Copyright © 2013 misscowgirlup22
Chapter 9
"Why? What happened to him?" Anna was genuinely curious and worried about what had happened to Brent.
Cassie sighed hating that she was going to have to tell someone about that depressing time in Brent's life. "A couple of years ago Brent started to date this girl named Leslie." Cassie paused not knowing how to best explain what had happened in the past.
"I thought she was really sweet and genuine when I first met her, not mention gorgeous and I mean gorgeous. She looked like a model right out of a country magazine. She was so sweet and kind, and when I looked at her she seemed like she really cared about him." Emotion was clogging Cassie's throat and she had to pause.
Anna came up to her and hugged her tight knowing this was hard for Cassie to talk about because she loved her brother so much. "It's okay Cassie you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"No, no I need to," Cassie said in a rush. "After they'd been dating a couple months Leslie started to ask subtle questions about the ranches finances and I told her not realizing what I was doing. I was like putty in her hands. By then my brother was so smitten with her - excuse my old fashion term - that he couldn't think straight anymore."
"One day she and Brent had gotten back from town and I had noticed that she was towing around bags with an assortment of items in them. Not to mention the new clothes she was wearing. He'd bought her a Stetson that must have cost him at least five-hundred dollars, and then the huge sterling silver belt buckle she was wearing - which I don't even want to know how much that cost him. Her boots were brand new as well, they were made of some expensive leather making them cost probably as much as her new Stetson had."
Cassie swallowed and willed her tears to stay at bay. "It all became so clear why she'd been asking about our finances and everything. She didn't really love him she was just trying to get as much as she could out of him. That enraged me so much."
"Oh, Cassie I'm so sorry that couldn't have been easy for you." Anna felt so bad for her; she'd been caught in the middle of a bad relationship because she'd known what Leslie had been up to.
"It wasn't." Cassie grabbed a knickknack from one of the shelves in the store and fidgeted with it. "I didn't know what to do, my brother was in love with her and she was using him. It took me a long time to tell him about what Leslie was doing, but he didn't believe me and told me not to lie to him."
"After they'd been dating for almost a year he proposed to her and she'd accepted. For a while he wasn't buying her as much stuff and I couldn't help but think that maybe it had been a phase in their relationship that was over."
Cassie felt like crying as she continued on. "Then a couple weeks before their wedding I caught her out in the stable with one of the hands. Let's just say they were in a very compromising position on one of the hay bales. I was shocked I never thought that she would cheat on my brother."
"Wow she really was a bitch." Anna had spoken the words in her head before she could stop them. "Sorry, go on."
"You don't have to be sorry she really was a bitch." Cassie had a little bit of a smile gracing her face after what Anna had said. "Anyways the next day I confronted her and told her about how I knew about her wild nights with one of our hands. At first she claimed that they weren't true and the she told me that if I ever told Brent she'd make sure he got rid of me."
Cassie couldn't hold the tears at bay anymore. "I believed her even though I knew Brent would never have done something like that to me." Cassie let out a sob. "I should have told him. The whole town knew and he hadn't figured it out yet.
"Then about a week before the wedding Leslie made another trip out to the barn except this one was during the day. All the hands had the day off and she thought that Brent was going to be in town for the day."
Cassie paused before she told Anna the rest of what had happened. "She was having another rendezvous with the same hand. Brent had finished his business in town early and when he came home he went to the barn to put everything up except he'd found her - much like I had - with the hand in the barn on a hay bale in that same compromising position. I'd never seen him angrier he left the barn and went into their room. He took all of her stuff and through it out onto the front lawn."
"By then Leslie had realized that Brent had caught her. She tried to tell him that it was the hand and he'd been trying to rape her, but he hadn't bought it for one second. That was where I came in. I told him that she was lying and not to believe a word I said. That just enraged Leslie more. She tried to slap me but Brent had grab her hand told her that if she even thought about it he'd be calling the cops and have her hauled off to jail." Anna couldn't help but be awestruck by what Cassie was telling her.
"She threw her ring at him after that and left with all of her stuff. Brent was so angry. He fired the ranch hand that he'd caught her with and then after that he'd gone back into the house and he drank himself into a stupor."
"Wow." Was all Anna could say, she felt so bad for Brent and the way he'd been treated by the woman he'd loved. Who could be that conniving and evil?
Cassie whipped at the tears on her face. She gave Anna a sad smile. "I just wanted you to know why my brother shies away from love. I think that if anyone can help him heal his heart and help him to love again, it's you."
Anna was reeling from what Cassie had just said. "Thanks, I think."
"You're welcome."
They continued looking through the store, but Cassie's confession about Brent's past love life had created a little bit of an uncomfortable tension between the two of them.
Both Cassie and Anna found pieces of décor that they couldn't live without. "I think I can make my room a little homier with some of the stuff I bought," Anna said as they exited the store and began walking down the street.
"It doesn't feel like home?" Cassie questioned Anna.
"It does. It's just that I'm still adjusting and some of my stuff hasn't arrived yet so I can't really decorate the way I want to and make it feel like home.
