CHAPTER 18

The sun filling the den shone straight into her eyes. She tried to turn over and nearly toppled off the couch. Sleep was apparently no longer an option now that she'd opened her eyes. She sat up and for a moment and felt completely disoriented. Duffy jumped up and began licking her face. She rubbed his belly a moment then pushed him off of her. He jumped down and ran out of the room.  She could hear his little paws scrape across the wood on the stairs as he tore downstairs. It was obvious he had to pee.

"Oh Jesus! Alright already," she said as she pushed the blankets aside. She felt exhausted from her restless night on the couch but grabbed her housecoat and stood up. Even from up hear she could hear Duffy scratching at the door to get outside. "Hold on, I'm coming."

She opened the back door and Duffy ran to the first bush he could find. Cass left the door open to allow the early morning breeze to blow the staleness out of the room. She then went through the rest of the house and threw open all the windows. No time like the present to rid the house of its unlived in smell, she thought to herself, even if it was only just for the few days she'd be hear.

Back in the kitchen, she put on a pot of coffee, then filled Duffy's bowl with food. She stood there watching the dark brew drip slowly into the pot and shook her head. It was true she realized at that exact moment. If you watched a pot set to boil on the stove, it seemed endless before the task was accomplished, but finally she filled her cup, added some sugar and cream, then headed out to sit on the porch. 

She sat in the rocker and watched as Duffy reacquainted himself with his yard in the light of day. She and Beau had planted so many things that last year they were here. She was amazed by how big everything had gotten. Nothing had withered or died. Beau had always said the land between the house and the small creek was as fertile as they'd thought it would be. She made a mental note that some of the trees they'd planted would need to be pruned so they wouldn't break under the weight of the coming snow this winter.   Even though the yard looked somewhat neglected, it was still breathtaking. Maybe she would ask Liz's gardner to come by and take a look at what needed to be done. 

She left Duffy to his own devices and went back inside to get dressed. She had her work cut out for her today so there was no time like the present to get her butt in gear and tackle some of the chores.

She started upstairs, dusting, polishing and sweeping. She took all the curtains down and shook them outside then left them on the wooden rack to air out. She washed the windows, beat down the cobwebs and vacuumed for the next three hours. It felt so good to see the place looking somewhat lived in again. It made her heart full as she came upon treasure after treasure, little mementos and furniture they'd found at flea markets, antique stores, and garage sales. She had called it a labor of love each time they found just the right place for every little thing they'd bought.

She decided it was time for a break and went to the kitchen to get a fresh cup of coffee. Duffy was neatly curled up on the blanket by the table. It hadn't taken him any time to get used to being back here. As a matter of fact, she realized he looked far more comfortable here than he did at her apartment. She was just about to sit down when she heard a knock at the front door. Maybe Liz's plans had changed and they'd be able to spend a little time together today as well as tomorrow. She set her cup down and walked towards the front door. She stopped short when she realized that it was not her friend, it was a stranger, a man, someone she didn't know. Cass knew she must look like crap after her whirlwind of cleaning so she stopped, pulled the scrunchie from her hair and redid her ponytail. Last thing she wanted to do was present herself as a complete slob, even if this was just some random door-to-door salesman. Finally she took the last few steps towards the door and opened it.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry if I caught you at a bad time. Are you the home owner?" he asked. "I really didn't expect anyone to be here."

"Yes. Do I know you?" Cass asked. He was far too good looking to be selling stuff way out here.

"No. I'm Chase Maxwell," he said, stretching his hand out to shake hers. "I'm the party who inquired about renting your house. I just happened to be driving by, because I'm still looking for a place out here, and I saw a car in the driveway. I'm sorry if I'm intruding." 

"You're not intruding, but I already told your agent that I'm not interested in renting, leasing or selling the place, so if you'll excuse me," she said as she slammed the door in his face. She was shocked by her own rudeness, but nonetheless, she turned the bolt in the door and went back to the kitchen. She sat down hard in the chair and picked up her cup of coffee again. Her hand was shaking and her heart was thumping like a drum. What nerve this asshole had just to come by there like that when he already knew she wasn't interested in his lame offer. Maybe he thought his charming good looks might win her over, but Cass wasn't buying it. 

