Chapter Two
Hours later, after closing Pages the earlier the better. And her glasses gave her a no-nonsense look which only added to the bossy demeanour .
“What can I do?”
“Top up my wine.” She nudged toward the empty glass on the counter.
The open bottle was sitting all by its lonesome near the window, so I brought it over to join us. I grabbed a wine glass for myself and filled them both up halfway.
Cassie drained the pasta, leaving it in the strainer. “How was work?”
I stole a cucumber slice from the tray of cut veggies. “The usual. Same old story. Spike came in and tried hitting on me again. Thought if he bought six new reads, I’d finally say yes.”
Without looking up, she sprinkled some cheese into the muffin pans. “Oh yeah? That guy can’t take a hint, can he?”
“Apparently not. He reminds me too much of Dad, and that in itself is a no-go. He can ask me out until the cows come home and buy as many books as a library, but it’ll never happen.”
Cassie put the empty pot back on the stove and started adding in all the ingredients she had already measured out, so it was just a matter of her dumping them in when needed. My sister was such a great cook, and I envied her skills, even if all she said was how she simply followed a recipe. She was going to be a great mom someday.
One by one, the bowls emptied of butter, flour, and milk.
“It’ll never happen with him, or with guys in general?” The whisk scraped across the bottom of the pan.
“In general, I suppose. They’re just not…” But I wasn’t sure what the right word was.
“The fantasy?”
“What? No.”
“Sage, you read so many romance books and you go out into the real world expecting to find them, but they’re not real. They’re a fantasy. They simply don’t exist.”
I tightened my grip on my stemless wine glass. “That’s not true, and you know it. You have your own real-life hero.”
“Just because Chad is a firefighter…”
“Not just because of that.” I interrupted. “He’s sweet and he lets you be you. He doesn’t try to change you, and he respects and adores you.” And as far as I knew, he never cheated on her either.
She sighed and added in her giant bowl of cheese. “You need to separate yourself from your fantasy world and lower your expectations or you’ll end up all alone.”
“Would there really be anything wrong with that?”
Cassie sighed louder and faced me. “Do you want a running list?”
Rolling my eyes, I leaned back on the stool and took a gulp of wine. “I’m tired of discussing my lack of a love life. I’m perfectly happy being alone.”
“Alice has a single brother. ”
“I’m not interested.”
“He’s a sweetheart. A fox,” she said that word like it was supposed to mean something, “and apparently quite the charmer. He’s younger than Alice too, so probably closer to your age and a real artsy-fartsy type.”
“Does he like Once Upon a Time? ” It was my favourite show of all time, and I’d watched it enough to have it memorized. A few years back, I’d even purchased a red leather jacket to be more like Emma Swan, and if I was more of a badass, I could’ve pulled off the look.
“What is your fascination with that show?”
“How can you not like it? It’s so amazing.” The romance, the adventure, Captain Hook in particular, or Robin Hood, or even Prince Charming.
“Wipe the drool off your face.” She handed me a paper towel. “So back to Alice’s brother.” Her glasses slid down her nose a smidgen. “You should meet him. If nothing else, it’ll get you a free dinner and it’ll get you out of the house at least.”
“I get out of the house. I walk every day. I work most days. Believe me, I am getting out of the house, and I don’t need a free meal from a strange guy to entice me.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Because I’m not getting any younger, right?” The big 3-0 was knocking on my door, and I barely knew what I was doing with my life.
My sister, on the other hand, always had a ten- year plan in the making.
Bachelor of Education degree by twenty-two. Master of Education by twenty-five. In between her two degrees, she wanted to meet her soul mate, be married within two years of that, and pop out her first child before she was thirty. Sadly, Mother Nature was more in control of her childbearing years than she would’ve liked. Otherwise, Cassie hit all her personal goals, and then some, with most of her personal goals achieved earlier than expected, just proving again to the world how different we were.
“You said it, not me.” She was beating the cheese into a sauce. “Can you pour the macaroni in please?”
I took another gulp and picked up the colander, dumping the contents to add to her homemade cheese sauce.
Cassie stirred until all the pasta was covered, and it looked so delicious. “Did you get an invitation to Alex’s wedding today?”
Our cousin from our dad’s side. Growing up, we’d all been the best of friends, but since reaching adulthood, we hadn’t spent as much time together. Life and all that.
“No, but I haven’t rooted through the mail yet.”
“It wasn’t there when I sorted through it.” My mail was usually just dropped on the ledge by the front door. “Anyway, she’s getting married in Mexico. ”
“Oh, that’ll be nice.” Hopefully, the wedding was next winter, so I had time to save. Would make sense, she did say she didn’t want to rush into the marriage. “When?”
