Melt Your Heart
Chapter 32: Unconscious Desire

Sam hadn't been expecting his sister to join him until after Thanksgiving.

Flight delays due to holiday travel and weather conditions on the east coast had led him to expect Joanne on Friday morning, but by some minor miracle her taxi had pulled up outside Sam's house just before he was due to leave for The Bistro.

Joanne had looked tired, but she'd passed it off as jet lag, and he'd let it slide; she needed him to be her brother and not her doctor right now. And, he had to admit, after ten minutes in the upstairs bathroom, she looked more like her old self again.

"Is Cassie going to be there tonight?" she asked, while gathering her long blonde hair into a ponytail – it was the best she could do on short notice and without the use of a hot shower and a hairdryer.

Sam rolled his eyes. He should have known better than to mention to his sister that he was dating someone until he'd known it was a sure thing (and, damn it, for a while he had thought it was a sure thing – the real thing, even).

"I guess so; Abigail always goes."

"I can't wait to meet her," Joanne replied with a grin, and suddenly they were pre-teens again instead of forty-somethings.

"Joanne…" he said, his tone holding a hint of warning.

"I'll behave myself, don't you worry." And she would, but she couldn't deny she was excited to meet the woman who had melted her brother's heart.

So, while Sam had been as surprised by the appearance of his sister as Cassie was, he had, of course, at least known that the blonde woman was his sister, while Cassie had initially assumed there was something more between them.

"Cassie, this is my sister, Joanne," he interjected quickly, realising a moment too late how this might look. "Joanne, meet Cassie Nightingale. She moved in next door at Grey House with her twins back in early September."

Joanne rolled her eyes at Sam in the way only a long-suffering sibling could. "I know, Sam, you've already told me that, and her children's names," she said affectionately. "Cassie, it would lovely to catch up. I'll be in town for a few days, and I'd love to get to know someone my brother speaks so highly of."

Sam was desperately coming to the realisation that he had played this scenario all wrong, and for the first time in their acquaintance he was supremely glad that Cassie appeared to be leaving.

"Please, stop by Grey House anytime," Cassie told her, shaking hands warmly with Sam's sister.

His sister.

Not his new girlfriend.

His sister.

The sister he had already told about her, and about her children.

She wasn't quite sure what to make of that, but she'd have the walk back to Grey House to think it over, and now she had Abigail to confide in; something she couldn't have imagined only a few months earlier.

"She's just like you described her," Joanne gushed, linking her arm through his as they made their own way home a little while later.

She was tired – a deep down to her bones kind of tired – but she was relaxed and happy too; pleased to be reunited with her brother. She had been wary and excited in equal measure when he had mentioned that there was a woman he was interested in – romantically interested in. Joanne had been witness to the whole crazy rollercoaster ride that was Sam's courtship, marriage, and eventual divorce from Linda Wallace, and she did not want to see her beloved brother experience something like that ever again. He seemed to have been done with love altogether since the divorce was finalised, and for that she couldn't blame him – but, from comments that he'd made over years, she knew he hadn't exactly stayed celibate since the separation. Still, he'd never actively mentioned an interest in woman, especially not to the point where he'd told Joanne her first and last name, let alone a brief biography.

Having met Cassie now, Joanne couldn't for the life of her figure out why they weren't together. But, thank God his taste in woman had improved since Linda.

"And her children are delightful," Joanne continued when it became obvious that Sam wasn't going to respond to her comment.

"Yeah, they are pretty great," he admitted, a little warily. He thought he knew what was coming, and it was entirely down to his own intuition and not any extra sensory perception he'd picked up on from Cassie during their acquaintance.

"I've never known you to be interested in a woman with children before," Joanne replied. "She must be pretty special to you."

He knew his sister meant no harm, but her words stuck a knife into his heart all the same.

"Well, y'know, after Linda…" he began, but stopped again, disarmed by the sudden flash in Joanne's eyes. The two women had never gotten along, but with his sister travelling almost constantly their paths hadn't had to cross all that often. Still, he wasn't expecting the mere mention of his ex-wife's name to provoke such a visceral reaction from Joanne.

"I hope you're not still holding on to anything that bitch had to say for herself."

"Jo!" Sam exclaimed, caught somewhere between a gasp and a laugh.

"Am I wrong?" Joanne asked, with something approximating a cackle.

"No." Sam sighed. "I suppose you're not."

"You'd have made a great dad," she told him, squeezing his arm gently. "You still could."

"Cassie and I aren't together anymore." Funny how no matter how many times he said it, it still hurt.

"Has she stopped you seeing the twins?" Joanne asked, surprised. Granted she had only spent a matter of minutes in Cassie's presence, but she didn't seem like the type.

"No," Sam clarified. "No, she hasn't."

"Remember how we always used to go with Mom and Dad to pick out a Christmas tree on the weekend after Thanksgiving?"

"Sure I do," Sam replied, smiling fondly at the memories that came rushing in. "Wait. Where did that come from?" He'd almost gotten whiplash from the sudden change of subject.

"Well, it's almost that weekend, and if Cassie is really so busy, maybe you could give her a few hours of peace and take the twins to go pick out a tree?"

Sam wasn't convinced; it sounded too much like something they would have done with their father, and he didn't want to tread on the toes of any precious family traditions. But the idea definitely appealed to him – it would be even more appealing if Cassie accompanied them.

It couldn't hurt to ask.

Cassie hustled to keep up with Abigail and the twins, wishing she'd chosen some more sensible footwear for the journey home; a blister was the last thing she needed. She was already developing calluses on her hands from the work she'd been doing at her shop.

"Why do I feel like you did that on purpose?" she hissed in her cousin's ear when she finally fell into step alongside her family; she didn't want the twins to overhear.

