It Takes A Village

I've written so much of this story today, that it only seemed fair to give you guys another chapter. Although, you may not like me too much after you've read it! Both Linda and Sam drop a bomb in this chapter - slight warning for language?

Chapter 12: Bombshells and Broken Spells

It was late on Sunday evening when Linda returned to Middleton. Sam was in the living room with a glass of wine when she arrived.

"Is Nick still up?" Linda asked once she had taken her overnight bag up to the guestroom.

Sam automatically poured her a glass of wine and passed it to her.

"No, he went up to bed a little while ago."

"Oh," Linda sat down on the opposite end of the couch.

"When you see him in the morning, go easy on him, okay?" Sam set his glass down. "Courtney broke up with him last night."

The corners of Linda's mouth quirked upwards. Quite frankly, it was the best news she had heard all day.

"For God's sake Linda, don't look like that when you talk to him about it. At least pretend to feel sorry for him."

"That girl was never good enough for our son, and I'm not ashamed to say it."

"Be that as it may, our son needs his mother's sympathy right now, not her judgement."

Disgusted with her, Sam picked up his wine glass and went upstairs. It wasn't until he had shut his bedroom door, that he realised he hadn't even asked Linda about her trip to New York. He hoped that it wouldn't be long before she was packing her bags and heading back home again.

The next morning, after Sam had left for work, Linda made waffles for her and Nick for breakfast. She had tried to take Sam's words on board, and was determined not to show how glad she was that Nick and Courtney were no longer an item.

"How was New York?" Nick asked, through a mouthful of waffle and maple syrup. Linda was not a gourmet chef by any stretch of the imagination, but breakfast was pretty good. He secretly hoped she was buttering him up in order to break the news that she was moving back home soon.

"Loud, busy," Linda laughed softly. "My head is still buzzing with it all. I think I've actually adjusted to small town life."

Nick was starting to lose his appetite.

"Your Dad told me about what happened," She said, taking a seat next to him. "I'm sorry about Courtney."

"Thanks, Mom."

"I know I wasn't exactly her biggest supporter, but you know you can talk to me if you need to?"

"Thanks," He repeated. "But it's okay. I think I'm going to be fine."

"There's no need to put on a brave face, baby. You can always talk to me, or your Dad."

"Honestly, it's okay. I went to see Cassie yesterday afternoon, and we had a good chat. I'm just going to focus on school and getting to see all my friends again."

Nick polished off the last of his breakfast and got up from the table. With every passing day, his need for the cane was getting less. He was still going to use it when he went back to school though, mostly because he thought it looked super cool.

After he had gone, Linda remained sitting at the kitchen table, her breakfast going cold on the plate. She was starting to feel as if none of the men in her life needed her. If she was going to change that, it was time to start thinking of Middleton as her home and taking the steps to make that a reality.

"Hey Sam," Cassie smiled, her back to the door of the Bell, Book and Candle when the bell tinkled signalling a visitor.

Sam still didn't understand how she could do that, and thought he probably never would. He walked up her and placed his hands on her waist, pressing a kiss to her cheek. Cassie enjoyed the press of his fit, toned body pressing against her back. It had been a long time since they had even touched in public, so this felt especially intimate. She turned around to face him, knowing she was about to kill the moment.

"Is Linda back yet?"

Sam arms dropped slowly to his side. "Yeah, she got back late last night."

"How's Nick doing?"

"His heart's a little bruised, but he's young and he'll recover. He really appreciated his chat with you yesterday, Cassie." He reached out now to tuck a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. "I really appreciated it, too."

"No matter what happens, or doesn't happen, between us I will always care about Nick and I'm glad he felt he could confide in me. I know Grace feels the same way about you."

Sam smiled, he was fond of Grace too. Some men might use the affections of the teenage daughter to try and win the heart of her mother, but Sam had liked Grace from the get-go. He was glad that she and Nick had become good friends. Not only was she a good influence on Nick, but Sam liked having her around, too.

"So she wouldn't mind me whisking you away to dinner tonight?"

Cassie considered this. She and Sam were technically still broken up, but that didn't mean they couldn't have dinner together, did it? After all, she had cooked for him the night they had worked together in the flower shop. Eating out in public seemed like a different ball game altogether though.

"How about the Bistro?" She compromised. She wasn't sure she could sit opposite Sam over candlelight and share a romantic dinner, not when so many things were still up in the air between them.

"Perfect," He would have eaten takeout fried chicken with her in his car if that was what she had suggested.

