Melt Your Heart

Thank you for all the reviews and comments on the first chapter. I'm glad you are enjoying this so far. I'm having a lot of fun turning the "Good Witch" story on its head. Obviously I don't own the show or any of the characters. Hope you like this chapter, too!

Chapter 2: Resilience

A week later Cassie sat out in the back garden at Grey House, holding a cup of lemon and ginger tea between her hands and watching her children play. Autumn was just making itself known, and there were already fallen leaves in shades of yellow and orange for James and Catherine to crunch through in their wellington boots. They seemed happy as they chased each other, screeching and laughing. Cassie felt relieved; knowing she had made the right decision bringing them here. She already felt better herself, too. She still cried herself to sleep more nights than she didn't, but she was finding some peace here in Middleton.

Abigail came out to join her, cradling her mug of coffee in both hands. She didn't really like to admit it, but she had grown fond of Cassie's children over the past week and she'd also liked having someone else in the house; someone who wasn't a guest. She and Cassie had sat up most nights, drinking tea and catching up on each other's lives. Abigail could tell that her cousin was still finding it difficult to talk about Jake, though.

Cassie smiled when Abigail sat down next to her. There was an easy bond between the cousins already, something that went deeper than even their blood connection. That was definitely something Cassie wanted to explore; her family and her connection to Middleton. The small town was rich in history, and Cassie knew from Abigail that their ancestors had an important role in it. Once the twins were settled in school, she would focus some of her attention on doing some more research.

"They seem to be settling in well," Abigail commented, watching James and Catherine run by again tirelessly.

"Kids are resilient, I guess," Cassie replied. They still asked about their Daddy from time to time, and when he was coming home. She wasn't sure how often they really wondered this because they could both see that it upset her every time she had to remind that Daddy was in heaven and he wasn't coming back. It broke her shattered heart all over again every single time.

"So are you, Cassie."

Cassie smiled at the compliment. She was already realising they were few and far between with her cousin, but that Abigail never said anything that she didn't mean.

"Honestly Abigail, I'm a mess but I feel better already just being here. I really needed a fresh start."

"No better place to heal than Middleton," Abigail agreed. "And now you've had a week to settle in, it's time to start getting you properly integrated into Middleton life."

"What do you mean by that?" Cassie laughed. She had already met quite a few of the townspeople, but Abigail had been careful not to force too many people on her in her first few days in town.

"Well, I was thinking once you get the twins settled in at Middleton Elementary, then you could spend a few days a week in the flower shop with me."

"I'd like that," Cassie replied. She was a little worried about what she would do with herself once the kids were off to school, and she didn't for one minute expect Abigail to let her stay at Grey House rent-free, even if the house was also partly hers.

"It'll be good for both of us. Everyone will want to drop in and meet the newbie in town, and I might pick up some more passing trade."

Cassie laughed, that sounded more like the Abigail she was getting to know. She also realised that she was smiling more than she had since Jake died, and they weren't fake smiles put on to comfort her children. There was still a painful ache in her heart whenever she thought of her husband, but Middleton was already giving her distractions from her grief.

Although many of the guests at Grey House did bring their children with them, Sam was still not used to hearing kids play in the garden next door. He was raking up the already fallen Autumn leaves from his lawn, a job that he hated but Abigail got pissed off with him if he didn't keep his yard up to scratch. Sam was not exactly a fan of children, and was mostly of the opinion that they should be seen but not heard. Despite this, it was nice to hear the gleeful giggles and shrieks of the twins next door. Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that their mother intrigued Sam.

Middleton was such a small town that whenever someone new moved in, it always caused a bit of a stir. Sam was usually immune to such things, having been a fairly recent newcomer itself compared to some of the residents who were born and raised in Middleton. Cassie Nightingale fascinated him though, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Normally his interactions with women, since his marriage ended anyway, were a subtle flirtation, a dinner date and satisfactory sex. He was quite happy with that arrangement, and was never particularly sad when they parted ways. There were never usually any hard feelings, and Sam was quite happy with his bachelor status most of the time.

It had been a very long time indeed since a woman had got under his skin like Cassie had.

In the week that Cassie had been living in Middleton with her children, they had only had a handful of interactions. Sam wished that each one hadn't left him feeling like a schoolboy with a crush. Now he couldn't even tidy up his backyard without being reminded of her.

"Idiot," He muttered under his breath, he didn't even know anything about her. Yes, she was beautiful with her shoulder length raven-black hair and intelligent dark eyes but he had been around gorgeous, clever women before without his mind going blank and his palms sweating.

Maybe when she had been in town a little longer and they knew each other better, the novelty would wear off and he would feel about her the same way he did about Abigail, or Stephanie. Feeling better now he had rationalised it, Sam finished up with the leaves and went back inside, but his ears were still ringing with the happy sounds of Cassie's children.

