Intersection Read online

  “Without her?” Barb finished the thought. Cassidy nodded. “Well, far be it from me to try and sway you,” the woman rose from her rubber seat, “but selfishly, I wish you’d take the house.” The teacher smiled. “Whatever you decide... well…”

  Cassidy grabbed Barb’s hand. “Thank you.”

  Barb nodded and returned the friendly squeeze. “Whatever you decide, you’re stuck with us now,” she laughed as she started to walk back toward the house. “God help you.”

  Alex and Rose sat on a large log watching as the two boys searched the edge of the water for frogs or any slimy thing they might discover. The agent was quiet, far more so than Rose had seen her. Alex had grabbed a long stick and was tracing circles in the dirt mindlessly as she kept one eye on the two boys who seemed determined to get in some kind of trouble together. They reminded her a bit of what she and Nick were like at that age. “You all right, Alex?” Rose asked. The agent let out a soft sigh and nodded. “You’re worried about Cassie,” the woman said plainly.

  “I can’t help it,” Alex admitted before reprimanding the pair of small heads in the distance for getting too close to the water.

  Rose chuckled. It warmed Cassidy’s mother to see the agent with the two boys, and to see her grandson so happy in spite of all the upheaval in recent months and weeks. Alex brought something into their lives that had been lacking; love and stability. “She’ll be all right,” Rose said. “I suspect what she’s worried the most about is you.” The agent turned to the woman beside her with wide eyes, soliciting a giggle from Rose. “That surprises you?”

  “I’m not the one who went through that ordeal,” Alex said. “Worried about me? Why?”

  “Really? Alex, you know Cassie.”

  The agent sighed and looked over at Cat who was just about to dip his sneakered foot into the water. “Christian Alexander! Don’t even think about it!” He looked back sheepishly and then whispered to Dylan. “Lucky it’s me here and not Cass,” she muttered. “She’d have heard that.” Rose smiled. The agent took a deep breath and looked at the older woman. Cassidy was a great deal like her mother and Alex adored the older woman. She was nothing like the agent’s parents. Rose was witty and intelligent, but also gentle and compassionate. Alex enjoyed having her around. For whatever reason, the more time she spent with Cassidy’s mother, the more she seemed to confide in the woman. “I don’t want her to think that I want her to move here.”

  “But, you do,” Rose smirked. The truth made Alex uncomfortable. She did. It was true. She didn’t trust the congressman and she liked the idea of a fresh start; a start that would be further from his presence. She’d missed Nick and Barb. Family was something Alex never thought a great deal about until she met Cassidy. Alex had begun to realize how much family really did mean to her. Being here with all of them together seemed to promote a sense of home that Alex never experienced as a child. It wasn’t something she had ever talked about and it wasn’t something she intended to share with Cassidy, either. “Why don’t you just tell her?”

  “What?” Alex said with alarm in her voice.

  “That you want to move here.”

  The agent shook her head. “I don’t want her to do anything she doesn’t want to do.”

  “I see. But, Alex; what about what you want to do?”

  “I just want her to be happy,” Alex said truthfully.

  Rose looked at the two boys who were now throwing rocks into the pond. “He’s happy,” she pointed ahead to Dylan.

  “You think so?”

  “No. I know so. Alex, Cassie needs to know how you feel. I don’t blame you…and frankly I think getting away from New York is the best thing for all of you.”

  “What about you?” Alex asked with concern.

  “Why? Would you miss me?” Rose chided. The older woman was caught off guard by the response that she saw in the agent’s eyes. Alex was strong, commanding and confident; not to mention she was a beautiful woman. It surprised Rose when the agent turned to her, to see the expression of a somewhat forlorn child looking back. Cassidy’s mother suddenly realized there was a great deal about Alex she did not know. In a very short time they had all fallen into this unexpected family. They’d endured things in a couple of weeks that most people would never experience in a lifetime. Somehow, they all seemed to ‘fit’. “Well, you wouldn’t get rid of me that easily,” Rose said. “I enjoy tormenting my daughter.”

