Well. We have reached the halfway point, and things are about to get . . . interesting. So have the calm before the storm (quite literally and pun not intended). I hope you enjoy this little breather and please let me know what you think. I love hearing your thoughts and ruminations; they always make me smile and do great things for my day!

Off we go!

The Iceman Cometh

A little over two weeks later, Cassie found herself oddly content.

Her 'official' date with Ryan hadn't happened, due to Grace getting a vicious case of the flu that Tuesday and being down for thirteen miserable days. He'd been irritated at yet another postponement (she should have felt the same way) but had bowed to the inevitable and picked up a new project, which left her to tend to her daughter in peace. They didn't see each other in person at all while Grace was sick, though he did text twice a day and they'd managed one long phone call on day eight.

Somehow, Cassie managed not to realize that she was relieved by his absence.

And yet, she'd seen Sam every day, which had been a lifesaver. Not only had he kept Grace out of the hospital, but his obvious . . . well, paternal . . . feelings toward her had come close to making Cassie cry a few times (in her defense, she'd been utterly exhausted). And his solid, unwavering support of Cassie herself had been . . . something she wasn't supposed to get from a man she didn't l—wasn't dating.

The fact that Sam cared so strongly about a girl he'd known less than a year — to the point where he spent a lot of his limited free time at Cassie's (which he had quite a bit more of, now that he'd finally hired a receptionist), forgoing time with Stephanie (who had also been oddly quiet about that) in favor of making sure Grace was doing as well as he could make her — only brought Ryan's lack of the same into sharp focus, and Cassie had to fight hard to stop herself from making that comparison. Ryan wasn't really a 'kid' person so it wasn't fair to expect him to suddenly become one.

(only . . . Cassie really would have appreciated some support, or even just someone to curl up with and rest against, knowing that she and her daughter were safe and cherished).

After all, it was foolish to ask for the moon, so Cassie forced herself to be grateful for what she had.

But she was unable to fully justify Ryan's complete lack of . . . well, anything, really, when it came to Grace. And Brandon. And Lori. He liked them well enough, sure, and they liked him, but he took no interest at all in them. And given their ages, Cassie didn't think she'd been all that bothered about it, because even if she and Ryan did get serious, none of them needed or wanted a 'daddy'.

Naturally, Sam had to knock that out from under her, damn him.

Because while he was helping Grace through the flu, he was also joking with her about physics, comparing opinions on the effectiveness of biology labs (then versus now), and trading book recommendations (he was a history buff; Grace was all about fantasy, from Tarynsville to Lord of the Rings). And on those few occasions when he and Brandon actually interacted beyond 'hi/bye', they talked music.

And Cassie . . . could not un-see that. Grace didn't want 'a' daddy (though she desperately missed 'her' daddy) but her mother hadn't realized how badly she wanted a father-figure.

Which . . . well, Sam had apparently made it one of his goals in life to be Cassie's personal support system, and that clearly extended to Grace as well.

But this comparison was one too many and as Sam's visits tapered off because Grace was finally well on the road to recovery, Cassie found herself with a great deal of time to think.

And she wasn't sure what to do with her conclusions.

Because her first realization was that she didn't miss Ryan at all.

With the ease of too much practice, she assured herself that it was only because of her worry for Grace. Ryan had nothing to do with it.

And neither did Sam.

(she was getting entirely too good at lying to herself)

She was also rapidly coming to the conclusion that she didn't think she was ready to date anyone yet.

But she had been with Ryan for over six months, so why was she only now starting to (let herself) think this?

Well . . . maybe she was wrong, and this was nothing more than cold feet. Ryan had asked her for a deeper commitment, and she had agreed — unexpected postponements and cancellations notwithstanding — so . . .

Yeah. Yeah, that had to be it. And with their date put on hold (yet again), she was letting her fears get the better of her.

Well, she'd just have to get over that, wouldn't she?

So she would.

With that new resolution, Cassie headed to her bedroom to change and watch the news, and just relax a little. Grace was almost completely recovered and Sam had pronounced himself well-pleased with her progress, and Ryan was finishing up . . . something . . . that his company had assigned to him a few days ago.

And so it was that she was alone when the news of a major winter storm heading in Middleton's general direction was announced, though it was fully expected to hit Blairsville and its surrounding towns.

Her intuition told her that it would hit Middleton, all expectations (and past history) to the contrary.

But even Cassie Nightingale could not predict just how much impact that storm would have.

It would change everything.