Page 58 of Finding Forgiveness
“No pressure,” she says as she stands. “But I get off at one today, so if you decide it’s something you may be interested in, meet me back here. It’s spring, so I have lots of little kids on the farm you might like. Some of them are even bottle-fed.”
“You want me to look after your children?” I mean, I like little kids, but I have zero experience with them.
“No,” she says, laughing again. “Kids as in baby goats.”
My eyes widen. “Oh.”
She taps her hand down on the table. “I’ll go grab your breakfast.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s been nice talking with you, Cassie, and please consider my offer. You can stay as little or as long as you like.”
“I appreciate that.”
I had no plans of taking up her offer, but as the morning passed, the idea started to grow on me. When one o’clock rolled around, I somehow found myself standing outside The Dancing Goat, wearing my new pink cowboy boots on my feet … the matching hat was lying on the passenger side seat. If I was going to do this, I was going all in.
Farmer Cass has a nice ring to it.
Chapter18
Connor
It’s been a week since Cassie dropped a fucking bombshell on me and fled, and I’d like to say I’ve started to accept it, but that would be a lie. I’m more fucked up than I was the day I learnt the truth. I haven’t been able to bring myself to read the letter she left yet; I’m too hurt, angry, and confused, and I’m honestly not sure if there’s anything she can say to make this right. It’s still sitting in an envelope in the middle of the table where she left it.
I’m not even in Sydney at the moment. I flew down to Melbourne four days ago because being in that apartment, surrounded by her scent, her things andthat letter, proved to be too much. I’m not only struggling with the news of the baby, but I’m mourning our relationship too. Whatever progress we’d made in the past month is now wiped clean. Any trust I had in her is gone.
After I spoke with the judge about getting the trial postponed, I headed back to the office and talked with my boss. I didn’t go into specifics with either of them. All I said was I found out there was a death in the family.I’m not lying.It may have been six years ago, but since I only just found out, it’s as fresh as the day it happened as far as I’m concerned.
Jacinta has been keeping a close eye on Cassie via the tracker she stashed in her luggage, but I’ve stopped asking for updates. The first day my sister got a quick text from her, but she turned her phone back off before the reply came through, because it remained unread. The tracker said she was at a hotel in Mudgee. The following day her location moved to a large property outside the main town.
At first, we didn’t think much of it, but when it didn’t move for the two days that followed, I’ll admit even I became concerned. Maybe because Jaz was adamant that Cass had been kidnapped, murdered, and buried in a shallow grave on someone’s property. She stopped thinking that only when a second text came through of Cassie wearing a pink cowboy hat while feeding a baby goat a bottle.
Any other time that beautiful smile gracing her face would’ve made my heart beat that little bit faster, but this time it had the opposite effect. She was out there living her best life, while mine felt like it was falling apart. Hence why I hightailed it out of there. This home—where I grew up—has always been my safe place. My parents welcomed me with open arms, even though I told them I wasn’t ready to talk about why I was there.
“Hey,” my dad says, coming up beside me and ruffling my hair like he used to when I was a little kid. “Here.” He passes me a beer and takes a seat opposite me.
“Thanks.”
My dad clears his throat before speaking again. “I know you’re a grown man, Son, but you’ve been walking around with a long face ever since you got here. Your mum is worried … hell, I’m worried about you too. The last time I saw you this down was after you came back from university for the Christmas break. From what your sister has since told us, I’m presuming that was because of Cassandra, and since she’s living with you now, I can only surmise she’s behind this sudden mood change as well. Did you two have a fight or something?”
“Or something,” I scoff, cracking the top off my beer and taking a long chug.
“What’s going on, Con?”
I blow out a long breath, place my beer down and start picking at the label. “Obviously you’re aware that Cass and I had a secret relationship going on back then, but what you don’t know is that I loved her, Dad … I loved her so much.”
“Why did you break up then?”
“She told me she loved me back … and then a few days later she ghosted me. I never knew why, until the other day.”
“What did she tell you?”
“That I got her pregnant.”
My father’s eyes widen slightly as he leans back into his chair. “I see. And she never told you at the time?”
“No. I only just found out.”
