Chapter 27 – Jace
Dammit, June.
She looked around, completely oblivious as to why her answer had everyone staring in stunned silence.
“What?” she asked innocently, smiling. “Remember, Uncle J? When Auntie Cassie went on that date with that weird guy, and you told me to make sure Auntie Cassie knew you didn’t stink so she’d go on a date with you instead one day?”
Cassie turned to me, trying—and failing—to hide her laughter. It was painfully clear to everyone how awkward this moment was for me.
“I agree, June,” Cassie said with a teasing smile. “Uncle Jace definitely doesn’t stink. I actually really like the cologne he’s wearing tonight.”
“He said he only wears it for special occasions,” June announced proudly, still smacking her food.
Cassie tilted her head, playing along. “Like for Thanksgiving?”
“No,” June said, shoveling another spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. “Like because you were coming tonight.”
Cassie grinned at me, my face burning even hotter.
I leaned into June and whispered, “That was supposed to be a secret, remember?”
She looked at me, doe-eyed. “Oops.”
Despite her adorable smile, I felt like she’d spilled the beans on purpose somehow.
“This is why I don’t come to family functions,” I joked, looking around the table.
“You don’t come to family functions because you like to hide in your cabin like a weirdo,” Molly teased.
“I’m either on the ranch or at my cabin. I live where I work, what’s so bad about that?” I asked, taking another bite of green beans.
“Nothing. It’s just if you got out more, you might actually find someone to settle down with. You’re not getting any younger, you know.”
I was going to kick Molly’s ass after this, because she knew exactly what had happened between Cassie and me. She was adding fuel to the fire and loving every second of it.
“I know the person who hasn’t been on a date in years is not mocking me right now about being single,” I said, eyeing her and trying to change the subject to her nonexistent dating life rather than mine.
“I’m also not pushing thirty.” She smiled, tilting her head.
“When did Thanksgiving dinner turn into an intervention about my dating life?” I asked. “Why don’t we talk about how—”
“You still haven’t brought a girl home in, what, two years?” Molly said.
I groaned. “You’ve been keeping track? That’s creepy.”
She shrugged. “Somebody has to make sure you’re not turning into one of those old cowboys who just talks to his horses all day.”
“At least they don’t interrupt me during dinner,” I muttered, stabbing a piece of turkey with my fork.
“Wait… I remember now,” Molly said, snapping her fingers. “You had a date with that one girl, but you managed to fuck it all up. What was her name again?” she asked, tapping her chin wonderingly as if she didn’t already know the right answer.
I pointed my fork at her. “Conversation over.”
She leaned back in her chair, completely smitten. “Touchy, touchy. Must’ve been a good story.”
“Oh, I have no doubt you heard the entire thing,” I said, smirking. I looked at Cassie who stared at Molly, silently begging her to shut up.
Before she could respond, Dad jumped in, grinning. “Speaking of dates-gone-bad, I remember one time in high school I took this girl to the county fair and she—”
“Charlie,” Mom cut in quickly, “if this story ends with anyone throwing up or taking off their top, just stop right there.”
Charlie held up his hands. “I was just trying to help!”
“By traumatizing everyone before pie? No, thank you,” Mom said.
“I can’t believe there was a time Dad wasn’t with Mom,” Colt said.
“I’ll have you know, son, back in the day, I was quite the catch, if you know what I mean,” Dad said with a wink.
“Oh, they know what you mean,” Mom said, giving him a what-the-hell look. “And sadly, so do Molly, Ellie, and Cassie now. So please, Charlie, for everyone’s sake, quit talking.”
He pretended to zip his lips closed, throwing away the invisible key behind him dramatically.
“Can I be excused from the table?” June asked Ellie.
“Absolutely, you can,” she said, relieved that she wouldn’t hear any more of this disaster of a conversation that was playing out in front of us.
June Bug skipped away toward her room, completely oblivious to everything going on around her. Who needed Thanksgiving dinner when you had Barbie dolls that need tended to.
“Colt, go get the desserts for everyone. There’s pumpkin pie cooling in the oven, and we’ve got Cassie’s pumpkin roll too,” Mom said.
I stood so fast that my chair scraped the floor, everyone turning to look at me. “Touch that pumpkin roll, and you lose a finger,” I warned, half serious.
