Maybe he was right. Maybe I was being petulant about the whole thing. Damn it there was no maybe about it. Of course, Cassidy’s work should be her priority. If it had been another teacher and I’d thought she was quitting on the school, on the kids, I’d be pissed. If they’d even considered it I’d have questioned their suitability as a teacher. I should be proud of Cassidy and help her to achieve whatever dream she had, not force her to fulfil mine. It still smarted, though, and I knew if I spoke to her now I’d say the wrong thing. It would all come out wrong and I knew she wasn’t a woman who’d keep allowing me to fuck up. Damn it, that was what I liked about her.
I looked back out to those emerald waves she loved so much and sighed.
“I’ll give you today Miss. Turner,” I whispered against the wind, “but then I’m coming for you.”
Chapter 37
Irreplaceable - Beyonce
Cassidy
“Okay,” Lily said, her sigh heavy as she flopped down onto a chair next to my desk. “What’s going on?”
She’d been in my class earlier, collecting some paints and had seen straight away that I wasn’t my usual self. I wasn’t wearing makeup for starters and I never went anywhere without wearing my mascara. I was also wearing a blouse which in no way went with the stripe trousers that I was wearing.
“Nothing,” I lied.
“Don’t believe you.” She looked me up and down, her eyebrows drawn in disgust. “Look at that outfit for starters.”
“I know, I know. It was dark when I got dressed.”
“Clearly.” Linking her fingers and placing them on my desk, she leaned forward. “Is your lack of dress sense anything to do with Gunner’s black mood?”
“Well, he didn’t like the yellow bib overalls I wore a few months back and got covered in strawberry milkshake for his troubles, but I doubt he’d still be moody because of my clotheschoice.” I shrugged like it didn’t matter but it did. It hurt. He’d hurt me by jumping to the conclusion that I didn’t care about him or the camp. It hurt that he hadn’t called to see if we could talk about it.
“What is the reason for his mood then, because I know you know.” Lily’s blue eyes stared at me, uncompromising yet understanding.
“We had an argument.”
“Is that all? Nash and I argue all the time.” She squinted at me through one eye. “Well, bicker really and I’m pretty sure he does it for make-up sex. He says I’m wild when I’m mad at him.”
I loved Lily dearly, but sometimes I didn’t want to hear about all the sweet that she had at home with Nash. I was plain and simple jealous, or I had been until Gunner. Now, though, it felt like I’d be going back to that place again. The one where I was an onlooker to happiness.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Lily. Don’t worry about it.”
She schooled her expression into something akin to concern. “Tell me why some make-up sex isn’t going to fix things.”
I shrugged. “It might.”
“When was the last time you spoke to each other?”
Thirty-nine hours and forty minutes ago. “Monday night at the meeting. I was asked if I was leaving here to work full-time on the camp and Gunner didn’t like my answer.”
“Which was?”
“That I was committed to my work here.”
“Which is right.” A tiny line appeared between her eyes. “But Gunner didn’t agree?”
“He thought I was going to teach at the camp eventually. And by saying I was committed to the school meant I wasn’t committed to the camp.”
“Okay,” she replied.
I swallowed the scratch at the back of my throat, wondering when the heaviness in my chest would eventually disappear. Or would it always be there, like it was for my mom.
“Cassidy, you should talk to him,” Lily urged. “It sounds like a misunderstanding that you can both work through.”
“I won’t be controlled, Lily. Forced to work at the camp because that’s what Gunner wants me to do. I have my job, my profession.” The hurt was mixing with anger and creating bitterness. Not a feeling I was used to. Not even losing my parents had made me bitter, sad and angry but not bitter because it was the circle of life as ugly as it was.
