5. Chapter 5
Chapter five
“The Wicked Ex of the West.”
Wes, Luke, and Milo watched Abe help Maggie gather what she needed for Kai, as she prepared to leave the house for the brothers’ poker night. Justin was late, and Gentry was on the phone with Marti about a problem with one of the boys.
Abe’s house had been transformed since Maggie moved in.
It even smelled different. The smell of food, beer, and a little sweat had been replaced by vanilla candles and lemon-scented cleaning supplies.
The place was small for a family of three, but the old Victorian would be ready to live in before the holidays arrived.
Luke scowled. “What the hell happened to our poker night?”
Milo nodded. “Wives, girlfriends, kids.” He looked at the three candles burning on the counter. “Candles.”
Wes picked up the cards and shuffled them. “It was only a matter of time. It won’t be long before one of you joins them.”
Luke shook his head. “No way.”
Milo thought about it. “I guess I wouldn’t mind. You know, you could get caught too.”
“Nah. Too old.”
Milo laughed. “Says the man who is kept well supplied with baked goods from the appreciative and hopeful single mothers of Bridgeport High.”
“I’d never go out with a parent of one of my students.”
“Well, they all graduate at some point.”
Gentry returned to the table. “What did I miss?”
Luke took a sip of his beer. “Wes telling us he’s too old to be caught.”
“Ah.” Gentry turned to Wes. “How’s it going with Cassandra?”
Milo held up a hand. “Hold on. Cassandra the Wicked Ex of the West?”
Maggie left with Kai, and Abe blew out the candles before sitting down. “She looks pretty good for a wicked ex.”
Wes tapped the cards on the table. “Are we playing poker, or are we gossiping like a bunch of old ladies?”
Luke raised his hand. “I vote for gossip. I thought you hardly saw her.”
“I did.” Wes sighed. “Until she was hired as the new guidance counselor.”
“No way.”
“Can we play cards now?”
“So you work with her every day now?”
Wes looked at Luke for a moment. “I can’t take Abe, and I might have some trouble with Justin. But you, I can still kick your ass.”
Luke laughed. “I’d like to see you try, old man.”
Justin held up his hands. “How about we play some cards, guys?”
They never played late since they all had work the following day.
Wes had pretty good luck with the cards, and he went home at the end of the night with a fair amount of his brothers’ money.
They always tried to keep the games friendly, and they capped the betting at twenty dollars.
They were all evenly matched as far as skill went, and they all had lucky nights and nights when they didn’t do so well.
Tonight, however, was Wes’ night, and when he got home, he put his winnings in a jar in the pantry. It would be his bank for the next game.
He’d been home for twenty minutes and was in the bathroom brushing his teeth when Frank appeared and sat in the doorway to watch.
“How are you doing, Frank?”
Frank yawned and proceeded to lick his paw and rub it on his face.
Wes swished some water around in his mouth, then spit it into the sink.
He looked at Frank as he dried his hands and mouth on a towel.
“Tomorrow will be a week with Cassandra. I never thought I’d make it.
” He stepped over Frank as he left the bathroom.
“I guess I’m mature enough to handle the situation.
What do you think?” He dropped to the floor and started doing push-ups.
Frank sat down a foot in front of Wes and watched him.
“Of course, she hasn’t said much to me since I talked to her about Bailey. I really don’t think I overstepped.”
Frank yawned again, apparently bored with the push-ups. He sauntered over to his black, furry bed in the corner and plopped down on it.
“Okay. Thanks for your input.”
When he hit fifty, he lay on his back and did fifty crunches, then set his alarm for 5:30.
He got into bed and picked up the book he’d been reading.
It was already eleven, an hour past when he normally went to bed, but he’d read for a few minutes to relax.
Tonight, however, he was having trouble concentrating.
His mind kept wandering to Cassandra and the fact that it had been a week already.
He thought about her short, bouncy hair that looked like she’d just gotten out of bed. But in a good way. A sexy way.
“Whoa. Don’t go there.” He closed his book and set it on the nightstand. Obviously, she’s a very beautiful woman. But you don’t need to be thinking about her bouncy hair.
He turned off the light, punched the pillow a couple of times, then lay down. “I don’t care how good you look. As Milo said, you’re still the wicked ex of the west.”
Cassandra rolled over and looked at the red numbers on the alarm clock.
1:00. Thirty minutes later than the last time she had looked.
It was his fault that she couldn’t sleep.
Why did he have to look so damn sexy sitting behind his stupid desk, wearing his stupid tie, and looking at her like she was evil incarnate?
She wasn’t evil. Even back then, she was just young and confused. Mostly, though, she was in love.
She threw the quilt back and sat on the edge of the bed. “How can he still look so damn good?” The man was nearly forty. “At some point shouldn’t he lose that boyish…” She sighed as she got to her feet. Maybe a cup of tea would help her fall back asleep.
She walked through the dark house to the kitchen, then switched on the light above the stove. She filled the kettle, then leaned against the counter after lighting a burner under it.
Bailey came into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. “Mom?”
“Sorry, honey, did I wake you?”
“I don’t know. I need some water.”
Cassandra filled a glass from the water dispenser in the refrigerator door, then handed it to Bailey.
She took a drink. “Did you sign my permission slip for camp?”