Cassie was far more nervous than both James and Catherine on Monday morning when she dropped them off at Middleton Elementary. They were both excited, chattering happily as they walked down the sidewalk either side of their mother with their new lunchboxes. Cassie's heart broke all over again when she hugged them both goodbye at the gate, she turned away so they wouldn't see the tears that threatened to fall.

"Ms Nightingale?"

She turned to see a young woman in her early twenties approach her.

"Hello," She blinked away her tears.

"I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Lori and I'll be the twins' teacher." She held out her hand for Cassie to shake. "I'll make sure they settle in just fine, don't worry about a thing."

"Thank you," Cassie replied gratefully. She waited, watching as the young blonde lead her children inside the school building.

Abigail had asked her to meet her at the flower shop at nine, so Cassie still had some time to kill. Gathering herself, and trying to distract her thoughts away from her children, she decided to stop by the Bistro.

Cassie walked into the Bistro, her nostrils filling with the irresistible scents of freshly brewed coffee and cinnamon rolls straight from the oven. She loved the Bistro already, it was so warm and welcoming, as was the proprietor.

Stephanie grinned at her, pausing in her task of arranging croissants and pain au chocolat in the glass fronted display.

"Good morning, Cassie."

"Good morning," She replied, taking a seat on one of the high stools. "Please can I have a green tea – to take away, please." She added as Stephanie had reached for a cup and saucer.

"Places to be?" Stephanie asked as casually as she could.

"I've just taken the twins to their first day of school."

"Oh wow, are they okay?"

"They're fine, doing much better than their Mom!"

Stephanie smiled sympathetically as she poured boiling water over the tea bag.

"Oh, hey Sam." She greeted.

"Morning ladies,"

Cassie turned on her stool to smile at her new neighbour. Sam was obviously dressed for work in a grey suit, sky blue button down and silver tie. Even Cassie could admit to herself that he looked handsome.

"By yourself?" Sam asked, while Stephanie fixed his usual cappuccino to go. It sounded more gruff than he'd intended, but truth was Ms Nightingale made him nervous. He was used to seeing her not more than six feet away from two children; it was interesting to see her now as a woman first rather than a mother. Unfortunately for him, she was still beautiful either way.

"Yes, I've just dropped the twins off for the first day of school."

"Middleton Elementary?"

"Yep, the only elementary school in town." Cassie quipped.

"I've heard good things about it."

"I hope they're true, but I mostly just hope they'll both be happy there. Hopefully school will give them the structure and routine they need."

Why did he always feel like he'd someone put his foot in his mouth whenever he talked to her?

"I'm sure they'll love it." He couldn't resist potentially putting his foot in it again. "And what about you? How will you occupy yourself?"

"I'm just about to go and help Abigail in the shop," she realised her tone was a little defensive. She didn't want anyone to think she had come to Middleton to sponge off her recently discovered cousin. No, Cassie was more than determined to pay her own way. She was keen to learn how she could best help Abigail both at the flower shop and at Grey House.

"Well, enjoy yourself. I've got to get to the hospital." He took his coffee from Stephanie and handed her some coins.

"Is he always like that?" Cassie asked Stephanie once Sam gone.

"Like what?" She replied, all innocence.

"I don't know...standoffish, difficult?"

Stephanie chuckled. "You should have met him when he first came to Middleton, he's mellowed a lot since then." But she kept the rest of her observations to herself, for now. Because the truth was, no, Sam did not always behave like that and Stephanie thought she had a pretty good idea why.

Cassie arrived at the flower shop just as Abigail was unlocking the door.

"Morning Cassie, how did it go?"

"Just fine, thanks Abigail. The kids barely looked back, I was the one who wanted to cry."

Abigail smiled at her sympathetically.

"I've got a shipment of flowers due in any moment, unloading that will take your mind off the twins."

Abigail was right, by mid-morning the shop was full to the brim with every kind of flower imaginable. Cassie was a fan of gardening herself, although herbs were more her area of expertise, she found herself blown away by the varieties.

"You have a gorgeous shop here, Abigail."

"Thank you," she smiled. "I'm hoping to get more time to improve it now you're in town, I'd love to be able to pass some of the jobs at Grey House onto you."

"I'd been meaning to ask you about that, but I didn't want to be too forward when I've only been here a week."

Abigail laughed. "You can't ever be too forward with me."

Emboldened, Cassie continued. "Well, I know Grey House is a B&B, but I wondered what you thought about offering the guests the option of dinner?"

Abigail considered this. "It depends. Stephanie is a good friend of mine and I don't want to do anything to take away from her business, but it might be nice to offer guests that chance to stay in and have a home-cooked meal..."

Cassie was happy with that, it wasn't a flat-out no, and she also didn't want to put Stephanie's nose out of joint. She already had a feeling they were going to be good friends. Although everyone she had met so far in Middleton had been friendly, well, except for her next door neighbour. Cassie has a feeling that, given time, she could work her magic on him, too.