The Bistro was pretty busy for a Monday evening, and Stephanie was pleased with the turn out. Working was taking her mind off worrying about Abigail. She had been acting strange recently, and Stephanie couldn't quite figure out what was wrong. She had still been reeling from their conversation about Nathan Hancock and Abigail's comments about her previous relationships with men. The last thing she had been expecting after that was for Abigail to call her, panicking about her feelings for Harry, when they were supposed to be having a romantic weekend together. It just didn't make sense.

But perhaps Abigail had been right about Nathan. He had made a few appearances in the Bistro, but now it looked like he had left town. She made a mental to note to ask Cassie if he had checked out of Grey House.

Stephanie was surprised to find that not much later Cassie herself walked into the Bistro. She was delighted to see that she was followed in by Sam. For a moment, it was like everything was back to how it should be and she grinned.

The door opened again and this time Abigail came in, sporting a large bouquet of white lilies and pink roses. She approached the counter and smiled somewhat sheepishly at Stephanie."

"Hey," She greeted. "These are for you."

"They're beautiful, thank you." She replied, one eyebrow raised. "You know it's not my birthday yet, right?"

Abigail laughed. "No, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I was out of line the other day, and then calling you up out of the blue like that this weekend? That's what happens when you drink wine on an empty stomach I guess."

She was glad she was telling Stephanie this and not Cassie, because her cousin would have seen through it from a mile away.

"No need to apologise, but thank you for the gorgeous flowers."

She disappeared back into the kitchen to find a suitable vase. Abigail took a long deep breath, glad that she had cleared the air between them. She looked around the Bistro and smiled, giving Cassie a quick wave. At least something was going the way it was supposed to, at least for now.

"Where's your father?" Linda asked. She and Nick had avoided each other for the majority of the day since their slightly awkward breakfast. "I need to talk to him."

"He's out," Nick replied. "He went straight out to dinner from work."

"It's his night to cook," Linda scowled. "Do you know where he went?"

"He sent me a text to say he's at the Bistro with Cassie, and he'll bring me home some of Stephanie's lemon meringue pie."

Linda shut the door to Nick's room and heard the music of his video game start up again. She had wanted to tell them both over dinner that she was staying in Middleton, and that she would be looking for a new place of her own to move into as soon as the lease was up on her New York City apartment. It looked like Sam had forced her hand, by choosing Cassie Nightingale over his own family once again.

Putting on her coat and boots, and leaving a note for her son. Linda headed out into the spring evening. She was beginning to become familiar with the town now, and the walk to the Bistro seemed to take no time at all. She paused outside, taking a breath. It looked like most of the town were there. She could see Martha and Tom sitting near the window, and yes Cassie and Sam at another table, Abigail Pershing was standing by the counter and it even looked like Tara and Brandon still in his uniform were also in attendance. Steeling herself, Linda stepped inside the Bistro.

Although Spring was well on its way in Middleton, the gust of wind that announced Linda's arrival at the Bistro was chilly. For a second, it was almost like everyone paused what they were doing, but just as quickly the sound of knives and forks on flatware and the buzz of conversation picked up again.

Linda made her way across the counter, where Stephanie was looking a little wary. Clearly she wasn't aware that Linda already knew that Sam and Cassie were dining there together tonight.

"Two of the specials to take away, please." She said, handing over her credit card.

"Hi Linda," Abigail sidled up beside her. "I hear you spent the weekend in New York?"

"News travels fast," Linda replied, cooling her tone so it matched Abigail's.

"It's a small town, it happens."

"Yes, I suppose I'll have to get used to it," Linda was pleased by the fleeting look of surprise on Abigail's face, it was very rare indeed that you could catch one of Merriwick women off their game.

Before Abigail could respond, Linda was tapping a spoon against a discarded tea cup on the counter. Soon she had everyone's attention, though Martha looked less than impressed at having her dinner date with Tom interrupted.

"Sorry to disturb you all while you're having dinner, but I just wanted to thank you all for making me feel so welcome since I've been in Middleton," She paused, hunting for the table where Sam and Cassie were sitting. "In fact, your welcome has been so warm that I've decided to settle in Middleton permanently."

Her announcement was met by a lull in conversation, and you could have heard a napkin flutter to the floor it was so quiet.

"I look forward to getting to know you all better." With a satisfied smile, Linda picked up her bag of takeout and confidently walked out of the Bistro.

The noise level resumed in the Bistro, residents who didn't know Linda well or didn't understand the significance of her decision to stay, went back to their previous conversations. At their table in the back corner, Sam tried to make out the almost unreadable expression on Cassie's face.

"Oh," He said, unable to think of anything else to say, he added. "Shit."

Eeeeeek. I just have far too much fun writing evil!Linda.