This time, he greeted Shep, ruffling his fur and baby talking to the mutt. Cassie’s eyes remained focused on the computer screen as she typed away, ignoring him.
He was hesitant to interrupt her. She had to know he was standing there, though.
“Uh, I found the two scripts you left. Thanks for looking over them so quickly. I read your notes. They were right on target. You’re a good judge of character and writing.”
Cassie stopped and looked at him. In a very professional tone, she said, “I’ll be happy to do the same for any scripts you give me. Now, if you don’t have anything else to discuss, I have some finishing touches to put on this PowerPoint for the charity proposal.” Her eyes returned to the computer screen.
“Cassie.” Rhett paused, waiting for her to look at him. She didn’t, so he walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“You know I’m sorry. This whole situation with People got under my skin. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
“Not a problem, Corrigan,” she said, her voice quiet. “I’m sure if my private life was spilled across the Internet, I’d have a burr up my butt, too.” She looked at him, a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Rhett sensed things were back to normal between them and reluctantly removed his hand from her shoulder. “When are you meeting with the ACS people?”
“This afternoon at two. I’m about to leave as soon as I finish this last slide.” Cassie went back to work like an efficient worker bee.
“I’d like to go with you.”
She stopped what she was doing. “That won’t be necessary. We’ll only be in the preliminary stages. I have several ideas to toss out. I’ll get their feedback. We’ll confirm the date. No sense you getting involved so early in the game when I can handle it.”
“I want to go.” Rhett stared at her. “Seriously. I’m not doing anything this afternoon other than stopping by to see Carreen. I’ve wanted you to meet her anyway. Let’s grab some lunch, head to the meeting, and then swing by Carreen’s on the way home.”
Cassie thought a moment. “Mimi started today. In fact, Breck already weaseled breakfast out of her before her suitcase was through the door.”
He shook his head. “She can get settled while we’re out and provide dinner tonight. What do you say?”
CHAPTER 14
Cassie thought how normal Rhett’s childhood home looked as they drove by, almost like hers in Waco. The tan stucco he pointed out to her seemed an average size in a typical, blue-collar neighborhood. She realized that although Rhett might live in a multimillion dollar home now, his roots were humble.
“We’d stop in and see Mom, but today’s mahjongg. You do not want to be around that group of women. They are competitive, gossiping, margarita-swirling mamas, and nothing comes between them and their game. You can meet Mom some other time.”
Rhett continued down the block and turned right. “Carreen’s only a mile away. Mom loves being near her two grandkids. She probably changed as many diapers as Carreen and Bob did. Maybe more.”
“She sounds great.”
He smiled. “She is. I’d buy her a new house and have her shop on Rodeo Drive if I could but she doesn’t want to leave the neighborhood. Says she grew up with these women, all of them having babies together, learning to cook and sew together, bonding over divorces and deaths and God knows what else.”
Rhett eased the car into the driveway of a one-story ranch. A nativity scene, complete with scattered hay under the figures of the holy family, sat in the front yard. Santa and his reindeer rested atop the roof. A fake snowman stood in the corner with a large sign proclaiming “Merry Christmas from the Gormans”.
Cassie took it all in as she climbed out of the car. “Wow. Carreen must really like Christmas.”
Rhett nodded. “It’s her favorite holiday. Mom always did things up when we were kids. We didn’t have a lot of money but she’d put money away starting in March. Even though there were four of us, we each got more than we deserved. Carreen’s the same with her kids. Loves ‘em to death and spoils ‘em crazy.”
When they got to the front door, Rhett slipped a key into the lock.
“If she’s resting, I don’t want to disturb her. The chemo’s been rough but the doctor says her chances are really good. We’re staying positive.”