"Oh." They passed by a little café and Cassie pulled Anna with her. "Let's go in here and get some lunch before we go to our appointments at the nail salon." Annie agreed.
When they walked in the café they were led to a table, and told that their server would be coming by soon to take there order. Both of them were starving from all the shopping they'd done.
Cassie's nose was still buried in the menu looking at her meal options when Anna spoke. "Cassie is it okay if I ask you something and you not get mad or offended?"
Cassie looked up from her menu and spoke slowly as if she was unsure of here answer. "Sure."
"I've seen you and Clint together and I was just curious as to what's going on between the two of you." Anna knew what was going on with them, but she wanted Cassie to tell her herself and confirm what she already knew to be true.
"If I tell you, you have to promise me not to tell Brent." She held her pinky up to Anna. "Pinky swear?"
Anna grasped Cassie's pinky with her own. "I swear. Now tell me."
Just then the waitress came and Cassie took a calming breath knowing that she could hold off telling Anna the truth for a minute.
The waitress was in her early thirties and she was wearing an apron that said, Jane's Café, "My name is Jane and I will be your server. What can I get the two of you?"
Anna figured that Jane was probably the owner of the café. "Can I get a glass of iced tea and your BLT on wheat with fries?"
"Sure thing," the waitress said and then turned to Cassie for her order. "What about for you?"
Cassie glanced at her menu one last time and then she began to speak. "I would also like a glass of iced tea and a Caesar salad with the breast of chicken."
The waitress, Jane nodded her head yes. "Okay, I've got two iced teas, one BLT on wheat with fries and a Caesar salad with the breast of chicken."
Both Cassie and Anna nodded yes, and Jane left to go place their order.
"Okay, now you have to tell me Cassie," Anna said once the waitress was gone.
"I don't know where to start." Cassie said as she blew out a breath of air.
"How about starting at the beginning." Anna suggested.
"Yeah sure I think I can do that. About a year ago Brent was looking and Clint showed up. At first look I didn't think anything of him; he was just another ranch hand." Cassie had a dreamy look in her eyes as she continued. "Then one day Brent sent us to check on the fences and while we were riding, Murphy got spooked by a snake and he threw me."
"Were you okay?"
"Yeah I was fine. After I fell I just laid there not ready to move yet. Clint kneeled down next to me and gathered me up in his arms. It had felt like something electric had shot through me and when I looked at Clint's eyes and I could tell he'd felt it too, but more than that he'd been so gentle with me that it'd melted my heart a little."
"So what'd you guys do?" Anna asked.
"We didn't do anything. You see this happened after Brent dumped Leslie and he made an official rule that no hands were allowed to date me. Before it had been applied, but now it was official and I could tell that Clint wasn't willing to lose his job over me."
"I'm sorry Cassie."
"Why? We're together now and that's all that matters." The waitress brought by their teas and Cassie took a sip of hers.
"Well I know that, but at that time you couldn't be together." Anna said as she laid her napkin across her lap.
"Yeah, it bummed me out for a while. Clint and I worked so well together, and so Brent would always pair us up to do work which I'm not gonna lie it was hell." She smiled to herself thinking about Clint. "Then one day I couldn't take it anymore. We were by ourselves fixing fences and I dropped my hammer, and thought, 'What the hell.' So I kissed him we were both shocked afterwards and just held each other in a hug. After that we decided we both needed to be together no matter the consequences and that's the way it's been ever since."
"I'm so happy for you. From what I've seen of Clint he's a great guy. I think he'll make you very happy."
"Ah, thanks Anna. I think he'll make me very happy, too."
Anna sat there for a moment considering her next question. "Cassie, do you think you guys will ever get married?
Cassie was slightly stunned by Anna's question. She fiddled with the straw in her ice tea. "I hope so, why do you ask?" Cassie took a sip of tea trying to keep herself busy.
"I don't know, it's just I've been here for a little while now and I've gotten to know you, and I already consider you to be like a sister. I just want you to be happy."
Brent had picked well - of course with Cassie's guidance - Anna was such a sweet and caring person. The exact kind of person Cassie would pick for her brother. "I am and I love Clint so much. He's been a little different lately, and I think that he might ask me to marry him soon."
"That's great news. I promise you that if Brent flips out about it I'll be on your side and try to help." That was such great news for Cassie, Clint would be a wonderful husband to her.
Shortly later the waitress dropped off their food. They both dug in, hungry from their shopping trip.
Once they'd finished eating they paid their tab and walked down the street to the nail salon. They were greeted by a teenage girl at the reception desk who led them over to the chairs where their pedicures were to be done.
While they got their nails done they talked about girl stuff, and every once in a while the conversation would be about Clint and Brent, but for the most part Anna hadn't minded talking about Brent in a romantic way. She could honestly see herself married to him in the future.
*****
I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I'm going to apologize in advance. These next couple of months are going to be extremely busy for me, and I just want you all to know that I might not be posting chapters as frequently as I have been. I'll try to get chapters up when I can, but as I said I'm going to be extremely busy.
The song on the side is Somebody's Heartbreak by Hunter Hayes. I feel like this song is a little fitting for this story at times.
Thanks for reading!!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!! Please vote and comment!!!