Page 55 of Ordered Home for the Holidays
“Cassius, why are you sitting in the dark?”
“I’m sitting here contemplating whether or not I want to snag your decanter of ratafia from the cabinet, Mother.”
“Surely that’s not what you want. Do you need something stronger?”
He opened one eye. “I’d like nothing more. But I’m sure this house is as dry as a bed of pine needles.”
He heard the swish of her skirts as she moved to the sideboard. “I keep some secrets from your father. Like this.”
She knelt and pressed her hand against one of the ornate carved cherubs. A door swung open with a creak and she held up a bottle of whiskey. “Will this do? I find myself in needof fortification as well. Your father’s been lecturing me about the evils of women’s suffrage and since I started attending your sister’s parlor meetings, I find I have quite the opposite opinion.”
Cass doubted he’d ever been more astonished. “Then by all means pour us some fortification.”
She filled two snifters and handed one to him before reclining on the settee across from him.
“Tell me why you’re sitting in the dark pondering the dubious merits of ratafia,” his mother said around a sip of whiskey.
“I saw Deirdre.”
“Ah,” she pronounced and took a healthy gulp before setting the glass on the floor. “That certainly explains your moping. Men only mope like that when a woman does something unexpected.”
Cass smiled bitterly. “Or when she does exactly what he expected after seven years of separation and dashes all his hopes.”
His mother turned her head and gave him a shrewd, measuring look like the ones she’d often given him as a rebellious boy. “If she’d surrendered easily, you wouldn’t have appreciated it. Because you have that effect on people. You had to work to earn her affection - and even then it wasn’t guaranteed.”
“I had to chase her. And once I caught her, I was the one ensnared.”
“You truly loved her. We all saw it. And I think you were better for it. The restless part of you I saw as a reflection of my once quicksilver nature became settled around her.”
“If you thought she was good for me, why did you agree with father’s ultimatum?”
“I didn’t. By the time I realized what he’d done, it was too late. She was wed to someone else and you were a thousand miles away.”
Adelaide Trenton was never this forthcoming and Cassius wondered what had precipitated it. Was it the whiskey? Her lack of fear because of his father’s swift deterioration? The realization that he was no longer a child?
“You’re telling me you would have intervened if you’d known?”
“Yes. Somehow I would have made him see reason. That if he wanted you to stay, he had no other choice.”
“It was you who sent the telegram, wasn’t it?”
She laughed. “Of course it was me. Your father has never been one to relent or admit his error. The two of you need to make amends.”
“He didn’t seem eager to see me because he missed me.”
His mother shook her head in frustration. “I know. He’s never been adept at showing his affection and it should’ve been obvious by now that berating you will get him nowhere.”
She stood and he closed his eyes at the familiar rustle of her skirts. When she laid her hand on his shoulder, that weight was familiar too. Every time he’d stormed off to wipe away his tears, she’d found him. It’s why he’d come home - the memory of that weight.
And the secret hope his wildflower would be there waiting.
Chapter Six
Deirdre
Deirdre had managed to keep her distance from Cassius Trenton the last four days. She hoped her luck would hold out as she entered the meeting attached to the old mill. It was where the workers’ meeting was being held - far enough away from town that it wouldn’t arouse suspicion. There was already a crowd gathered in the front of the room, so Deirdre slid into the back row. When Cassius strode through the door not five minutes later, she was certain he’d been following her, and that he suspected she’d been avoiding him.
Earlier in the week, she’d seen his broad shoulders at the dry goods counter when she went to buy flour. She’d ducked behind the bolts of calico and prayed he hadn’t seen her.
