The Billionaire's Bride

Chapter 10

"Now what?" Cassie asked herself after Jack left. She had no idea what to do with herself. She decided to wander around the house a little bit. They hadn't finished the tour of the ground floor the night before, because dinner had been ready. So, she walked around looking in each room, taking her time as she was in no hurry and had no plans for the day.

She was excited when she entered one of the smaller rooms to find that it had two full walls of books, some comfortable chairs and a piano. She loved to read and had learned to play the piano when she was young, so she quickly sat down to see if she remembered how to play. Her mother had taught her a few things, and now sitting down to play, she was filled with memories of her mother. She sat and played what notes she could remember, while soft tears rolled down her cheeks as she finally grieved the loss over her mother, free of other thought and unconcerned with duty or interruption. It was a cathartic release for her, as she hadn't yet had much time to mourn, and playing the piano was a way for her to remember the good memories of her mother and helped her to begin to process the fact that her mother was gone.

After a couple of hours of struggling through her emotions and some music she had found, Cassie decided to put it all away and come back another time. She wiped away her tears, and continued her journey of exploration through the house. So she wandered around a bit more, until she was pretty sure she had seen everything. Everything seemed so minimalistic and barely looked lived in. It almost felt like a hotel, or a home that had been staged to sell. It was lovely, but there was no personality to it.

"Hello, hello!" Cassie soon heard the cheerful voice of Aunt Grace, who was coming inside through the back sliding-glass door.

"Hello" Cassie said pleasantly, glad that she was no longer alone in the huge house.

"I hope you don't mind me letting myself in. I figured you two would want the morning alone to yourselves, but I just couldn't help myself and wanted to come see how you're doing" Aunt Grace said warmly.

"Of course, please feel free to come any time" Cassie said with a welcoming smile. She was beginning to think Aunt Grace may be her only friend for the duration of this contract.

"Where is Jack, is he in the kitchen?" Aunt Grace asked as she began to walk in that direction.

"No" responded Cassie simply. "He left for work several hours ago."

"What?" Aunt Grace asked in surprise, stopping in her tracks and turning to look at Cassie. "He left you here all alone the day after your wedding, in an empty house to fend for yourself?"

"I think he had some important things he wanted to get sorted out quickly" Cassie said in an attempt to defend the situation she was in.

"You'd think that boy had been raised by wolves" Aunt Grace said, shaking her head as she turned back toward the kitchen. "Are you hungry? I can make us something to eat" she offered. "That is, if you don't mind, or if you don't have other plans" Aunt Grace continued. She really wanted to get to know the young woman who had just married Jack, but she also didn't want to impose or be in the way.

"I'm starving" Cassie responded happily. Together the women made a simple lunch and enjoyed it on the back porch with some iced tea. They chatted happily, and Cassie was able to relax a bit, realizing quickly that Aunt Grace wasn't going to be at all judgmental about Cassie having grown up poor and coming from no money. If anything, the more they talked the more pleased Aunt Grace was that Jack had found someone she could genuinely feel excited about, unlike so many of the young women Jack had previously brought to meet her.

After lunch, Aunt Grace showed Cassie the easiest way to get down to the beach, from the side gate of the yard, there was a trail that led to the public path that took them right down to the beach. Going the other direction, the path led up toward a public parking area where beach goers could park when accessing the public beaches.

Down by the beach, Cassie and Aunt Grace strolled along barefoot in the sand, talking about any and everything, enjoying the carefree afternoon. About a quarter mile up the beach there was a little snack shack that offered food and beverages, and the ladies each had a drink they took back with them on their walk back home.

It was starting to get late when they finally got back to the house, and after getting cleaned up the two started to prepare dinner, expecting Jack to be home around 6pm as he had indicated to Cassie earlier.

Dinner was ready at 6, but there was no sign of Jack. Several minutes later, Aunt Grace suggested that Cassie give him a call to see if he would be home soon, or if they should go ahead and eat without him. Cassie was suddenly in a panic, when she realized she didn't have a phone number for Jack, or any way of getting a hold of him. She didn't want to let Aunt Grace know she didn't have his number, because she feared that would raise a lot of questions about their relationship that she didn't have answers for.

"I'll see if I can get a hold of him" Cassie finally said, excusing herself from the room and pulling out her phone in a pretense of trying to call Jack. She walked over to the hall table that still had the cash and contact information for Brandon that Jack had left there that morning, hoping that Jack had also thought to put his number down as well. Fortunately, the information for Brandon was written down on one of Jack's business cards, so it had his office and his cell number listed on the front.

Cassie dialed the number, having no idea what she was going to say. She didn't want to call him, but she knew it would seem strange to Aunt Grace if she didn't.

The call went directly to voicemail after the first ring.

"Hello Jack, this is Cassie" she began leaving a message, trying to think of what to say. "Aunt Grace suggested I call to see if you'll be home for dinner. Call us back if you want. Thanks, bye" she said awkwardly, and then hung up.

"I was only able to leave him a message on his voicemail" Cassie said to Aunt Grace when she returned to the dining area.

"Well, he's on his own then" Aunt Grace said, a slight tone of irritation and disapproval in her voice. "Let's eat, we'll save him the leftovers" she said with a smile. And the two ladies enjoyed their meal together, cleaned up and Aunt Grace returned to her house, and there was still no sign or word from Jack.