She was actually quite shocked by her reaction. She wasn't usually that rude to people even under the worst of circumstances, and she felt a pinch of remorse, but whatever. It was water under the bridge now. She couldn't undo it so she'd just have to let it go. As she sat there thinking she realized that he must have driven quite a ways to come here just to meet her face to face. She could have at least been civilized. Even so, she felt relief flush through her when she heard the sound of his tires on the gravel in the driveway. At least he wasn't indignant enough to push his luck by pressing her to change his mind. When she looked down and saw Duffy staring up at her, she realized that this intrusion had really upset her beyond normal. Even the damn dog was wondering what the hell was going on. Oh well, she thought, no use crying over spilt milk. She had plenty left to do in the way of chores to keep her busy, to push this feeling away.

She continued on her cleaning rampage, but every so often she paused, thinking about what she had done to that perfectly innocent stranger. The door slam was overkill. She could just as easily have closed it normal and sent the same message. He had kind of shocked her back to reality not only by his inquiry, but with his good looks, and warm husky voice. If she thought about it hard enough she would still feel the heat of his hand on the palm of hers. She hadn't really thought about anyone, any man, in a long time and found it odd that his image kept popping into her thoughts as she went about her chores. What the hell was going on? 

The day had passed quickly as busy as she'd been. She could see the sun would soon descend and it would be dark soon. She'd promised herself that she'd take a long walk sometime today and that time had arrived. She stashed her cleaning stuff into the pantry, grabbed the old coat off the hook by the back door and went outside.   This time she would take Duffy on the leash in case his memory failed him as to his surroundings. The last thing she wanted was to have to go search for him in the pitch black darkness if he got lost. As she fastened it to his collar, he protested. 

"Oh stop it Duff. You'll have your freedom when we get back," she said. 

She had lost a little of her nerve about being in the wilderness so she stuck to the old country road. It felt like home as she walked the old familiar route she and Beau had walked a million times. She could see the neighbors lights through the woods and felt comforted that there were other people around, even if they were behind closed doors. She had considered going up and knocking on a few of their doors, but then realized she would be an intruder. Most of them, at this time of day, would be setting about putting dinner on the table, then relaxing. Maybe next visit she'd put that on her list of things to do. She found that interesting that she'd actually thought about a next time. It wasn't likely that she'd be coming back here any time soon. She had lots of work coming up, she'd have no time to make the long drive again. What she really needed to do was to tell herself to shut the hell up. To just enjoy the moment. Just her and Duffy walking down memory lane. 

They'd been gone for nearly an hour now and the sun was pretty much gone. Duffy had settled down on the leash, probably because he was feeling as tired as she was. The darkness had settled around her like a glove. They needed to get back home now. As she approached the driveway she noticed a beautiful bunch of flowers sitting next to the front door. Liz had probably popped in and left them. She was sorry to have missed her. She would have loved nothing more than to see a familiar and friendly face tonight. She scooped them up and went inside. She set Duff free from the leash and went into the kitchen. She plopped the flowers on the table then went to hang up her coat. She grabbed a vase from the shelf and filled it with water. She set it on the table so she could arrange them and that's when she saw the card. She opened it expecting it to say what time Liz would be coming by and was shocked when she saw the unfamiliar handwriting.

I just wanted to apologize for my intrusion this afternoon. I just thought, well, perhaps I didn't think, I was just hoping that maybe you'd changed your mind. I'm sorry for the inconvienience. 

Sincerely Chase Maxwell.

PS: In case you change your mind in the future, here is my cell number 555-219-9834

As much as it pissed her off that he'd come back, a smile landed on her lips. It had been a long time since anyone had given her flowers. It felt interesting with a tinge of romance, but as quickly as that thought filled her head, a pang of guilt swooped in quickly replacing it. She crumpled the card up and threw it in the trashcan then proceeded to arrange the flowers in the vase.