Melt Your Heart

Thanks for your review/comments/likes on the previous chapter. I'm having a lot of fun writing this and I hope you're enjoying it too.

Originally this story was going to be about Sam being a grumpy bachelor who didn't like his new neighbour and his twins, but slowly started to fall for her. It's been more fun for Sam to realise he is attracted to her, and keep saying the wrong thing to her and make her think he doesn't like her. Oh, and for the purposes of this story, Sam is 42, Abigail is 30 and Cassie is approaching her 37th birthday, and her twins, well James takes more after Cassie but Catherine has definitely got a thing or two in common with Cousin Abigail ;) Xx

Chapter 5: Closer

"Oh," Cassie said aloud to herself, looking up at the hole in the window and the way the glass splintered out in cracks around its edges. She really wasn't looking forward to explaining this to her neighbour, especially since they had actually made some progress towards an amicable, even friendly, acquaintance.

It hadn't help that James, shocked by his own aim and the sense that he was about to be in big trouble, had burst into tears. And, not wanting to be left out of anything her twin was involved in, Catherine had joined in. She had finally calmed them both down and left them cuddled under a blanket watching a Disney film with Abigail nearby. She now had the unenviable task of talking to Sam.

She would bring James to apologise later, but she wanted to talk to Sam by himself first. Her arms were laden with Tupperware boxes of her now famous pumpkin curry and a yellow sponge cake with chocolate frosting which Abigail had assured her was one of Sam's favourites. Of course she would pay for the damage to be fixed, but she thought an edible peace offering might help.

She couldn't say what it was that made her leave the cosy Grey House kitchen just a few minutes ago, but as she was standing outside Sam's house, his Jeep pulled up in the driveway. For a moment she was illuminated in the headlights until he killed the engine.

"Cassie, what a surprise," He looked at her and took in the pile of boxes in her arms. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Cassie supposed that her eyes must have darted up to the broken window, as Sam's gaze followed them there.

"Oh," He raised his eyebrows at her. "Well, if you were aiming for me, you missed. I've been at the hospital all day."

"I know, and I'm so sorry. This is the last thing you need."

"What happened?" Sam unlocked his front door, you could take the man out of the city but you couldn't take the city habits out of the man. He motioned her inside and she followed, tightening her grip on the boxes.

"I was playing with the kids in the garden and James, well James might have a baseball career ahead of him, but he hit the ball harder than either of us expected. I will bring him to apologise, but I thought I'd better break it to you first."

"In case I was angry?" Cassie shrugged as casually as she could must under the weight of curry and a cake. She could have put them down already but she quite liked having something to do with her hands. "I can't say I'm exactly thrilled but I wouldn't be angry with your little boy over it, especially as it was an accident."

Cassie felt relieved, and finally set the boxes down on the kitchen table. She had never crossed the threshold into Sam's house before but it was somehow exactly how she had pictured it. Simple, male but also stylish in an understated way. It also looked like the microwave got a lot more use than the oven.

"I'll bring him by tomorrow to apologise."

"Okay, it's really not necessary, but okay." He could tell this was important to her. "Hey, maybe I can give him some tips on how to hit a ball without damaging anyone's property?"

"You don't have to do that," Cassie protested. "You've got enough on your plate and, well…"

"I don't like children?" Cassie nodded. "Maybe I can make an exception where the safety of my windows is concerned."

"Okay, but you really don't have to," She paused and briefly closed her eyes. "But you should know that anything James does his sister wants to be involved in."

Sam nearly made a crack about how he was lucky not to have two holes in his windows, but felt like now probably wasn't the right moment.

"Outnumbered!" He said instead. "Maybe you could join in too, make the odds a little fairer."

Cassie paused, suddenly uncomfortable.

"We'll see," She said, in very much the same tone as the one she often used on the twins. "I should get back, my family and I have already taken up enough of your day. Let me know how much I owe you for the window." She started making her way towards the front door. "Goodnight Sam,"

Sam waited until she was gone to kick himself. What an idiot, he thought. He had made it clear how he felt about children, and now he'd make it look like he was trying to use Cassie's twins to get to her.

"How did it go?" Abigail asked as soon as Cassie arrived back at Grey House. The twins were still absorbed in their movie and Abigail was sipping coffee.

"Fine," Cassie replied. "He wasn't angry or anything."

"I didn't think he would be," Abigail frowned. "It wasn't like James did it on purpose."

"We both know that," Cassie sighed.

Her conversation with Sam had left her feeling edgy and uncomfortable, she was aware she was taking that out on her cousin which wasn't fair. She could have brushed the encounter aside if she hadn't realised that, on some level, she was attracted to him. It made her feel guilty, and like she was betraying Jake's memory even though nothing had happened between her and Sam. Nothing ever would either, Cassie promised herself. She was sure that Jake would want her to be happy, and to find love again, but it was much too soon. The twins had to be her priority, followed by making a life for the three of them in Middleton.