  Alex laughed. “Rose? I saw her face in that house.”

  “Ummm,” Rose tried to suppress her smile. Barb had shown the woman some pictures of the house and Rose was certain that Cassidy would be drawn in by it.

  The agent shook her head. “But…I don’t know…I feel sometimes like she’s afraid that I….”

  “She is. Alex, just tell her. I know my daughter.” Rose laughed. “She needs you to tell her what you really want.”

  “It’s too much,” Alex whispered.

  The older woman laughed as she beckoned the boys toward them. “I doubt that, Alex. You almost lost each other yesterday, just say what you need to.” The words pierced Alex’s heart. Rose McCollum had a way of speaking the truth like no one she had ever met. She had almost lost all of this, this family. Alex would have done anything to prevent that from happening. In a crisis, the agent was confident and assertive. Now, she faltered. Alex shook her head as the boys ran past them. Rose was right. “Tell her,” Rose said as she placed a hand on the agent’s back.

  It had been a pleasant evening full of light hearted small talk and watching the boys play. Wrangling Dylan and Cat for bed had proved a Herculean effort. They were both wound up as tight as bow strings and it took Alex and Nick to physically lead them upstairs to calm them down at all. Cassidy sat on the couch with her mother sipping a glass of wine and smiling at the sounds filtering down from above. “How are you feeling?” Rose asked her daughter.

  “Truthfully?”

  “No, Cassie… Lie to me,” Rose joked.

  Cassidy laughed. “It’s going to sound so strange.”

  “Cassie, I raised you, strange is something I’ve grown used to.”

  “Funny,” the teacher responded. Her gaze drifted up as she heard Alex give a spirited command to head for the bunk beds to the boys. A heavy sigh of contentment escaped her. “I feel happy. Crazy…yesterday…I just…I’ve never been so afraid in my life.”

  Rose looked at her daughter and felt the gravity of the previous day pressing in on them both. She had been terrified. The thought of losing Cassidy was unbearable. They were far more than mother and daughter. They were best friends and Rose loved her daughter more than anything. They sometimes had a unique way of expressing their feelings, but both knew how the other felt. The older woman studied her daughter as she finally confided all that she had been thinking and feeling. Cassidy was remarkable and Rose was amazed at the younger woman. Not only had her daughter grown into an attractive woman; she had become a compassionate person whose intellect and personality only served to compliment her looks. Moreover, and Rose was most proud of this, Cassidy was humble, never seeing herself as others did.

  Cassidy continued, sipping her wine occasionally and tracing the rim of her glass with her finger. “It is crazy. I keep saying that. I keep thinking that. But, I was sitting there…and he was over me…ranting and pacing. I would close my eyes and just for a minute I would feel safe. I thought…Well…when he pulled out the knife…” Cassidy’s thoughts trailed off. She couldn’t look at her mother. Rose was shaking but reached out for her daughter’s hand. Finally Cassidy looked across to the woman. “I thought he was going to kill me then. I did. It was like in one second everything flashed and then everything was quiet.”

  “Cassie…I can’t even…”

  “It’s all right, Mom,” Cassidy gave a calm smile to her mother that surprised the older woman. The teacher took another sip of her wine and licked her lips. “All I thought about was Dylan…. And Alex...and when she walked in, when I saw her there...” Cas
sidy couldn’t control the tears that began to quietly fall. “I knew I could never let her go. It was like…I can’t explain it. I don’t know what to do with it, Mom. It’s overwhelming… it’s….”

  “You’re in love, Cassie.”

  “I know, but it’s more than that. How can I be thinking about the things that….”

  Rose McCollum laughed. “Oh, Cassie, you want a life with Alex.”

  Cassidy’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I do.”

  “So…what’s the problem?” Her mother asked pointedly.

  “There isn’t one… I just…”

  “Cassidy Rose, I am going to tell you exactly what I told that agent today.” Cassidy looked at her mother in astonishment. “And I want you to LISTEN to me. You need to just tell her. I have a feeling you both want the exact same things. Now, you just told me that all you could think about were those two upstairs yesterday. That’s certainly all they could think about. So, if you don’t mind me saying this…you’re both being a bit stupid.”

