“Cass, I want to apologize for my behavior the other night. I was wrong.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” I walked past him into the kitchen and threw my lunch in the fridge.
“Cass, are you sick? You look pale.”
“I’m fine, just had a bad night.” I headed to the front of the store, checking over everything. I didn’t want to get into it with him right now. I just wanted to focus on the task at hand and pretend everything was fine, and nothing was bothering me.
“Have you eaten?” he asked, concern in his voice.
“No, I haven’t, I didn’t have time.”
“How about I go over and grab you a coffee and some cookies before I leave?”
“Whatever you want, Ray,” I huffed as I straightened up a couple of shelves I hadn’t had time to do last night. I was never short with him. He had helped me so much, and I was truly grateful, but honestly, I wasn’t in any mood this morning to be nice to anyone. If I’d had the option, I would have just called in sick.
Ray stood watching me, a worried expression on his face. I tried to ignore it, but he was getting on my nerves.
“Don’t stand there and stare at me Ray. I said I’m fine.” I avoided looking at the concern on his face and bit my lip to try to stop the flow of tears I felt coming on. I was exhausted and emotional, and it would only be a matter of time before the tears started to fly if he didn’t leave me alone.
“Cass, what is it?” he asked, his deep voice turning soft and muted.
The books I was looking at started to blur as tears filled my eyes—exactly what I didn’t want. My chest felt like it was going to explode as the sobs poured from me.
“How much time do you have,” I sobbed. I went to run past him into the back, out of sight from the storefront, but he grabbed hold of me and pulled me into his arms. As soon as I hit his chest, I was done, I couldn’t hold it back anymore.
His hands smoothed my hair as I cried into him, letting go of everything I had been holding. The loss of Jackson, Brody returning, the pressure Ray was putting on me—it all just poured out. When I didn’t calm down right away, he pulled me into the back, away from the front of the store where people were starting to gather outside.
“Cass, you have to calm down, sweetie, it's time to open. How about I take you for a drink after work, we can talk then?”
“I’m a mess, Ray. Look at me, I can’t face customers like this.”
“It's okay, I have about a half hour I can spare. Why don’t you sneak out back, go and get a coffee, and I’ll open up for you?” He gave me a squeeze as he let me go.
“Thanks, Ray, I owe you.”
“Well, one day when I’m not feeling well, you can come and do a couple of brake jobs and change some oil for me.” I giggled through my tears at his suggestion. “Go on, go grab your coffee.”
I grabbed my jacket, heading out the back door as Ray headed to the front and welcomed my customers. I walked across the street and into the coffee shop. I only had a half hour to calm myself down, and I planned to do it quietly in a corner of the coffee shop with a cup of coffee and a bagel.
“Hey Cass!” Melanie said from behind the counter. “What can I get for you?”
“Can I get a coffee and a toasted bagel, please?”
“Sure, love. Everything okay? You look a little down this morning,” she asked while getting my bagel ready to toast.
“Yep, just had a long night.”
I watched as she poured the coffee into the cup and wrapped my bagel, handing them both to me. I made my way to the back corner, sat down and started to eat. I was about halfway through my bagel when the bell jingled above the door. I wasn’t going to look but curiosity got the best of me, and I turned to see Brody enter with two other men. At first, he didn’t notice me, but as he was waiting for the other men to place their orders, he turned toward me, a smile coming to his lips. He excused himself and approached my table. Taking his coat off, he sat down across from me.
“Why aren’t you working?”
“Ray is over there, I was running late this morning. He stopped in to make sure everything was open for me.”
“Wow! A true hero,” Brody commented sarcastically.
“Brody, don’t do this.”
“Yeah, well, I need to talk to you about your saint over there.”