up with her. “I don’t want to go home. I don’t have the kind of family life you do, Rhett. I haven’t been home since I came to California almost ten years ago. Things are . . . difficult.”
She left it at that. She wasn’t about to get into her family dynamics. Losing her dad at a young age. Never seeing her mom because she worked three and four jobs to make the rent and put food on the table. Never feeling as if she pleased her mom, despite bringing home outstanding grades and staying away from the troubles many teenagers fell into. Cassie sent money home to Texas every month but she rarely heard anything back. In the Carroll household, Christmas was just another day, not a time to celebrate togetherness.
“Well, that means you need to have dinner with my family.”
“Thanks, Rhett, but no.”
“Come on, Cassie. Mom would have my hide if she knew you were down at the gatehouse, eating Cheetos with TJ on your lap, watching It’s a Wonderful Life and bawling your eyes out.”
“I never eat Cheetos because they turn your fingers all orangey. I’m a Lay’s potato chip girl at heart. Plus, I would be curled up with a good book instead of watching TV.”
“Seriously, I want you to come. Mom likes you. Even Scarlett likes you and she hardly ever likes anyone. You haven’t met Suellen and Mister Eurotrash yet. How could you pass up an opportunity like that? Besides, Breck told me that he was going up to Sacramento to meet Jolene’s family. You’ll be all alone.”
His offer tempted her. Cassie wouldn’t mind having the gatehouse to herself for a few days while Jo was gone but it would be nice to be around a loving family. For once.
Rhett grinned. “I can tell you’ve already made up your mind. It’s settled. You’ll have to come over Christmas Eve, too. You can go to church with us and we have this huge buffet spread with all kinds of dips and chips and things that are totally bad for you. Leo would have a heart attack if he saw it all. I read the kids “The Night Before Christmas” and then we watch the Peanuts special where Linus tells the Christmas story. Then everyone comes back to Mom’s around noon the next day. We’ll have a big dinner and open presents. The works.”
Their feet pounded the pavement as Rhett added, “We drew names back at Thanksgiving but that’s when Breck thought he was going to be here. You can check with him to see whose name he got. I know Breck. No way has he already shopped for a present. I’ll make sure someone has your name, too, instead of his. This’ll be great!”
Cassie laughed. Rhett sounded like a kid himself. She guessed Christmas did that to some people.
“What do I need to contribute, food-wise?”
“On Christmas Eve, you better bring that queso with the sausage in it that you made for the last poker game. I could make a meal on that. For Christmas dinner, we eat at two. Mom always buys and heats a ham but she’s not much on cooking. I always have to pick up sides somewhere. If Carreen feels up to it, she’ll do apple pie, her specialty. Everything else is pretty hodgepodge. Why don’t we sit down when we get back and come up with a menu?”
“Sounds like a plan. I like to cook, though. You shouldn’t have to pick anything up. I think this might be fun.”
Then it hit her. Rhett had a girlfriend. Randi would present at these Christmas events unless she happened to be visiting with her own family. Cassie wondered how to extricate herself from the plans they’d already made because there was no way she would willingly spend any day—much less a holiday—with Randal James at her throat.
They looped around the circle they were on and started back to Rhett’s estate. They jogged in silence for a few minutes before he spoke.
“Since you’re going to be in town, would you like to go with me to Ken’s premiere? It’s on the twenty-first. I know he’d love to have you come.”
Cassie felt like she was negotiating a minefield. “Won’t Randi be back by then?”
Rhett frowned. “Not until the twenty-fourth. Why?”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass. Besides having nothing to wear to a Hollywood premiere, I don’t want Randi upset with me. Your girlfriend isn’t too fond of me as it is. No sense rocking the boat.”
“Who