  “Mom….”

  “No, Cassidy, I mean it. I was terrified yesterday. Terrified… When Alex finally called, her concern was for Dylan…keeping him calm, reassuring him. I watched Nick take Dylan into his lap and tell him that everything would be okay. We got here and Barb; she was beside herself worrying about you. I think she was almost as worried as I was.”

  Cassidy swallowed hard. Her mother was always direct, but now she spoke with an assuredness that Cassidy had not heard in many years. It wasn’t a lecture but it wasn’t her best friend speaking; it was her mother. “I….” Cassidy began.

  “I’m not finished, Cassie. You always wanted a family. God knows I thought he could give you that. I really did. I hoped he would. He didn’t and he couldn’t. Not really. He gave you Dylan and I know we are both forever grateful for that.” Cassidy smiled. “But, Alex… She is the one that can give you a family; the family you want and need. I think she already has.”

  “She has.”

  “So, stop worrying and stop trying to figure it all out. You liked the house?” Cassidy smiled and nodded. “You like being close to Barb?” The teacher raised an eyebrow. “Um hum… so… What’s the problem, Cassie?”

  Cassidy began to spew her list of reasons, “Mom, Dylan is in the middle of a school year and there is still my students….”

  “Cassidy, for once put yourself first. If you can’t do that then put Alex first.” Cassidy was stunned at her mother’s words. “Dylan is six. He’ll be happy as long as he is with the two of you. God knows he won’t let her out of his sight when she’s home.”

  Cassidy laughed. Her mother was right, AGAIN. “You think we should move.”

  “I think you deserve to be happy. All of you. That’s what I think. And, I think you want to do it; so just do it, Cassidy.” Rose stood and took her daughter’s face in her hands. “I know you, but I am getting to know that agent of yours pretty well too. Don’t underestimate how much she loves you both.” She kissed her daughter on the forehead and began to take her leave just as Alex entered the room. Rose raised an eyebrow at the agent. “I’ll leave you two to your evening.”

  “Where the hell did Fisher get FBI credentials?” John Merrow bellowed at the woman across from him.

  “I had nothing to do with that,” Claire Brackett said firmly.

  Merrow guffawed and pushed a large binder aside on his desk. “No?”

  “No.”

  “Claire… I had a contact call me from the NSA this morning. Do you have any idea how exposed we are right now?”

  “What do you want me to do?” She asked defensively.

  “I want you to find out – BEFORE Krause gets back, who gave Fisher that I.D. badge; who authorized it.”

  “I thought you wanted me to lay low,” she said smoothly.

  “Just do it. I’ve got Tate keeping Fallon in New York for the week. After all, we do need to close the case on Fisher…. You have until Monday, figure it out. You helped to cause it… you’re going to clean it. That’s the way a collaborative works. We ALL play a role… now play yours.”

  Cassidy watched as Alex pulled the T-shirt over her head. “You know how much I love this?”

  “What’s that?”

  “This.”

  “Me putting on a T-shirt?” Alex laughed.

  “Actually, yes.”

  “You’re silly, Cass.”

  “No, I’m not,” Cassidy sat back against the headboard and propped a pillow behind her back. Alex laid down beside the teacher, propping herself up on one elbow, placing her other hand on Cassidy’s thigh. “I didn’t know if I’d ever see you do that again yesterday.”

  Alex sighed. “Cass…I’m so sorry that you…”

  Cassidy stopped the agent. “No….it’s over.”

  The agent thought it best to change the subject. “How was your walk?”

  “Good. I ended up spending some time with Barb afterward.”

  “Oh?” Alex was curious. She knew Barb and she wondered what her sister-in-law had to say.

  “Yeah. How was the pond?”

  “Wet,” Alex laughed. Both Cat and Dylan had come home without frogs but with wet feet in spite of constant reprimands.

  Cassidy laughed and gently stroked Alex’s hand. “Alex?”

  “Yeah?”