“December.”
“Like in three months?”
“Yep.” She dropped the pot onto the hot mat and started scooping the mac and cheese mixture into the muffin tins. “Nice, eh?”
I shrugged. “It’s an easy way to cut down on the guest list. Not many people can just afford to suddenly go to Mexico, and on such short notice too.”
“Well, she just lost two. I’ll be teaching, so Chad and I can’t go, but maybe you can with three month’s notice, if you ask Harvey nicely.”
I could if I wanted to dip into my savings and blow it on a trip. There was a decent amount of cash sitting around in the bank, but I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to use it for yet. A weeklong trip didn’t seem like a good reason to dip into it when there were ideas of buying my own house or finishing my business degree or even buying out the owner of Pages some hit the floor.
“Can’t complain.”
He licked his fingers. “How’s Billy doing?”
“I have no idea.”
“What?” He stopped mid-lick to stare at me. “Why not?”
“They broke up a couple of weeks ago, I told you that and she’s between guys,” Cassie said and then presented her muffin tray of mini mac bites. “Tada!”
“Looks good, Cass. The ladies will gobble them up.”
Grabbing the spatula, Chad salvaged a couple of pieces of macaroni from the pot. “What was wrong with this guy?”
“Don’t pick. She has high expectations, unlike me, apparently.” Cassie picked the stray pieces of grated cheese off the floor and tossed them into the sink .
I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh.
“No, seriously. They can’t all be bad.” He leaned against the counter.
“If you must know, he farted. A lot.” I pinched my nose for added effect.
He shrugged. “So what? All guys do. Girls do too.” Chad turned to his wife with a knowing smirk on his face.
Cassie’s eyes grew three sizes. “I do not.”
“Oh yeah, you do.” Chad faced me again. He should’ve worn his gear though; it would’ve protected him from my sister’s fire breathing.
If Cassie did pass wind, it was only when she was unconscious.
I cleared my throat to tear the unwanted attention off my sister. “When I told him it bothered me, he increased his releases, and they grew worse.”
Chad sighed. “Well, it’s not a solid reason to dump a guy. Maybe he has some disease or something.”
“Unlikely. He was just rude.”
“Were you involved long enough to ask?”
I shrugged and rather than glare at my brother-in-law, I stared at my half-full glass of wine. “My reasons for dumping the guy were absolutely valid.”
“Just like the guy who sped all the time? Marc, was it?” He took the now empty pot and put it into the sink, filling it with hot, soapy water.
“That was a safety issue.” I pointed my finger at him. “I didn’t need you to be the first on scene when he lost control of his car and we crashed into an elk or something.” My gaze dropped to the counter.
“And what about the nose picker? What was his name again?”
“Does it matter?” I was tired of my dating history constantly being thrown back at me. “They’re all stinkers. I have a knack for picking out the losers. If there’s a loser in this town, I’ll be attracted to him.” Which makes me question what’s up with Elliot.
“The nose picker was actually a nice guy,” Chad said.
Cassie nodded in agreement and pushed her glasses up with her knuckle. “Right? He was sweet and outgoing.”
“And a brown noser,” I added. “Remember?”
Chad pointed a finger at me with a warm smile on his rugged and scarred face. “You need to lower your standards. There’s only one perfect guy in this world and you’re looking at him. You’ll never find another.”
“You’re hardly perfect.” Cassie tossed a dish towel over her shoulder. “Loveable, yes, but far from perfect.”
“Hey.” His watch buzzed loudly. “Dang, dang, I’m going to be late.” He promptly kissed Cassie goodbye. “Don’t stay up.”
“Oh, I won’t.”
He patted me on the shoulder as he walked by. “See you later, kid, and convince your sister that we should get a dog.”
“What? Where did that come from?” I asked, but he was already gone.
The door banged shut.
“Dog?” I asked.
Her gaze fell to the pot of soapy water. “It’s not going to happen. I don’t want to care for a dog.” The way she said it, I knew there was more there than caring for an animal. She wanted a baby, not a four-legged animal, and I understood how they weren’t the same thing. A heavy sigh fell out of her. “I have Chad and my students, that’s enough. I don’t need a dog.”
I wanted to see her smile. “And, you have me.”
“And you.” Her warm smile had yet to appear, hidden behind her pain.
There was another way to make her smile return, and I shuddered at the thought, but still, I let the words come out of my mouth, all be it with a weighted sigh. “Tell me about Alice’s brother.”