Chapter 31 #2
Until now—in the middle of this month of dates—Diane hadn't invited her here, and that had been fine with Cassidy.
She'd preferred their time together to feel different, somewhere else.
Everything was exactly the same as she remembered, including Diane, who was waiting for her, standing barefoot in the living room, dressed in something simple, eyes on her phone, a bottle of water in her hand.
Cassidy wanted to wrap her arms around her waist and kiss that mouth she'd been fantasizing about for weeks. She had to hold herself back.
"I'm dead on my feet," she said instead, crossing the room toward Diane. "It's been a brutal week."
Diane looked up, her blue eyes bright. The corners of her mouth lifted, and the sides of her nose flared softly, over and over.
"I ordered pasta carbonara," she said, and Cassidy's mouth watered instantly. "And I found a movie that looks pretty good."
She was in her element, in her safe place, where she could move with the certainty of knowing exactly where she stood.
Cassidy dropped onto the couch with a dramatic flourish, and Diane sat down in front of her, on the low coffee table. She looked at her for a long, steady moment, then reached out and took her hand.
"I like you," she said, and Cassidy sat up straighter.
"I really like you. It's never happened to me before.
You're infuriating sometimes, stubborn, and you make my nerves—" She made an explosion gesture with her free hand, and the blonde raised her eyebrows.
"But all of that disappears when you look at me, because you actually do.
You don't see the woman I project—you see the one underneath.
The one who cries from panic thinking she might be sick.
The one who trembles every time you touch her.
The one who smiles because of whatever ridiculous thing you just said. "
Cassidy's eyes went wide. She hadn't expected any of this when she'd walked through the gate a few minutes ago.
"I wanted to spend four weeks showing you that you make me a better person, and that that version of me is capable of slowing the whole world down if you ask her to.
" She tightened her grip and laced their fingers together.
"And I waited until today to tell you what you make me feel, because saying it without having shown it first felt like skipping the most important part.
Today marks one month since our agreement, and I want to keep being by your side—but I'm not sure how many mistakes I've made along the way. "
Cassidy bit her lip. Diane was one enormous box of surprises.
"You've made a lot of them." Diane's body tensed.
Cassidy laid her other hand over their joined ones.
"But that's what life is, isn't it? Screwing up, but having enough maturity to own it and fix it.
To keep moving forward, to repair what's been broken.
I never asked you to be different, Diane—to change who you are, to be warmer or more open.
All I wanted was this: to know you better, to spend real time with you, and to confirm what I already knew—that we are one hell of a team. "
Cassidy pulled her forward, and Diane pushed off the table, swung a leg over, and settled astride her. They looked at each other for a few seconds, and almost at the same time, they smiled.
"Watch that mouth, Collins." And she kissed her.
"I'm glad she gets that my little sis isn't someone you mess with." Kenny picks up the drinks and helps Cassidy carry everything out to the living room.
"It sounds like a solid plan," she hears Diane say as they approach the table. "The knowledge is already there. What you need is a good strategy."
Payton smiles, and not just any smile. She gives Diane her most genuine one, and somehow manages to get one back. In Diane's own way.
"What were you talking about?" the blonde asks as she and Kenny hand out the drinks.
Diane raises an eyebrow, a quiet warning not to be nosy. Payton opens her mouth, visibly excited.
"Owen and I are thinking about offering legal services outside our regular practice.
" She takes a sip of her non-alcoholic beer.
"It wouldn't interfere with our main jobs, it'd get our name out there, and we'd make a little extra on the side.
Diane says it's doable—we just need to set it up right from the start. "
Cassidy smiles at her sister and immediately turns to Diane.
She takes her hand, and her girlfriend no longer flinches—she's used to it by now—but instead her shoulders slowly drop, the guarded look fades, and the tension that sometimes seems permanent drains out of her body. That's what Cassidy's touch does.
The meal stretches well past what any of them had planned.
Payton had organized the get-together because, in her view, it was long past time for the family to meet Diane.
She'd been monopolizing her sister every weekend and a handful of weeknights in between for months.
And when she found out they were heading up to Diane's cabin at Big Bear Lake for a week, it seemed like exactly the right moment.
Diane is comfortable. Cassidy picked up on it right away, especially with Kenny, with whom she'd had a long conversation and ended up making a deal—Diane would bring her car by his shop for a tune-up.
"You're welcome here anytime." Payton puts her best manners on display as she says goodbye to the guests.
"When we get back from the cabin, dinner can be at my place next time," Diane offers, and Cassidy bites her lip to hide a smile. Her girlfriend has figured out the things that really matter very quickly, and she shows up for them without hesitation.
As they walk toward the car, a sharp gust of wind sends a chill through both of them.
"It's going to rain," Diane says, tilting her face up at the sky, and they jump into the car.
Diane's phone shatters the quiet they'd built together in an instant because, even though the number is unfamiliar, she knows exactly who it is. But unlike months ago, when Diane would practically lose her composure, she now just swipes her finger across the screen and ends the call.
"She's persistent, I'll give her that," Cassidy murmurs, clicking her seatbelt into place. Diane had explained the reason behind her sister's calls weeks ago. "Has the attorney said anything?"
Diane starts the car and turns the wheel to pull out of the lot.
"It should all be wrapped up this month," she answers, clipped.
Cassidy doesn't need more than that, because she knows exactly what her girlfriend means.
Diane hired a private detective who gathered everything there was to gather on her family—not because she cared, but because an attorney used all of it to build a case airtight enough that not even the sharpest lawyer could tear it apart.
Harassment, extortion, and intimidation were some of the terms Cassidy had read in the document Diane received.
They'd be filing formally this month. If any member of her family dares to try to contact her, they'll run headfirst into the wall of the law, and the Carters would sooner starve than face that kind of public disgrace.
"Looks like you hit it off with Kenny." She changes the subject, and Diane visibly relaxes. "He's the most fun of the three of us."
The woman behind the wheel glances over at her. She sees in him a piece of herself—the part that fights every day against its own demons.
"Yeah, I really liked him." She turns at a light to merge onto the avenue. "His story is the one you haven't told me."