Abigail studied her for a few moments over the rim of her coffee cup. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall during the conversation between Sam and her cousin. She could tell that both Cassie and the doctor were experiencing some kind of connection, but she hadn't foreseen how it would play out. Cassie was still slowly working through her grief, and Abigail knew that she was putting on a brave face most of the time.

"What did you expect?" Abigail asked, trying to lighten the mood. "Did you think Sam would call the cops and have James taken away in handcuffs for criminal damage?"

Cassie rolled her eyes, and laughed in spite of herself. She sank down into one of the empty chairs.

"I don't know, he's just hard to read sometimes," She frowned. "I'm usually pretty good at reading people."

Abigail bit back a smile. "Maybe you're distracted because he's hot?"

"Abigail!" Cassie protested, knowing her cheeks were gently flushing pink. It had nothing to do with coming in from the cool autumn evening either.

"What?" Abigail laughed. "He's an attractive man, I'd be worried if you hadn't noticed."

Cassie looked thoughtful. "You're currently single, right? And so's he…have you never…?"

Abigail cut her off. "Oh, no. Sam's great and we're really good friends, but we've never even considered going down that route. Plus, hottie that he is, he's a bit old for me."

Cassie considered this, remembering that Abigail was only thirty. There was something about her confidence and her character that made her seem older.

"He offered to teach James how to hit the ball properly." She blurted out. She hadn't expected or meant to tell Abigail the rest of their conversation, but she needed someone else's opinion; someone who knew Sam better than she did.

"That's nice of him, right?"

"Well yeah, but he's made it clear he doesn't even like kids."

"I didn't really like kids until your two moved in here, now they've really melted my cold, cold heart."

"But they're your family, that's different."

"I suppose. Maybe Sam's just trying to be nice and cut you a break?"

"Maybe," Cassie sighed. "I'm going to make some tea, do you want a refill?"

Abigail handed her empty mug to Cassie, and watched thoughtfully as her cousin left the room. There was something else that Cassie wasn't telling her about her interaction with Sam, she was sure of it.

As promised, the next morning Cassie walked over to Sam's house with James in tow. Of course, as Cassie had predicted, Catherine had insisted on coming too. She held one of their hands in each of hers as they crunched through the fallen leaves to Sam's front door. She had already checked that he was home, his Jeep parked out front in its usual spot. She hadn't brought any baked goods as a peace offering this time, but was now regretting it. Surely someone who took as much care and pride in their physical fitness as Sam wouldn't have eaten a whole yellow cake in the last twelve or so hours? At least this time having a child either side of her gave her something to keep her hands occupied.

"Okay James," Cassie said before reaching up to ring the bell. "You remember what we're going to say to Doctor Radford, don't you?"

He nodded, looking up at her solemnly with big dark eyes peering out from beneath his shock of light brown hair.

Catherine was tagging on Cassie's hand, already bored with this trip and wishing she'd stayed inside in the warm with Abigail.

Sam came to the door a few moments after Cassie rang the bell, dressed casually in faded jeans and a blue hooded sweatshirt.

"Good morning," He greeted, smiling down at the three of them.

"Hi Sam," Cassie replied, steering James forward. "James had something he wanted to say to you."

James looked up at the man in front of him, suddenly forgetting the words that he and his Mom had practiced. For a moment he thought he was going to cry, but then his Mom squeezed his hand.

"I'm really really sorry about your window, Mr Radford…" He stopped, frowned and then continued. "Doctor Radford…I didn't mean to do it."

Touched, Sam bent down so he was of a similar height to James. Cassie realised that she had been holding her breath.

"Thank you, James. I appreciate you coming to say sorry to me. And, you know, you can call me Sam. We are neighbours after all."

James looked up at his mother, and Cassie nodded briefly.

"Sam," James tried it out and smiled.

"Can I call you Sam too?" Catherine butted in, feeling it was very unfair that it was James who should be in trouble but who was the one getting everyone's attention.

"Of course you can," Sam turned to her and smiled too.

Cassie studied him as he interacted with her two children. For someone who claimed to dislike children, he certainly seemed to have a way with them. But then Cassie supposed that some of his patients must be children, so he would have to be friendly and reassuring with them.
It was genuine though, this interaction with her twins. Cassie knew that children could see through whenever an adult was trying too hard or simply wasn't really interested in them, and her two were especially observant.

Maybe she had been too quick to judge when she had assumed that he was using her children as a means to get closer to her. Maybe because somewhere deep, deep down beneath her grief and her heartbreak and her resolve that nothing was going to happen between them, Cassie did want to be closer to him.