Chapter 12 #2
As Drea listened to Cassie’s words, something resonated deep inside her.
She had never put words to why she didn’t want a wedding, at least not out loud.
There was the element of a big celebration, and after all of the annual galas she had been subjected to, never having a public celebration again was more than fine with her.
But, if she was being honest, it wasn’t about the wedding.
It was the fact that she knew it would never happen for her.
There was no person out there for her. And for most of her life, that had been okay.
* * *
Cassie beamed at Molly as Sam stepped to the front of the room, thrilled that her sister finally got to see where she worked and meet Sam. The office turned makeshift dining room overflowed with staff, their families, and a select few clients.
“Thank you all for coming,” Sam began. “The past few months have been a whirlwind. An incredible, somewhat stressful,” a few chuckles rang through the room, “amazing dream come true. And I have all of you to thank for that. You are all family to me. So, enjoy the food, the company, and the rest of the week off. You deserve it.” She raised her glass. “Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!”
Clapping and some whoots filled the room before everyone started to mingle again.
Cassie turned to Molly, her plus-one for the evening. “Come on, I want to introduce you to Sam.” They headed toward Sam, who was chatting with the Rushes.
“Hi everyone, I’d like to introduce my sister, Molly. Molly, this is Sam, and two of our most important clients, Beau and Lorna Rush. They own The Well.”
Molly shook Beau and Lorna’s hands. “Oh, wow, it’s wonderful to meet you both. I’ve been hearing rave reviews about The Well.”
“You’ll have to come try it out soon then,” Lorna said with a welcoming smile.
“Molly, it’s so great to meet you.” Sam hugged her. “Your sister is an absolute lifesaver. I don’t know what I would have done without her the past few months.”
“I feel the same way.” The warm smile never faltered from Molly’s lips, but Cassie placed her hand on her back and gave her a gentle rub of encouragement.
If Sam noticed the shift in Molly’s tone, she didn’t let it change the mood of the conversation. “I’m happy you’re here,” she said, patting Molly’s hand.
“I can definitely see the resemblance between the two of you. Sisters for sure,” Beau said. “Thank god I don’t take after my brother.” He pretended to adjust an invisible tie and puffed out his chest. “I got all the looks in the family.” He winked at Lorna and she swatted at him.
“Just ignore him. It works for me,” Lorna said, then laughed as Beau feigned sadness.
They all laughed, and Cassie took advantage of the pause in the conversation to notice the line forming over by the food, waving at Ash who was helping Jake with a plate of food. She looked at Sam who was smiling warmly at Ash and Jake.
“You all help yourselves to some food before it gets cold,” Sam said. “I’m going to go check on my family.”
Cassie and Molly followed the others to the long table along the wall, full of Thanksgiving food. Cassie’s mouth watered as she took in the turkey and all of the traditional side dishes. As she filled her plate with a little bit of everything, she noticed the sparseness on Molly’s plate.
She grabbed a helping of stuffing. “Hey Mol, take some. It’s your favorite.”
When Molly turned, the sadness in her eyes tugged at Cassie’s heart.
She wasn’t sure if it was Eva or the holidays in general, probably all of the above.
Ever since they had lost their parents, holidays had lost a lot of the warmth and meaning.
Their mom had always made the holidays special, baking their favorite types of desserts and picking out a tree to decorate together, as if making those times warm and cheery could counteract the rest of the time which was pretty rough.
Molly and Cassie, along with Eva, had tried to keep things going after the pain of the first couple of years had passed, but it was a hodgepodge at best, typically ordering out for Thanksgiving and focusing on being together rather than continuing any traditions.
Because Molly planned so many holiday events for her job, Cassie was never sure if the lack of effort for their own holidays was because she needed a break from that or if it was the absence of their mom.
A commotion at the end of the table grabbed Cassie’s attention. Jody had arrived and onlookers surrounded her as she placed pies and a delicious-looking cake on the table.
As people headed to the dining table, Cassie walked over to check out the dessert options. “Hey, Jody. I didn’t realize you were going to be catering dessert tonight.”
Jody paused slicing a pie. “Oh, it was the least I could do. You all have been so great to me. And Sam wanted you all to get a break and not have to plan the dinner to celebrate yourselves.” She chuckled.
