he was going to marry Cindy Ann or if she was going to throw him out like yesterday's garbage. Cindy Ann's family was rather wealthy and they had quite a bit of power in the small town. Brad's future as a happy go lucky bachelor was in serious peril!

After laughing herself to tears, Cassidy bid an affectionate good-bye to Ray and rang off. Then she went back to the couch and her book. She had almost settled down when the phone rang again. It was Ray, telling her that he had forgotten what he had called about the first time. He needed to tell Robin about an upcoming family reunion. After taking his message, Cassidy hung up and headed back to the couch.

Right as she sat down, the phone began ringing again. Thinking that Ray must have forgotten to tell her something else, Cassidy picked up the receiver and said, "Sweetie, you know that I love you, but you're wearing me out!"

The voice that spoke back to Cassidy wasn't Ray's though. It was Jesse Turner's. "Glad to know it. I was afraid that you would have already forgotten about me."

Too quickly, Cassidy said, "I'm sorry, Jesse. I thought that you were someone else . . . a friend from back home."

Jesse didn't answer Cassidy right away. In fact, Cassidy was beginning to worry that he had hung up when he finally spoke. "Van asked me to check up on you. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Jesse," Cassidy said. "I'm just headed for bed. Alone."

Jesse's deep laugh was followed almost immediately by the click indicating that he had disconnected the call. Cassidy frowned at the phone before hanging it up. "That man needs some help with his manners," she mumbled to herself.

Grabbing her book, Cassidy decided that she could rest better in her bedroom. She snuggled down into her comforter and began trying to read again. Thoughts of Jesse wouldn't stay at bay though, and she had to keep starting the same sentence over and over. She hadn't even reached chapter two before she was sound asleep.