An Unexpected Love by Amber Riel (dar e dil novel online reading .TXT) 📕

          Anger removed the embarrassment and Cassie glared at Brandon.  She could tell that his ego was starting to kick in.  She went to open the door.  “No.”  She opened the door and walked out.

          Brandon sat on his bed, smiling.  He had to admit to himself that he was slowly starting to fall for her and had a feeling she was falling for him as well.

          Melinda and Jennie worked their way to the bank where the crime had taken placed, playing detectives.

          Yellow crime scene tape was wrapped around Micheal’s desk where an empty bag was laying on top.  Melinda walked over to the desk, confused.  “You know if the guy who kidnapped Cassie also robbed the bank then wouldn’t he have taken the empty bag and filled it up with money?”

          Jennie moved over toward Melinda and the desk.  “Yea,” she agreed.

          “Excuse me, ladies,” Officer Sheen said, accompanied by another officer who looked to be in his thirties and about average height.

          The new cop was kind of chunky but not fat.  He wasn’t the most attractive guy around but did look good for his age.

          “Hello, Officer Sheen,” Jennie replied while her and Melinda turned to face the two men.

          “Do you two have permission to be here?”

          “Yea,” Melinda lied.  “The fat guy gave us permission.”

          Jennie’s mouth drop as she looked at Melinda.

          “Okay….” Sheen turned to face the other cop, not really too concerned with the two girls.  “Come on, Officer Turner.  We have to check out the money.”

          “Okay,” the new cop replied.

          While the cops walked away, Jennie closed her mouth then turned her attention to Melinda.  “The fat guy?”

          “Well, yea…. You’ve seen him the other day.  Remember the fat cop?”

          “I remember but that was mean.”

         Laura had talked Cassie into playing dolls with her.  Cassie had let Laura explain about each doll because Laura had created a story each individual doll which Cassie thought was a good way for her to use her imagination.  “So why did you make my uncle sleep on the couch last night?”

          Cassie felt uncomfortable about explaining the situation to a six year old.  “Well we just thought it wasn’t right for an unmarried couple to sleep in the same bed,” she explained.

          “Why not?”

          “Because…. Um…. Guys and girls just shouldn’t do that and that’s not including mommies and daddies…. You’ll learn about that when you’re older….”

          Laura looked at the doll she held in her hand with sadness.

          “What’s wrong?” Cassie asked.

          Tears began crawling down Laura’s pale face.  “I’m not going to be older…. I’m not going to live that long….”

          Cassie felt horrible for what she had said.  She hugged Laura.  “Look,” she began, “I don’t want you to think that…. I don’t want you to ever say that…. You’ll make it through it….”  Cassie hadn’t realized that Brandon stood in the doorway.

          He leaned against the outline on the wall for the door, listening.

          “I want you to think positive…. Don’t be a pessimist, be an optimists…. The cup’s not half empty, it’s half full….” She smiled at Laura.  “Okay?”

          “Okay,” the child replied with a smile.

                    A smile grew on Brandon’s face.  He thought it was great that Cassie could be optimistic that such a horrible time.  He cleared his throat to get the two girls’ attention.

          “Oh, Brandon,” Cassie said.  “I didn’t see you there.  How long have been standing there?”

          “Long enough.”  He laughed.  “Um…. Laura, you’re mother and father are here.”

          Laura stood up, grabbing Cassie’s hand.  “Come on, Cassie.  You’ve got to meet my parents.  They’ll be glad to know that my uncle has a girlfriend.”

          “Okay.”

          Brandon grew wide eyed.  “No---”

          “Sure.”  Cassie stood up and followed Laura out of the room.

          “Mommy!  Daddy!”  Laura exclaimed, running into the living room and hugging each of them.

          “Hey, baby,” Jessica replied, smiling.

          “Yea.”  Laura took a deep breath.  “Have you two met Uncle Brandon’s girlfriend yet?”

          Jessica and Chris exchanged glances.  “No,” Chris replied.

          Brandon locked eyes with Cassie.  “You can’t go in there.”

          Cassie rolled her eyes.  “Why not?”

          “Because….” Brandon tried to think of a reason but couldn’t.  “Because…. You just can’t.”

          “Yea.  Whatever.”  Cassie began to walk into the living room but Brandon grabbed her arm.  “Let me go.”

          “I…. I…. Okay just go but they’re going to ask a lot of questions about us.”

          “So I know how to act…. I was in drama.”

          “Okay.”  Brandon released Cassie’s arm, not ready to hear what her brother and his sister-in-law had to say.

          Cassie walked into the room, followed by Brandon.

          “Hello,” Chris told Cassie.  “You must be Brandon’s girlfriend.  Laura was telling us about you.”

          “Yea.  I’m Cassie,” she introduced herself.

          “Well, it’s nice to meet you,” Jessica replied.  “I’m Jessica, Brandon’s sister-in-law, and this is Brandon’s brother and my husband, Chris.”

          “It’s nice to meet you too.”  Cassie smiled.  The couple had seem nice.

          “Laura,” Chris said.

