Melt Your Heart

Hmm, so it has been a while. My muse pretty much curled up and died, but I've really wanted to write recently and I ended up finding half of this chapter on my hard drive. I keep meaning to wrap this story up, but then I get an idea for it and end up dragging it out! Hopefully at least some of you are still enjoying it. I kind of feel like Cassie & Abigail are both out of character in this chapter (and probably in the whole fic) but I think it kind of works? I don't know, as always your feedback is appreciated and hopefully 2021 is treating you well so far!

Chapter 12: Taking Risks

Sam's feet pounded out a fierce tattoo on the sidewalk as he ran back home. So Cassie was starting to get to know the other residents of Middleton, that didn't mean anything. What concerned Sam was not that Cassie was sharing brunch with Ryan, but his own reaction to it. They were barely more than friends and had shared one single sweet kiss. It wasn't like he had any claim on her. Yet that wasn't how he felt.

He couldn't deny that his first impulse on seeing Cassie and Ryan together, innocently chatting and laughing at the Bistro, was to burst in and grab the other man by his perfectly knotted silk tie.

It wasn't rational.

He wouldn't exactly call Ryan a friend, but he didn't have anything against the man either. They had occasionally been allies in the face of Storm Martha over the years, with them both inventing some creative ways of disposing of her body.

He wasn't worried that Ryan was going to steal Cassie away from him. He didn't doubt that Ryan would try, because really who could blame him? Sam had a feeling that the realtor just wasn't Cassie's type.

He hoped he was right.

Cassie realised she might have misjudged Ryan, and she had actually had a pleasant time chatting with him. So why did she feel like she had been disloyal to Sam? She hadn't arranged for this meeting, it had been impromptu and she wasn't even really dating Sam, was she? They had kissed, once and briefly, and had made arrangements to go out for dinner.

It wasn't like they were married.

On her way back to Grey House she decided to call him. He might still be sleeping, but she assumed that if he was he would have the good sense to keep his cell phone switched off. She'd leave him a casual, friendly message and the ball would then be back in his court.

The phone rang for so long that Cassie thought that Sam would never answer. She hoped she hadn't disturbed his well-earned rest, but she had a feeling that he wasn't sleeping. She had almost given up waiting for his voicemail to cut in when he answered.

"Oh hey Sam, I almost didn't think you were going to pick up," she kept her voice bright, but talking to him gave her a buzz of nerves. It made her feel something else too, but she wasn't quite ready to explore that yet.

"Sorry, I was just getting out of the shower," he replied, his voice slightly muffled as he struggled to keep the handset nestled between his ear and his shoulder.

Cassie realised that she really didn't need that visual of her neighbour. She couldn't help but wonder if he had purposefully got out of the shower to answer his phone and right now had his towel wrapped around his slim hips, beads of water dripping down his chest. Her whole body gave an almost painful surge of lust, and she wondered where on earth that train of thought had departed from. Of course, she'd noticed how handsome her neighbour was but thinking about him sexually was something new.

"Cassie?"

She realised that, while her brain had been short-circuiting, she hadn't actually replied to Sam's comment.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I disturbed you," she apologised, forcing herself to focus on their conversation in the here and now rather than what he might, or might not, be wearing.

"Don't worry about it," he reassured her. "I was thinking about giving you a call actually to rearrange our…dinner." He had nearly called it a date again. He wasn't sure why he was resisting using that phrase when he was pretty sure that the average person would refer to a meal between two consenting adults who had already shared a kiss as such.

Cassie felt trapped between fear and longing, and waited for Sam to speak again.

"My schedule is packed for the rest of the week, but my weekend is free," he continued, and she could hear him flipping through the pages of his journal. Of course Sam Radford wouldn't use the calendar in his cell phone.

"Oh," she replied, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. Abigail had been keen to babysit the twins for their previous dinner, but she wasn't so sure her cousin would be willing to give up her Saturday night to stay in with James and Catherine. "I'm not sure that Saturday is going to work for me…" she paused to take a breath, feeling a hint of trepidation about what she knew she needed to say next. "Sam, you've got to remember that I'm a single mom. Not only that, but I'm a single mom to two kids who lost their father. I need you to know that they're always going to be my first priority."

Sam was silent for a moment. How could she not know that he already understood that?

"I know, Cassie, and I wouldn't ask or expect you to put me ahead of the twins…The reason why I mentioned Saturday was because I promised James I'd show him how to throw a ball properly…y'know, without smashing any glass or terrorising the neighbourhood."

Cassie wasn't sure how he did it, but his response had managed to bring tears to her eyes and make her laugh out loud.

Simultaneously.

"Oh you really don't have to…" she was finally able to utter, in what she hoped was an even tone of voice.

"I want to," he cut her off with determination.

