It Takes A Village

Thanks for the reviews again guys, I'm glad you liked the last chapter!

It hadn't been my attention to keep you waiting this long for another chapter, but it took me ages to finally be satisfied with this one. It was very hard to get the balance right in a certain scene. Let's just say a certain scene may have been more detailed, but the majority of it is still sitting in my drafts, haha.

Hope you enjoy this one. This is a purely Sam and Cassie chapter, but we'll catch up with everyone else pretty soon.

Chapter 19: Take Me Home

Cassie woke up the following morning with a mixture of excitement and nerves. She couldn't believe that things were finally turning around between her and Sam. It had been a long, hard road but maybe that was what they had needed to both realise how important they were to each other. She didn't want to regret the time they had spent apart; she hoped that it would make them stronger going forward as a couple.

She had dressed with care that morning. Slipping on a pretty lingerie set in a deep pink under her black blouse and tight indigo jeans. She applied a little more make up than usual, but not enough to arouse suspicion. She hoped she could avoid seeing Abigail this morning, because she was sure her cousin would see right through her. Although now she thought about it, Abigail had not been herself lately. There had certainly been some awkwardness at the gender reveal party, but Cassie had slipped out before she could witness any more. She had a feeling that all was not well between Abigail and Harry, but she didn't want to bring it up unless she was sure that Abigail wanted to talk about it.

The morning at the Bell, Book and Candle seemed to drag but then almost too suddenly it was lunchtime. If she had been vague or lost in her own thoughts at all, nobody had seemed to notice. It was something of a relief to finally leave the shop in the capable hands of the electricians.

"If you could lock up when you leave and pop the key back through the door, I'd be so grateful." She said, whilst struggling into her grey leather jacket and grabbing her purse. She was almost shivering with anticipation now.

Her phone buzzed in her hand with a text message from Sam, telling her he was waiting outside. She walked quickly and confidently to his SUV, determined that nothing and no one would stand in the way of their romantic afternoon.

They pulled over at a quaint looking inn on the side of the road. It reminded Cassie of the place they had eaten at on the way back to Middleton from visiting Nick in the hospital after his skiing accident. She remembered that as being the last really good moment between the two of them, before things had gone south permanently. She took it as a good thing that she was being reminded of a better, stronger time in their relationship.

"Have you eaten?" Sam asked.

Cassie shook her head. "No, I couldn't I was too..." She placed her hand over her stomach.

"Me too," Sam replied. "I'm so worried that I'm going to mess this up again, Cassie. This actually feels like it might be a dream and my alarm is going to go off at any moment."

Cassie put her hand over his on the gear shift. "It's not a dream." She assured him, and in truth she was more worried that she was going to be the one who ruined things again.

"Shall we?"

They got out of the car and Cassie linked her arm through Sam's as they walked up to the restaurant. To any of the other patrons, they just looked like any other couple getting a spot of lunch together.

They caught up over lunch; discussed the things that had been happening in their lives since they had last had a proper conversation. Sam tried to steer the conversation away from Linda, but it was Cassie who asked him how the property search was going. Sam had to confess that he didn't know. He had been doing all he could to stay out of his ex-wife's way recently. Living in his house had felt a little like walking on egg shells of late, and he knew he needed to have a serious conversation with Nick.

They lingered a little over drinks; coffee for Sam and herbal tea for Cassie. Both of them were afraid to push things too far when it was going so well. Yet there was something more bubbling under the surface of their friendly conversation. They had spent so much time apart; so much time being watched by their friends and neighbours. There was something freeing about being alone together where nobody knew either of them.

Cassie felt the frisson of excitement and nerves again as she waited in the hotel lobby for Sam to check them in. She had kind of always known this was how the afternoon would play out, but she hadn't really dared to keep her hopes that high.

He was grinning at her when he came back to her with the key card in one hand and the sports bag he used to carry a spare set of clothes if he had to stay at the hospital. They had both thought it would look a little suspicious if they turned up without any luggage between them.

Sam was thinking about the last time they had shared a hotel room. Although it had been a horrible time because he had been sick with worry about Nick, the overnight stay in the hotel had been one of the very few times that he and Cassie had been able to be truly intimate. He really hoped things were about to change between them for the better.

They stepped into the open elevator and Sam selected the button for their floor. The doors were about to sweep closed when a family of four asked them to hold on. Cassie smiled briefly at Sam as they stepped aside to make room. Their arms brushed, and even through their jackets both of them felt the intensity of the contact.

The doors finally closed and the elevator began its ascent. In Cassie's opinion it was taking far too long, and they hadn't even reached the floor that the other occupants were staying on. Finally they were stepping out of the elevator onto their floor and walking the short distance to their room. Although his hands shook a little, Sam opened the door with the key card on the first attempt. The room was simple and comfortable, but neither of them had much interest in the décor.