  The smaller woman sighed. Alex left her breathless now, just looking at her. Her eyes were so blue and they seemed to shimmer. The way that Alex was looking at Cassidy completely overtook the teacher. “God, you are beautiful,” Cassidy whispered.

  Alex smiled. “Where did that come from?”

  Cassidy stroked the agent’s cheek as her smile began to widen. “You know, I think I would like the master bedroom sage; it’s calming.” Alex felt her heart jump into her throat. She wasn’t certain that she had heard what Cassidy said correctly, and she wasn’t sure it meant what she hoped. Her eyes gave her questions away immediately to her lover. Cassidy raised her eyebrow. “Do you have something against sage?”

  “I… uh…. Cass – what…”

  Green eyes twinkled and Cassidy leaned in planting a light kiss on Alex’s lips. “I love you, Alex…I don’t know exactly how to say this….”

  “Just say it.”

  “I want us to be a family.”

  Alex smiled. “Me too. Are you sure, Cass? Because I….”

  Cassidy stopped the thought with a kiss and pulled back slowly. “It scares me.”

  “What scares you?” Alex asked softly.

  “Everything I want with you.”

  “Why does that scare you, Cass?”

  The teacher sighed and continually caressed her lover’s cheek. “Because I want everything with you. I’ve known that from the beginning, I think…..but after yesterday….and then walking into that house…and Barb telling me about the baby…”

  Alex sat straight up. “The what?”

  “Oh shit….I didn’t mean to let that out.”

  “Barb’s pregnant?” Cassidy tilted her head and shrugged, feeling badly that she had let that slip out. “Huh,” Alex chuckled. “I’m not going to say a word. I’ll act like a kid on Christmas when she tells me.” Cassidy smiled. “It’s not as big as your house.”

  “It’s perfect.”

  Alex kissed Cassidy and searched her eyes. “I want you to be sure.”

  “I am sure.”

  “What about work?”

  Cassidy shook her head. “Well, I suspect that is going to get a bit dramatic now, thanks to his highness and his comments.” The agent had thought about that as well. All the press coverage would fade but it would inevitably complicate both Cassidy and Dylan’s lives in the immediate future. “I think maybe I should just look at the fall.”

  “You mean take the some time off?”

  “Yeah. Why; do you think that is a bad idea?”

  “No, actually I think it’s a great idea.” Alex said. “And… I’ve been thinking myself…”

  “About?” Cassidy asked. Alex
sat up and her posture stiffened slightly. “Alex….what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing…honestly. Just Tate wants me back at the NSA and it might help…if I did…”

  The teacher rubbed her eyebrow in thought. “Help with what, Alex?” Alex shook her head. “How did you know?” Alex looked at her lover with a touch of fear in her eyes. “Alex, how did you know I might be in trouble?”

  The agent felt sick. A nice conversation was turning a dangerous corner. “Cass….”

  Cassidy shook her head with a sarcastic smile. The answer was written across Alex’s face. “Chris.” Alex bit her lip. “Of course. What the hell is going on?”

  “I don’t really know, Cassidy…I just know he’s into something... deep.”

  “Is Dylan in danger?”

  “No…I don’t think either of you are in danger, Cass….honestly….but I won’t lie to you. Putting some distance between him and both of you…I know he’s Dylan’s father but… I just… I don’t trust…” Cassidy was furious with the congressman but Alex’s rambling was endearing. It was one of the things the teacher loved so much about the woman beside her. Alex could pivot from the most commanding presence to a rambling child in less than a second and Cassidy found it utterly adorable. She couldn’t help but smile at Alex. “I’m rambling,” Alex admitted and Cassidy nodded.

  “Distance is good,” Cassidy agreed. “I don’t want to talk about him, not tonight.” Alex smiled. “You know I will support whatever you want to do, Alex. I just want you to be safe.”

  “Cass, I am good at what I do,” the agent assured her lover.

  “I know that, but I can’t help but worry.”

  Alex kissed the woman’s forehead. “I worry about you. I guess we have a lot in common.”

  “I guess we do,” Cassidy admitted and laid her head on the agent’s chest.