Previously he had been worried that she would think he was using the children to try and worm his way into Cassie's heart, or bed, but he had been truly charmed by them. Now he wanted her to know that he understood she came as a package deal, and he wanted in on all of it. If that thought terrified him, well, he would worry about that at a later date.

"Okay," she conceded. She was a little disappointed that their dinner for two had been rearranged into a family affair, but perhaps it was for the best. As eager as she was to get to know her neighbour better, there was always the chance that they would run out of things to talk about if it was just the two of them, seated opposite each other in a restaurant. She didn't think that would be the case, but Cassie was hardly adept at dating, and things was Jake had always been so natural and so easy.

"And then I was thinking we could have dinner at my house on Monday, just the two of us, then if the twins need you, you'll be right next door."

He took her breath away, he really did.

"Sam," she wasn't usually at a loss for words, and rarely had been with him. But she was moved, and for once didn't know quite how to express how she was feeling. "That would be lovely, thank you."

"You say that now," Sam chuckled, feeling more relaxed now. "But I'm going to try and cook for you, so the night might end with a visit from the fire brigade."

She laughed now too.

"I'm sure your cooking can't be that bad, if you can perform a surgery I'm sure you can prepare a pasta dish."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence," he grinned into the phone. "But I tried to cook for Stephanie when I first moved here and, well, let's say I failed to impress."

Shit.

Sam looked at his own reflection in the bedroom mirror, his eyes wide. Now why on earth had he said that? It had been so long ago that he and Stephanie had tried, and failed, to date that he barely even thought about it. His relationship with her was on the same level as his friendship with Abigail. At least it was all out in the open now, and she couldn't find out later and wonder why he had never mentioned it.

Oh God, imagine if she had heard about it from Ryan? That would have been fun to talk his way out of.

Sam was so busy having a self-inflicted panic attack at his own idiocy that he almost missed Cassie's reply.

"I'll see you on Saturday," she confirmed. "I'll even brew you some coffee."

They ended the call back on an even keel again, or at least Sam hoped so. Maybe if Cassie didn't already mean so much to him, he wouldn't be so nervous about putting his foot in his mouth (again) and messing things up before they even really got started.

"Hey Abigail, would you mind keeping an eye on the twins for a couple of hours on Monday night?" Cassie asked her cousin later, realising that once again she had ensured to keep her hands busy and her attention elsewhere while she spoke. Abigail observed and understood far more than Cassie was comfortable with.

"Ooh, hot date?" Abigail replied, plucking a grape from the fruit bowl on the kitchen island and confirming Cassie's suspicions.

In spite of herself, Cassie felt her cheeks flush again. When had she become a blushing schoolgirl again? She was a grown woman, and a mother for goodness sake!

"Sam is cooking me dinner at his place," she wasn't sure if that was actually a 'yes' or a 'no' to her cousin's not-so-subtle question.

"Oh, sounds serious," Abigail grinned as she selected another grape. "It's not every day that the dashing doctor cooks for someone."

Cassie decided it was wise to keep her Saturday plans with Sam and the kids to herself for the time being, but there was something else she was curious about.

"He told me he cooked for Stephanie once," she said quietly, reaching up into the top cupboard so that he back was completely turned away from Abigail's penetrating gaze.

"Oh, that was years ago," her cousin replied, gesticulating vaguely. "Stephanie used to set her sights on any eligible bachelor who arrived in the tri-state area, so of course Sam appealed to her when he arrived but it didn't work out. Anyone could see that it wouldn't."

Cassie hated that this information ironed out her worries. She really liked Stephanie and she wouldn't want to stand in the way if the blonde still had feelings for Sam, especially as she had been so easy going about Cassie's idea to serve evening meals for the Grey House guests.

"Wait, you're not worried about this, are you? How did you even find out?" Abigail had abandoned the fruit bowl and crossed the kitchen to where Cassie was very busy trying to make herself look, well, busy. Abigail couldn't help but feel this had Ryan Elliott's name all over it, he had already approached her about Cassie's relationship status.

"Sam told me himself when he invited me over," she replied, trying to move further from her cousin but realising she was effectively trapped between the younger woman and the kitchen counter.

Abigail gave Sam some brownie points for that.

"So you have nothing to worry about then."

It was a statement and not a question, but Cassie chose to answer it anyway.

"Do you think this is moving too fast? The twins and I only moved here a little while ago, and I'm already going on a date. At his house."

"No, I don't. You put your kids first in everything, even moving here was for their benefit. You deserve to do something for you, and Sam is a good guy."

Cassie sighed. "I know he is."

And she did.

Although they were very different personality wise, there were a lot of things about Sam that reminded Cassie of Jake. She knew that should reassure her, but in truth it scared her. She wasn't sure she was ready to fall in love again and risk being left broken-hearted for a second time.

But she also had a feeling, a strong feeling, that she would have very little choice in the matter.