“Yes. I gave it to Polly on Monday. Are you sure you don’t mind me going?”
Bailey shrugged. “No. I thought it would be weird having you at school every day, but it hasn’t been. I’m sure you’ll be cool at camp.” She looked at Cassandra. “Right?”
“The coolest. You’ll hardly know I’m there.”
“Does this mean you and Mr. B. are getting along better?”
“We tolerate each other.” She smiled. “I’m kidding. Everything is fine.”
“I still think it’s crazy that you dated my principal.”
“It’s just one of those weird coincidences.”
“Super weird. Does Dad know you’re working with him?”
“No. I doubt he’d care.”
“Mom.”
“It seems we don’t tell each other everything these days.”
“His girlfriend?”
“Yes, for one.”
Bailey smiled. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, she’s kind of gross.”
“How so?”
“Um…too sweet. Like fake sweet. Way too much makeup.” She took a sip of water. “And…way too young.”
Cassandra cocked her head. “How young?”
Bailey put her glass in the sink. “Do you really want to know?”
“No. I don’t really care.”
Bailey kissed her on the cheek. “Get some sleep, Mom.”
Bailey started to leave, but stopped when Cassandra said, “Fine. How young?”
“I’m guessing halfway between your age and mine.”
“That’s…fine. Whatever. Go to bed, honey.”
Bailey left, and Cassandra jumped when the kettle began to whistle. She turned off the heat, then filled her cup. “Bastard.”
After a restless night, Wes went out into the rain, which had started sometime during the night.
He ran two miles instead of his usual five, then gave up and went home as the sun was coming up.
The long, hot shower he took to warm himself took up his breakfast time.
He filled a travel mug with coffee and left the house at 7:45 without eating.
An umbrella got him into the school office relatively dry, and he scowled at Polly when she greeted him with a cheery “Good morning.”
He handed her his wet umbrella, then headed for his office. He sat at his desk for a moment, then went back out to Polly.
“I’m sorry. Good morning.”
She smiled. “There he is. I was beginning to worry about you.”
“Damn rain.” A basket of cookies had been left yesterday, and he took four, then filled his office coffee mug with coffee. It was another gift from a former student, and it read, ‘Don’t talk to me until I’ve finished my coffee.’
Polly looked at the cookies. “Breakfast?”
“Somehow my morning didn’t go as planned.”
“I’ll have something delivered for you.”
“Then these will just be an appetizer.”
“Your meeting with Mrs. Alpert and Dr. Jordan is at ten.”
He stopped and looked at her. “What meeting?”
“The meeting about the senior class fundraiser.”
“Why is Dr. Jordan going to be there?”
“I guess she wants to be involved. It has always been managed by Mr. Bishop.”
“She’s not Mr. Bishop.” He held up his cup. “Not your problem. I’ll take care of it.”
“I’ll get your breakfast order so you’ve eaten by the time they get here.”
He cocked his head. “Are you inferring I’m hangry?”
“A little bit, yes sir.”
He smiled. “I’ll be in my office where I can’t hurt or offend anyone.” He returned to his office and settled behind his desk, then took a bite of a cookie. Chocolate chip. Mrs. Henderson. Recently divorced mother of two boys at the school. “Well, Mrs. Henderson, you make a damn good cookie.”
When someone knocked on the door, he finished the cookie and took a sip of coffee. It wouldn’t be Polly with his breakfast already.
He brushed the crumbs off his desk. “Come in.”
Cassandra walked in holding a plant. “Morning.”
“Morning. I thought the meeting was at ten.”
“It is. I just wanted to bring you this.” She set the plant on his desk, then stepped back.
“You brought me a plant?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To mark our one-week anniversary.”
“Why are we celebrating that?”
“We made it a week. The first week has to be the hardest, right? So, it’s going to get easier from here. Before long…who knows? You might even smile at me once in a while.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t hold your breath.”
She nodded toward the three cookies sitting on his desk. “Breakfast?”
“I’m getting some food delivered. I…” He shook his head.
“You’re right. None of my business what you eat for breakfast. I just assumed you ate healthy, what with all the running you do.”
“How do you know I run?”
“You run right by my house several times a week.”
“On Westchester.” She nodded, and he added, “I forgot you lived over there.”
“Are you going to avoid my street now?”
“No. It’s the most direct route to the trail through the greenbelt.”
“You’re very dedicated to getting up that early to run.”
“It’s that or at night. After a long day, night doesn’t work for me. Why are you up so early?”
“I like getting up early before the world wakes up.”
“Hmm. If I remember correctly, you were often late to your morning classes because you couldn’t get out of bed in time.”
She shrugged. “I guess I grew up.”
“I guess we both did.”
“In my defense, though, we often stayed up late studying and…stuff.”
He sighed. “Yeah, there was quite a bit of…stuff happening.”
She smiled. “We were good, Weston. You can’t deny that.”
He looked at the plant. “Is that really for me?”
“Yes. Don’t kill it.”
“Why a plant?”
“Because you don’t have one. Every office needs a plant.”
“I’ve survived this long without one.”
She backed up a few steps. “Oh, and you need to name it.”
“I’m not going to name the damn plant.”
“Give it a name and talk to it. That way it will thrive.” She smiled. “I know. Get out of my office, Cassandra.”
He picked up a cookie. “I’ll see you at ten.”