"Sam,"

He was shrugging out of his jacket, hanging it on the hook behind the door. Cassie's hands balled into his fists as she fought against the urge to touch him.

"May I?"

He came up behind her and helped her out of her jacket, his breath tickling her hair at the base of her neck. All of her nerve endings were alive and she felt like she might explode out of her own skin.

"Can I?" He cupped her face with his hand, his thumb tracing her lower lip.

She wished he'd stop being such a gentleman; stop asking and just act.

The tongue flicked out to stroke the pad of his thumb, her lips giving it a gentle suck. She watched Sam's eyes widen and then darken.

"Are you sure about this?" He still seemed cautious. He had pushed too hard and too fast before. He remembered that day in her kitchen all too well, and not in a good way.

Cassie stepped back from him and pulled her shirt over her head, revealing her lacy bra that nearly had Sam swallowing his tongue.

"I've never been more sure," She replied, closing the space between them and pressing her lips to his.

"It's a little strange staying in a hotel, when you live in a B&B," Cassie said later, entwined in crisp white sheets and Sam's warm limbs.

"Don't feel you have to do turndown service on my account," Sam laughed against her neck.

She turned in his arms to face him, both of them letting out a low gasp as their chests brushed.

"This was lovely," She said, "But I don't want us to get into the habit of sneaking around. I want you back, for real."

Sam pulled her close, moved and relieved by her words. He would settle for whatever she gave him; whatever she asked of him but he wanted the real thing with her.

"I've been wanting to tell you about this for a while, but I wasn't sure how you'd react." He traced patterns on her bare arms with his fingertips.

"What?"

"You know when George had his 'accident' in your garden? When Abigail and Lori were pumping Linda for information about New York and how different it was to living in Middleton? Abigail setting us up to work together in the flower shop that weekend?"

Cassie nodded, wondering where Sam was going with this.

"They were setting us up. Trying to matchmake us back together?"

"No," Cassie laughed, surely not? She would have noticed, wouldn't she?

"I didn't believe it at first either, except for George because he'd confessed as much to me. I thought Abigail was just being, well, Abigail, but the whole town has been in on it."

Cassie wasn't sure how she felt about that. She had been so consumed in believing that her relationship with Sam was doomed, no matter how much they loved each other, that she had been blind to anything else.

"How did you find this out?"

"Nick told me he was thinking about moving back to New York with Linda?"

"You're joking!"

"I wish I was. He told me he thought it was the only way to stop her from deciding to settle in Middleton permanently. Now, as much as I dislike my ex-wife, I'd rather both her and Nick were here than I lose him. Especially as it won't be long before he decides if he wants to go to college or not."

"Of course," Cassie squeezed his hand, she would feel the same if it was Grace. Then it came back to her. "Nick came to see me just after Courtney broke up with him, and he told me he felt guilty because if he hadn't had his skiing accident then you and I would still be together. Obviously I told him that it wasn't his fault, but I'm not sure he believed me."

"He said as much to me, too. It turns out the whole town have been trying to meddle to try and get us together again."

"I don't know whether to be grateful or furious." Cassie admitted.

"Well, it didn't really go to plan, did it? Linda has decided she wants to live here, and you and I both went out to dinner with other people."

Cassie laughed. "And it was seeing you with someone else that made me realise what an idiot I had been and what I could have lost."

"Cassie Nightingale, were you also jealous?"

She jabbed him with the tip of a fingernail. "Insanely."

He leaned down to kiss her, sliding his fingers through her dark, glossy hair. She kissed him back, pressing her body against his. She never wanted to lose this again. She felt him harden against her again, and she opened her legs to him. The rest of their relationship might still be under reconstruction, but they had this part of it all figured out.

"You know," Sam said a little while later as he picked up their discarded clothes from the hotel floor, Cassie watching intently. "We could give them a little taste of their own medicine."

"What do you mean by that, Doctor?"

"I know you hate the idea of us sneaking around but…"

"You mean, keep it a secret that we're seeing each other again."

Sam nodded, turning around and throwing Cassie's discarded panties to her.

"Although, after today, I'm not sure how I'm going to keep my hands off you again."

Cassie felt a jolt of pleasure at this as she started putting her clothes back on.

"Abigail and Grace, they'll just 'know'." She replied.

"Of course," Sam said thoughtfully. "And I don't really want to lie to Nick, either."

"Maybe we just keep it to ourselves for now. I don't want to sneak around or keep secrets, but it would be nice for it to be just us for a while."

"I hate to bring up the elephant in the room," He said, taking her in his arms now they were both fully dressed again. "But what about Linda?"

"I won't let her get in the way of us again, Sam. I used her as an excuse for why this wouldn't work, but I'm not going to do that anymore."

Sam kissed her, slow and deep, then he took her hand.

"C'mon, let me take you home."