Cassie turned and saw Sam sitting at the table with Ash and Jake, cutting Jake’s turkey for him. Her heart warmed at the sight. If Sam hadn’t already won her heart as the best boss she ever had, seeing how caring she was as a mom would have done it. “Yeah, we’re all pretty lucky to have Sam.”
Jody nodded enthusiastically. “We are.”
“I’m normally a pie person for Thanksgiving, but this cake looks incredible. What is it?” Cassie asked.
“It’s pecan . . .” Jody’s words stilled as Molly joined them. “Hi, Molly.”
“Hi, Jody, this looks incredible,” Molly said, looking like she might drool on the dessert.
“Thanks, I was telling Cassie this is my pecan pie cake. Layers of caramel cake and pecan pie filling on a shortbread crust, topped with caramel buttercream frosting and chocolate drip.”
“Oh my god,” Cassie and Molly said in unison.
Jody laughed. “You two like the same types of cake?”
“I think anyone who is breathing would like that cake,” Cassie said. She met Molly’s eyes. “We’re both fans of chocolate, but I’m more the chocolate on chocolate with a side of chocolate type and Molly, well, you like fruit and chocolate still, right?”
Molly smiled and it reached her eyes this time. “Yeah, I’m a sucker for raspberries and chocolate.”
“A great combination,” Jody agreed.
“Would you like to join us?” Cassie asked.
Jody’s shoulders relaxed a little. “I’d love to. Can you save me a seat while I finish slicing this?”
“Absolutely. I’d offer to help, but I do not want to wreck your creation,” Cassie said.
They headed over to the folding tables set up in a line to make a long dining table.
The nice off-white tablecloth, place settings, and fall-themed decorations ratcheted up the style factor.
There were a few empty seats next to Tom, Drea, and Erin, so Cassie and Molly grabbed seats across from each other and Cassie used her water to save the spot next to her for Jody.
Drea glanced up at Cassie and smiled, and Cassie felt the sexiness of it deep in her bones. She looked over at the cake to distract herself. Why couldn’t she lust after it? That was a relationship with some potential at least.
Ever since the night at Drea’s apartment and this past weekend working on the table decorations together, the connection Cassie felt between them was getting harder to ignore.
If it had been anyone else, she would’ve asked them out by now.
But Drea was a non-option. There was no future with someone like Drea, so Cassie was left to war between her thoughts and her emotions.
And she wasn’t sure which one was winning.
“You must be Molly. I’ve heard a lot about you.” The sound of Drea’s voice pulled Cassie’s attention back to the table.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have introduced you,” Cassie said. “Molly, this is Drea.” She watched as Molly and Drea held each other’s gaze for a moment, and Cassie’s stomach dropped.
“Drea. You’re the one who’s been helping Cassie and me out?” Molly asked.
“I am.” Drea’s voice was confident and sultry, not unlike her body.
Molly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and took a sip of her wine.
Cassie finally saw what Drea had never shown her initially, that superpower that had women line up for her.
She felt a wave of nausea at the thought of Drea hooking up with her sister—a feeling and a thought she could go the rest of her life without having again.
This was the first time she and Molly had ever been single at the same time except for when Cassie was pretty much a fetus.
By the time she had come out in high school, Molly was already with Eva.
She had never considered someone she liked showing an interest in her sister.
And, of course, Drea would. Molly was classically beautiful.
But more than that, she had a grace about her.
As Cassie watched the two of them talking, she realized Drea had the same grace, but Molly’s had an innocence to it, whereas Drea’s had an edge. A hot, sexy edge, but still an edge.
“Is this for me?”
Cassie almost jumped at Jody’s voice. “What?”
Jody gave her a curious look and pointed at the table. “Is this spot for me?”
“Oh! Yes. Please, have a seat.” She moved her water so Jody could put her plate down, then grabbed a roll and put some butter on it as she stole glances at Drea and Molly.
“Could you pass the butter?” Jody asked.
“Mmhmm.” Cassie passed the butter plate over, then took a large bite of her roll, chewing and watching a nightmare she never knew existed transpire in front of her.
Molly laughed at something Drea said and tucked another strand of long, auburn hair behind her ear.
Erin asked Drea something and Molly took the break in conversation to turn her focus to the rest of the table. She caught Cassie’s eye, then furrowed her brow with a curious expression.
Cassie looked down at her plate, pretending to cut her turkey so she could calm herself from all of the thoughts racing through her head.