“Jace,” Cassie said, laughing as she tugged on my arm. “You can share the damn pumpkin roll. I’ll make you another one, I promise.”
“Tonight?”
“No,” she said, still laughing as she shook her head. “All my ingredients are back at the coffee shop. I can make you one tomorrow and bring it out to you. I pinky promise.”
She held her pinky out with a playful glint in her eyes.
I wrapped my pinky finger around hers, solidifying her promise to me.
“Deal,” I said, sitting back down.
“You’re being so dramatic over a pumpkin roll,” Cassie whispered, giggling at the ridiculousness of it all.
“You made it for me first, special,” I said, dropping my voice just a little. “I kind of want to keep it that way. Something made by the one and only Cassie Blake, for me and only me. And it’s delicious. I win all the way around.”
I leaned in, maybe a little closer than I should have, but I didn’t care. Cassie didn’t pull back, and that told me she was feeling it too, whatever it was.
A buzz from Cassie’s phone, lighting up in her lap, pulled her from the moment. It wasn’t a text, but an email. I averted my eyes to give her some privacy. We were making good progress. I didn’t want to act like a jealous boyfriend, trying to look at her phone. I wasn’t that type of guy.
Whatever it said, she wasn’t happy about it. The smile she had on her face and the relaxed ease about her wavered. She picked up her empty plate and excused herself from the table, heading toward the kitchen.
I didn’t immediately follow her, thinking she would probably need her space.
Besides, following her around like a lost puppy dog would raise eyebrows.
Cassie and I weren’t a couple. Hell, we were barely even friends.
Molly didn’t need anything else to hang over me concerning my dating life or lack thereof.
After dessert, Mom announced that Colt and I were on cleaning duty for the night.
“How did we end up with dish duty?” Colt asked, rinsing the plates I handed him after scrubbing.
“I overheard Mom say it’s because we didn’t cook a single thing. Just like when we were kids,” I said, laughing. “Dish duty ’til we die.”
“I saw Cassie go sit on the couch. You should sit next to her when we’re done here. You two look pretty smitten tonight—definitely different from the story you gave me about her hating your guts,” Colt said, elbowing me.
“We’ve barely started talking again,” I admitted.
“I hardly know what to say around her, stumbling over my words, overthinking everything. Part of me hoped she wouldn’t come tonight, so I wouldn’t sit there looking like an idiot all night.
And Molly’s conversation about my dating life?
Exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to avoid with Cassie here.
Then June ratted me out about literally everything, so I’m on a roll,” I said, shaking my head.
Molly walked up just as I finished talking, clearly having heard our conversation. “You better get in there before Mom pulls out your baby pictures. She’s already mentioned it twice, and I have to say, I’m not going to stop her,” she warned.
Shit. Mom was exactly the type of parent to bring out baby pictures before you left for your first date with a girl.
Except Cassie and I weren’t even on a date.
We were just having Thanksgiving dinner.
I only invited her over because I didn’t want her to be alone for the holiday—not because I was introducing her to my family or something like that.
Hell, they all knew Cassie. They knew she was too good for me.
I handed Colt the last of the dishes, marching toward the living room where everyone else was sitting, their bellies full of dinner and dessert.
Cassie scooted over, patting the cushion next to her, offering me a seat. I froze, unsure if I should take it. I looked around the room, but there was nowhere else to sit. It was there or on the floor.
I sat, trying my best to stay on my side of the couch. Despite my efforts, Cassie leaned in closer to me, putting her head on my shoulder.
Deep breaths, Jace.
Her demeanor had changed since dinner. Something was wrong.
“Care to share why you look so blue?” I asked, keeping my voice low enough that no one else could hear.
“I got the invoice for my mom’s first week of rehab.
Even with insurance, it’s a lot. Way more than I can afford.
I’ll probably have to take out a loan or something.
I’m not sure. I’ve never done anything like that before.
I might even have to use the coffee shop as collateral,” she said.
“That scares me. The coffee shop means so much to me. I basically built it from the ground up. I don’t want to jeopardize it, but I don’t see any other choice. ”
Her eyes were glassy, but in true Cassie fashion, she didn’t let a single tear fall. She went on with the rest of the night, pulling herself together quick enough that no one knew she was spiraling inside. No one except me.
When she laid her head on my shoulder again, falling asleep at the end of the night, I stayed there, letting her sleep, even as the first snowflakes started to fall outside.