She opened the door just as he was coming up the stairs.
“Hey, Court. How you doing, baby?” Cassidy asked.“My fault about stopping by so late. It took me a minute to wrap things up. I put this stuff to the side for you. I thought you could use it for the baby.”
“Oh, umm, I told Ellie we didn’t need charity, Cass,” Courtney stated.
Cass placed the boxes down on the porch and stood, hiking up his pants as he stared Courtney in the eyes.
“No charity, Court. This is just extras. If you don’t take it, I have to give it back to the sponsors. I’d rather gift it to the baby, you know?”
Courtney heard Christian begin to whine, and she glanced back inside the house.
“I’m sorry, the baby just woke up. Give me a second,” she stammered. She rushed back into the bedroom, slipped into her satin kimono robe, and then scooped Christian from the bed. She rushed back to the door.
“You can… umm… just place the stuff right here by the closet. Thank you, Cass. This really wasn’tnecessary,” she said.
“No problem, Court. You’re family,” he said.“Man, he’s little. Handsome, too,” Cassidy complimented.
Courtney smiled as she bounced Christian in her arms while rubbing his back.
“Thanks, Cass,” she smiled and kissed her baby’scheeks.
“I’llget this stuff inside and get out your hair,” he said. He began to carry the cases of diapers inside. There were over twenty cases, and over thirty cans of formula that he had pulled aside for her.“This should last you for a while. If you ever need anything else, you know I’m just a phone call away, right?”
“What’s all this?” James asked as he emerged from the bedroom.
Courtney stiffened, and panic filled her because she knew James and his pride would take Cassidy’s kindness as offensive.
“This is Ellie’s brother. We went to support his charity event today,” Courtney explained.
“Cassidy.” Cass stuck out his hand to greet James.
“It’s kind of late,ain’t it?” James held suspicion in his tone and reluctantly shook Cassidy’s hand.
“Yeah, man, my bad. I just wanted to make sure I got this to Court.”
“Weain’t in need of no handouts, my man. We appreciate the gesture, though,” James stated.
She sucked in air because she knew he would take this the wrong way.
Cassidy frowned.“Itain’t like that, man. She’s my sister’s friend. I’m just looking out.”
“Yeah, nah, we’re good, fam,” James stated sternly.“Take the baby in the back and get him to sleep.”
Cassidy’s frown deepened, and he squared his stance defensively. He turned his attention to Courtney.
“Yo, you good?” Cassidy asked.
Courtney looked at James nervously and then back to Cassidy.“Yeah, Cass. Thanks for thinking of us, but we’re good. I promise. It’s late. I do need to get this one down,” she said, tripping over her words as her heart went haywire in her chest. She could see James’temper raging just from the look in his eyes. She knew he was piecing together a puzzle in his head and overthinking.
“Look, man, Iain’t got the room in my truck to pack all this back in there. If you really don’t want it, I’llsend somebody by to pick it up tomorrow before we go tree chopping,” Cassidy stated.“You coming to that, right?”Cassidy’s question was for Courtney.
“Umm, I…” she was going to try to make it after James went to work, but she had no plans of telling James.
“It’sa part of Friendsmas,” Courtney said, adding context for James.
“I thoughtFriendsmas was all girls,” James stated with no nicety in his tone. There was accusation in his tone, like Courtney had been caught in a lie. She was so embarrassed and unnerved that her eyes watered.
“Yeah, well, theygon’need some help binding them trees and loading ‘emup and all that. Ellie volunteered my services. You should come, man. Make it a family affair,” Cassidy stated. Courtney appreciated Cassidy trying to make James comfortable. She recognized an olive branch when she saw one, but she was mortified that he was witnessing her toxic relationship in person. She knew he would tell Ellie.