          “Yea, daddy?”

          “Can you go and get your things ready?”

          “Yea.”  Laura left.

          Chris waited till Laura was gone before saying anything else.  “So….”

          Brandon walked over to Cassie and wrapped an arm around her.  “Here we go,” he whispered, kind of singing it into Cassie’s ear.

          “How long have you two been seeing each other?”

          Cassie’s mouth dropped for a brief moment.  She looked at Brandon.  How were they going to get out of that?

          “Well, honestly, we just met a few days ago,” Brandon answered.  “We’re taking it slow though.”

          “If you’re taking it slow then why has Cassie been staying the night?” Jessica asked.

          Chris and Jessica weren’t trying to be nosey.  They had good intentions on why they would ask such questions.  It was to see what they would have to explain to their six year old.

          “How do….” Brandon began to ask.

          “Laura told us,” Chris said.  “Now, look we’re not trying to be rude but we need to know if we have to explain to our daughter about…. Well you know.”

          “Don’t worry.  Cassie had me sleep on the couch.  See I was planning on sleeping with her,” Brandon replied, not realizing what he had said.

          Cassie’s mouth had drop and she kind of glanced at Brandon.  She knew what he meant, but from the expressions of both Chris and Jessica, she knew the wrong idea had popped into their heads.

          Brandon quickly thought about what he had said.  “That’s not what I meant…. I was only trying to get her to sleep with me….” He was only making things worse.  He noticed how everyone’s expressions had stayed the same.  “That’s not what I meant either…. See I was trying to tell Cassie that nothing has to happen for a man and woman to share the same bed and Cassie didn’t think that was right and something almost happened but didn’t and we agreed that she would get the bed and I would have to sleep on the couch so therefore you don’t have to explain anything to your child…. Okay?”

          Chris and Jessica were still in shock from what Brandon had said earlier to even speak.

          Laura walked into the room with her book bag on her back.  “I’m ready to go.”

          “Okay,” Jessica replied to both Laura and Brandon.

          Jessica opened the car door for Laura and waited for the child to climb in.  Her eyes were locked on her husband with a smile.  “I told you that your brother was hiding something.  He has a girlfriend and he wasn’t going to say anything,” she spoke, closing the door after Laura was inside of the car and buckled up.

          Chris and Jessica were now in the car and buckled up.  “She seems to be such a sweet girl,” Jessica had commented about Cassie.

          “Yea and she’s cute,” Chris joked.

          Jessica smacked him playfully.

          “But you’re the most beautiful woman I had ever met.”  He looked at Jessica then over to the road.

          “She is pretty.”

          Cassie sat on the couch, staring at the TV.  Brandon stood near the window, playing with his watch.

          “So…. You said that you were going to go and buy me some outfits to wear after your niece left,” Cassie reminded Brandon.

          Brandon stopped what he was doing but kept staring at his watch.  “Oh yea.”  He looked up at Cassie.  “Let me get a pen and paper so I can write down what you need.  Okay?”

          Cassie stood up and followed Brandon into his room.  Brandon began looking for a pen and some paper.  Cassie sat on the bed and out of nowhere Buck ran and jumped on the bed.  He lay next to Cassie, resting his head in her lap.

          After Brandon found a pen and a note pad,  he turned his attention toward Cassie.  “Okay.  What do you need?” he asked.

          “Well, I need some shirts…. Baggy…. I don’t like really tight shirts….”

          “Okay….” Brandon wrote down what Cassie told him.  “How many?”

          “Four….”

          “Okay…. Sizes?”

          “Small….”

          “Okay.”

          “Four pairs of pants…. Size two….”

          “Okay….”

          “Socks the long ones which are size seven’s….”

          “Okay….”

          Now, Cassie knew that the last two things which she was about to mention were going to make Brandon feel uncomfortable, but she had to mention them and to make him feel extremely awkward, she smiled.  “Bikini cut size seven underwear….”

          “Okay….”

          Cassie thought that would make Brandon flinch but it didn’t.  She raised an eyebrow with confusion.

          “Anything else?”

          “What?” Cassie asked, confused.  It took her a moment to snap back from her thought.

          “Anything else?”

          “Oh yea.”  Cassie was going to have fun because she knew Brandon was going to feel uncomfortable for sure.  “Four….” She paused before continuing.  “Four….”

          “Okay four what?” Brandon asked, kind of impatient.

          “Four…. Bras.”  Cassie couldn’t help but laugh at Brandon’s reaction.

          Brandon began flinching.

          “Four…. Bras,” Cassie repeated, slowly.  A huge smile grew on her face as she spoke.

          Brandon looked over at Cassie, extremely uncomfortable.  “Fo…. Fo…. Four…. Br…. Br…. Bras?” he asked, kind of stuttering.

          “Yea…. I need them actually.”

          “Can’t you just wear the one you have now?” Brandon asked, trying to laugh.

          Cassie jumped up, ticked off.  “No….” She folded her arms and walked over toward Brandon.  “Because I still need to wash it along with my other clothes…. You dummy.”

          “Okay….