Was this Ridge’s way of telling me he needed me for a two-week stakeout? When he made Colt sleep in the woods for a week and a half in northern Maine tracking a drug runner shipment, he bought him a steak dinner before giving him the assignment.
Cake was good, but steak would have been better.
“I mentioned to Tabitha I planned to tell you how proud I am of you as my younger brother, Riley. I wasn’t sure how committed you’d be to the security business when I offered you the position, but you have shown true dedication. It has been an honor to work with you not only as a brother and a coworker but as a friend.”
Wow. I don’t think my brother had ever expressed so many emotions in so many sentences at one time before. If I wasn’t a man, I might have choked up with his honesty. Instead, I responded in the typical Jefferson family way. “Thanks bro, and the cake?”
Ridge shook his head. “Tabitha said there had to be cake, or it didn’t count.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “Well, she married you.”
One eyebrow rose significantly higher on Ridge’s forehead. “Meaning?”
“She has highly questionable judgment.”
Ridge’s laughter matched mine. “That may be, but I’m still proud of you, little brother.”
He gave me one last hard pat on the back and then left me to help Tabitha maneuver the large cake. She barely held it up with two of her hands and I was thankful they didn’t load it with candles because it would start a fire.
Ridge helped her slide the cake to one table off to the side and then handed her a stack of plates. “Okay, we can eat,” she yelled, even though only our small group was in the bakery.
No one made a move. Cassandra took a step in the cake’s direction, but I thrust my arm out to keep her at a safe distance away.
Tabitha’s expression fell into a tightlipped frown, and she stared at each one of us a beat while shaking her head. “I didn’t cook it,” she finally conceded.
At her admission, everyone released a breath and moved forward to form a line for the cake.
“All of you are absolutely ridiculous,” Tabitha complained, but she turned and cut large slices of what appeared to be a chocolate cake underneath the chocolate frosting. “Just because Anessa cooks a little better than me doesn’t mean what I make is inedible.”
Ridge tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and kissed her on the temple again. His attempt at calming the outburst. “Of course not, babe. They were only joking with you.”
She huffed but used the spatula to place a large sections of cake on tiny dessert plates.
“What’s that about?” Cassandra asked as she stood next to me in line.
I leaned in to whisper in her ear and caught the scent of her coconut shampoo. I placed my lips right next to her ear, not only because I wanted to be as close to her as possible, but in no way did I want Tabitha to hear what I had to say.
“She’s a horrible cook. Ridge won’t even let her touch the oven.”
Cassandra nodded as if she understood, but until you really got to know the couple, it was impossible to explain the relationship. The two of them just fit, even if they had a crazy rocky beginning. Some townspeople blamed the drama on Katy, but in actuality the storm blew in when Tabitha arrived. Just never tell my brother I said so.
Cassandra rested her hand on my arm and I flexed, hopeful she’d never move it. “Congratulations on your good job cake.”
“Thanks,” I said and leaned forward a fraction of an inch before I caught myself about to place a kiss on the top of her head, mimicking the move from Ridge, which we’d learned from our mother and father before she died. I released a quick breath as I pulled back, thankful I’d stopped in time.
Everything felt right standing beside Cassandra, as though she had never left and should have been right by my side. The two of us never had a forever, but it didn’t stop me from wishing for it.
What would it be like to have the best of both worlds? A great job working for my brother and the woman I had never stopped loving?
6
CASSANDRA
Istruggled to open the back car door while holding the large brown moving box from my coworker Mandy. It was heavy. I’d just finished sliding the package in my back seat when Riley pulled up in his Dodge pickup.
“What’s up?” he asked once he was standing beside me.
I dusted off my hands as if the box had a layer of dust on it. It didn’t.
