I glanced at my watch, it was almost nine and I did have to get back over to the shop. “Alright. Not now. How about tonight?”
“Fine, what time will you be home? Seven?”
“A little later than that, I’m having dinner with Ray.”
I could see the annoyance written all over Brody’s face. “Whatever, if you need me, call me.”
I frowned. “Brody, why are you behaving this way?”
“Cass, without letting me explain, just promise me if you need me, you’ll call.”
“Alright, fine. I have to go.” I stood up and balled up the wrapper from my bagel, threw it in the trash, and grabbed my cup from the table. “Have a good day, Brody.”
“You too. Cass.”
Chapter Sixteen
Cass
Ilocked the day's depositin the safe and went to shut off and clean the coffee maker when Ray came through the back door.
“Hey, Cass, hope your day was good.”
“It was, I hit record sales today. At least something went right,” I smiled as he followed me into the little kitchen.
“How about yours?” I questioned. I grabbed the carafe and dumped the coffee down the sink and filled it with hot water and soap.
“It was okay. I got word from my supplier the parts I ordered are in the warehouse, but they can't get the shipment to me until after the fifteenth of January. I need them for the tenth which means I’m going to have to make my way down to pick them up.”
“That will be like a two-week trip! You won't be here for the book drive, and right now, you're the only help I have aside from Brody.” I could feel the tension creeping into my shoulders yet again.
“No, I'll wait until after Christmas, no worries. I'll be here,” he said, massaging my shoulders and neck gently.
“Thanks, I really need you to be here for that, it means so much to me.”
“I know it does, you don't need to worry. I thought we would go grab a bite, then I could take and help you pick out a tree. I noticed the other day you still didn't have one up.”
“To be honest, I don't think I am going to get one this year, Ray. I am not much into celebrating Christmas anymore.”
“But you said you wanted to get one.”
“I know what I said, but I've changed my mind, is that not okay?”
I could tell Ray was annoyed with me, and I didn't blame him, I was annoyed with myself. “Did you want to go for dinner or just want to go home?”
As I did the final rinse on the coffee pot, I could hear Brody's comments from this morning in the back of my mind,Call if you need anything. At first, I wondered why Brody would have said that, but now that I could hear the irritation in Ray's voice and could feel him studying me, I started to understand.
“No, I'm up for dinner, I'm starving.”
I followed Ray over to the little Italian restaurant down the road. Once seated, Ray poured us both a glass of wine from the bottle he had ordered as we waited for our food to arrive.
“So, you want to tell me what got you so upset this morning. I have a feeling it has something to do with Brody.”
I took a sip of wine. “Yes, it does.”
Ray nodded, grabbing a breadstick from the basket on the center of the table.
“I know you don't like him, Ray, but you need to understand the history we have.”