"Did what?" Abigail asked, her expression the dictionary definition of 'butter wouldn't melt' except for the slightest twinkle in her eyes.

"Oh, I don't know…maybe not mentioning that the gorgeous, statuesque blonde was Sam's sister and not his date?"

"Ohhh, that," Abigail replied, enjoying herself. "I didn't know you cared, cuz. I mean, you were the one who broke up with him."

"Abigail," Cassie said, her groan elongating her cousin's name by several unnecessary syllables.

"Did it make you jealous though?" Abigail asked, linking her arm through Cassie's and pulling her reluctant cousin closer. She was still testing the boundaries of their relationship – learning how far and how hard she could push before she needed to reel it in. Especially after Cassie's emotional episode in the flower shop.

Cassie sighed. "Fine. Yes, it did. A little. But I want him to be happy. I don't want him to pine over me forever."

"But you're still glad to find out that Joanne is his sister and not his current squeeze?"

Cassie rolled her eyes, but fondly now. "Yes, okay. If we're being honest," she paused, making doubly sure her children weren't listening in. "I keep hoping that one day we'll get another chance."

"You do know you only have to say the word and you could pick up where you left off with him, don't you?" Abigail asked, frowning. Surely, with all her witchy ways combined with a woman's natural intuition, she must know that Sam was as crazy about her now as he'd been the day she ended it.

"Yeah," Cassie replied, rubbing her hands together and grateful that Grey House was finally appearing in the distance. "That's what scares me."

Abigail looked over at her cousin in surprise – sometimes being a woman and witch didn't mean you were any less clueless than a mere mortal.

Cassie woke before her alarm on Thanksgiving morning, grateful for a few minutes of peace before the craziness of her day started. She barely remembered last Thanksgiving. The three of them had been too wrapped up in their grief, and the house had felt much too empty without Jake's presence. Even though he usually had to work over the holidays, or was at least on call, he was still expected and she knew the dishes of leftover food and the wedge of pumpkin pie she'd cut especially for him would have disappeared from the refrigerator by the time she woke up on Friday morning.

After the sadness of the previous Thanksgiving and Christmas, Cassie had been determined that they'd spend the next holiday season somewhere new. And now, here she was. In a new town, with a cousin she adored (and another one out there somewhere just waiting to be discovered), friends, the beginnings of a business of her own, and, most importantly, her kids were thriving.

And then there was Sam.

Better not to think about him, if she could help it. But she remembered all too well the disappointment and then the relief when she'd learned that Joanne was his sister, and not his date. She knew someday she would have to face the fact that he would be involved with someone else, but for now she was just pleased that it wasn't today's problem.

She busied herself in the kitchen, mixing the ingredients for the stuffing and getting the turkey prepped. The refrigerator was filled to bursting point, and it didn't seem possible that her family and her guests could work their way through all this food, but she was sure that by the time she went to bed, it would be considerably less full.

Closing the fridge door, she turned, surprised to sense another presence in the kitchen. Everybody would be up and about early today, but she thought she'd gotten up early enough to beat all of them by a couple hours at least.

"Sam, this is a surprise," she said.

"Not an unwelcome one, I hope," he replied, crossing the kitchen and setting a grocery bag on the table.

"Of course not," Cassie answered. "You're up and about early; are you off to the hospital?"

"No, I'm not scheduled to work this year," he said, closing the distance between them. "So I can spend the whole day with you – pending any emergencies."

"That's lucky," she said, with a warm smile.

"I thought so," he replied, his hands sliding up to her forearms, pulling her into him.

"Sam!" she protested against his lips, but he kissed her anyway, and she was powerless to resist. His kiss was drugging and she soon found herself wrapping her arms around his neck, drawing him closer as he manoeuvred her back against the kitchen counter.

Her breath huffed out as he lifted her onto the counter as if she weighed nothing, her legs wrapping around him almost of their own free will.

She wanted him so badly.

"Sam, please," she moaned, her skin feeling too hot, too tight, her clothes imprisoning her body. She just wanted to feel his warm flesh against hers.

"Cassie," he whispered, her name an oath and a prayer on his lips as his teeth nipped at the skin above her collarbone, his hands coming up to possessively cover her breasts. She arched her back, rubbing her centre against the denim-clad leg that was wedged between her thighs, needing the friction, the connection, the man.

"Cassie…Cassie…Cassie!"

She thrashed, pushing herself upright and out of the tangle of blankets and sheets that were caught around her legs.

"What the…"

"Hey, sleepyhead," her cousin greeted her, but her eyes had a worried, wary look in them that Cassie rarely ever saw. "You slept right through your alarm."

Cassie would have cursed, but she could see the twins lurking in her bedroom doorway, so she accepted the mug of tea Abigail offered wordlessly. She didn't want to look at the clock, didn't want to know how much time she'd wasted by…what? Having a sex dream about her neighbour?

"Don't worry," Abigail continued, sensing that Cassie was on the verge of panic. "Everything is still on schedule, so you drink your tea, take a shower and we'll regroup."

"Thank you, Abigail," Cassie replied, gratitude laced into every word.

"You're welcome, and I'm sorry I had to wake you…" she said, concern evaporating as a smirk took over her features. "Seems like you were having a pretty nice dream."

That was a understatement; Abigail's system had been overwhelmed with arousal the moment she stepped into Cassie's bedroom. Thank goodness her cousin was awake now and the effect was wearing off.

When Abigail had left the room, ushering the twins out with her, Cassie took another restorative sip of tea and then set the mug down on her nightstand. For a moment – and just a moment this time – she buried her face in a pillow.

She was going to have a little sit down with her subconscious and tell her exactly what was what.

But first she needed a shower, extra cold.