A Southern Reunion

Cal came around the desk then, his hands fisted at his side so he wouldn’t touch her. “No, you need to be here. That much I can tell you. He made sure of that, Cassie. You want answers, well, then, go talk to Marcus. Make him explain things to you. That’s the only way you’ll ever understand.”

She looked at him, her eyes widening. “You do know something but you’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“It’s not my place.”

She put her arms across her chest. “I think you’ve already answered me. I remember enough about you to consider that you’d find this place extremely lucrative. Add this property to what you’ve acquired over the years and it all makes sense. You could finally establish yourself as one of the most powerful landowners in southwest Georgia. I want to believe you came back here to help me, but you’d certainly have a good reason to want revenge, too. I just have to decide which. And I’m gonna need some time to make up my mind.”

With that, she turned and pranced out of the stable, her silhouette darkened by the late afternoon sunshine.

The light from that brightness, pitched against the shadows of dusk, hurt Cal’s eyes. She had a point. He’d thought of a lot of reasons for accepting Marcus Brennan’s offer. And revenge had crossed his mind a time or two. But so had the possibility of finally making amends for breaking Cassie’s heart.

CASSIE OPENED THE DOOR to the dark study. The nurse sitting with her father nodded to her then got up to meet her.

“He’s sleeping, Miss Cassie. But it’s almost time for his dinner if you’d like to stay and talk while I feed him.”

“I’ll feed him,” Cassie said, the words sounding strange on her tongue.

Having to spoon-feed her once-proud father caused a giant lump to form in her throat. How had she let it come to this? She should have forced her way back into his good graces years ago. But she’d been too hurt to think beyond getting away from this place and the condemnation and hatred she’d seen in his eyes.

“Are you sure?” the nurse asked, her eyes full of sympathy and understanding. “My shift’s over at five-thirty so I can do it.”

Cassie glanced at the clock on the bookshelf. “That’s another hour. Why don’t you go on home? I’ll stay with him until your relief comes.”

“I’m not supposed to leave him without permission. Usually Teresa or Mr. Collins makes that call.”

Cassie’s anger resurfaced but she couldn’t blame the aide for doing her job. “I’m his next of kin and I say it’s okay. You can go and I’ll stay with him until the shift changes. Don’t worry, I’ll take full responsibility.”

Her father stirred at the whispered voices. “Gennie?”

The aide gave Cassie an apologetic shake of the head. “He’s always asking for her. Your mother?”

Cassie nodded, her silence holding back the dam on her emotions. Glancing at her father’s struggle with the covers, she whispered, “Go ahead and tell Teresa to prepare his dinner. I promise I’ll stay with him. I need to get used to doing this. I’ll go over his medication with the night-shift aide.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The woman gathered her things and went out the door, quietly closing it behind her.

“Who’s there?” Marcus tried to sit but fell back against the pillows.

“It’s me, Daddy.” Cassie hurried to the bed and stopped him from pulling the breathing tube out of his nose. “It’s Cassie. Just calm down.”

“Where’s your mother? I saw her. I saw her right over there.”

Shock jolted Cassie into action. “Daddy, it’s okay. No one’s here but me. I told your aide to go home. Teresa is bringing your dinner. Are you hungry?”

He seemed to realize he was in this room at this time. His eyes went from a vacant stare to a more lucid clarity. “I must have been dreaming. I thought you were your mother.” He shrank back into the pillows, his disappointment heavy in the air. “I forgot that she’s dead.”

Cassie couldn’t speak. The depth of his grief ate at her with a stinging that felt like fire ants biting into her skin. She’d allowed this to happen. She’d stayed away, hating herself, and hating the man he’d become. She’d let this estrangement rip them apart and now it had made her bitter and distrustful and her father so ill and grief-stricken he was dying a slow, horrible death.

He opened his eyes to stare up at her. “Cassie-girl, you came home. I’m so glad.”

Cassie inhaled a gulping breath. “Are you, Daddy?”

“Of course I am, girl. I told ’em to call you home. I have a lot to discuss with you. Not much time.”

She wondered if Cal already knew what her father wanted to talk to her about. She’d just have to keep digging until she found out. “What do you want to tell me?”

He let out a shuddering cackle. “So much. Too much.”

Cassie found a chair and pulled it up to the bed. “I’m here now, Daddy. You can tell me whatever you want.”

But did she want to hear everything he had to tell?

CAL CAME IN THE BACK DOOR and turned toward the long, sunny kitchen on the right. Teresa was in her usual spot in the little sitting room by the breakfast nook, watching the evening news. Her apartment was next to the sitting room. “Hey,” she said, never taking her eyes off the television. “Looks like rain tomorrow.”

“Yep.” Right now he didn’t really care about the peanuts and corn. “Time for his tray?”

She got up. “It’s on the stove.” She went over and pulled the foil off the mashed potatoes and tiny chunks of beef stew and gravy. “Cal, Cassie’s in there with him. She sent the day nurse home.”

Cal braced his hands on the long butcher-block counter. “She came to see me in the stables, wanting to know what’s going on. I can’t tell her so I hope he explains things.”

Teresa glanced across the wide central hall. “But he doesn’t realize—”

“I know that.” He lowered his head. “If I tell her the truth, she’ll go ballistic and think I cooked up this whole scheme. I’m hanging on by a thread here, Teresa.”

Teresa put the tray in front of him. “We don’t have a whole lot of time left. Before that man dies, the truth has to come out, and I mean all of the truth. That’s why you’re here. You can help her. You can make her understand.”

“Like I did last time when she needed me and…I wound up hurting her?”

Teresa leaned over the counter, her whisper carrying through the high-ceilinged house. “No, this time you won’t hurt her. You had your reasons back then. This time, you’ll stay and show her the man you’ve become.”

Cal hoped he could do that. “But what if she doesn’t stay? What if she leaves again?”

Teresa wiped her hands down her apron. “Then you’ll go after her, Cal. This has to end, one way or another.”

The door across the way opened and closed and Cassie came into the kitchen. She looked at Cal then turned to Teresa. “Is that my father’s dinner tray?”

Teresa nodded. “I was about to let Cal bring it in to you, honey.”

Cal reached for the food tray, but Cassie tugged it away. “I’ve got it.”

“I’ll sit with you, if you want,” Cal offered, hoping to find some common ground. “No, thanks.”

With that, she lifted the tray and walked back across the hall.

Cal glanced over and realized the door was shut so he rushed to open it for her. Their eyes met but her expression never yielded. She went into the room, leaving him to close the door.

Teresa lifted her chin toward the stove. “Your dinner is ready if you want to eat now.”

“I’m not hungry,” Cal said. “I’ll come back later.”