She collapsed into Kayden’s arms, worn out. She needed to toughen up to be as strong as the guys but she knew Kayden would always be her safe haven.
The night was still young for the night owls so a game of cards was organised.
And me? Well, I need a drink, so agreed .
Just too Hard
During the evening Cassie laid on the couch for some shut-eye. She had enjoyed her day and fell asleep listening to the guys joke and hang it on each other as they continued the card game. Dawn came and the light shone on her face, waking her. Getting up, she looked about for Kayden. Not finding him inside, she wandered outside, thinking he might already be up and had gone for a morning dip.
When she finally found him he was lying out on the beach and right there was every girl’s nightmare. A woman, although fully dressed, was wrapped in her man’s arms. Her whole body started to tremble as she went to confront him.
He woke, looked up at her and turned to look at the girl in his arms. ‘No, Cassie, it’s not what you think. I don’t know how she ended up here. I must have thought it was you.’
She shook her head in disbelief, unable to control her shaking any longer and she turned and ran out of sight to where she could calm down.
She heard Woody calling out to her as he headed towards her but she put her hand up angrily. He stopped, seeing by look in her eyes she would possibly inflict pain on anyone that came near her or attempted to stop her at that moment. She was so filled with anger!
He had no choice but to let her be until she had calmed down. She heard Woody and Kayden arguing. The chick jumped up, laughing as if it were a big joke. Cassie was so livid about her attitude that she had to really restrain herself from turning and zapping the stupid bitch. She needed to be on her own and didn’t feel up to an argument or lies. In a total trance, she turned her back on them all and the situation that she had no idea how to deal with.
Trudging through the scrub, she ended up at the wharf where a boat was getting ready to leave. The captain was on the deck smoking a pipe and when she asked if he would give her a lift to the mainland, he was very obliging. Most likely he felt sorry for her as she was still shaking uncontrollably and as white as a sheet. As the boat pulled away from the dock, she could see Kayden and the team arguing on the beach.
She watched, not really taking it in until her legs crumbled under her and she sat right where she was until they reached land. She was still numb and apart from the shakes, she told herself that she would get through this deceit.
She hiked back home and walked the long path up to the house. Inside it was cold and uninviting. Walking straight back out again, she decided she might be able to think better if she was with Starburst. Any comfort, other than human, was what she thought she needed. To her disappointment, when she reached the paddock, Tremaine was still there checking on the horses. I’m in no mood for him either! She sighed, changed her mind and detoured around him.
As she walked, her mind went into overdrive. Her past fears of not being worthy of her untrustworthy family and friends all jumbled around in her mind, mixed with the present. She had nowhere to go that she could think of. In her state of mind, she just couldn’t think past putting one foot in front of the other. She was unable to comprehend why Kayden would want another girl in his arms. She thought about their time together, reliving every minute and trying to find a break in the connection somewhere that she should have noticed.
Is it the boys? Is he jealous? Does he want to get back at me for mucking around with them last night? Or is his love all just a con to have me join his team? Her mind went round and round until it felt like it was going to explode.
She finally realised where she was and stumbled around in the brush before finding the lake. She couldn’t get rid of the thought of another woman wrapped in her man’s arms. As she thought it, a stab of pain folded her over and she screamed with the severity of it. She rolled up in a ball, trying to stop the pains that gripped her stomach. She felt delirious and was burning up with a fever. She rolled around with beads of sweat pouring off her face.
She had just been bitten by something and she realised that it must have been poisonous due to her reaction. She tried to get up a few times but kept passing out, the pain getting worse, until she felt a little nudge and opened her eyes to Starburst.
‘Go get help!’ she told him, rolling over and groaning. He must have felt she was upset to have come so far to find her.
Coherent at last, she was glad when she woke and had been found. Kayden was in the chair next to her and she looked away, still angry with him. The nurse came in, confirming what she had already figured out, that a poisonous spider or snake had bitten her. She still had drips in her arm and complained about it while the nurse removed the thermometer from her mouth.