A Child's Heart (Trent & Cassie's Story) A River City Novel by E. Ayers Page A

with the
other items, so he left it out on his chest of drawers.
    Wide-awake at two twenty-three in
the morning, he made a pot of coffee and checked on his son. The
child was sleeping peacefully. My little
piece of Colleen. He went back to his
coffee and sat at the table. His mind was clear and alert. Colleen is gone. Cas is
real and the exact opposite of Colleen in so many ways. Colleen…all
rounded and soft.
    The image of Cassie appeared. She had a slender,
boyish figure, but she was pure female. She excited him.
    Feelings past and present jumbled though his mind as
he drank his coffee. The need to sort everything was overwhelming.
He poured what was left of his cup down the drain and went back to
his room. He grabbed the box under the bed, added the glass heart
that contained Colleen’s jewelry, and took it to his car.
    Pulling into Sweet Grandview’s parking garage, he
punched Cassie’s cell phone number into his phone.
    “Hello,” a sleepy voice answered.
    “I need to talk to you. Will you let me in?”
     
    ***
    She focused on her clock with glowing blue numerals.
“Trent, it’s four fifteen in the morning.”
    “I know. Will you let me in?”
    “Yes. Give me a moment. Where are you?”
    “In the parking garage.”
    A few minutes later, he was in her kitchen with his
box on her counter. “I need help, Cas. Every feeling and emotion is
a jumbled mess.”
    “Are you talking about last night?”
    “And my past and future.”
    “What’s in the box?” She began to fix a pot of
coffee.
    “My past.”
    “So, why is it here?”
    “I asked my mom about Colleen’s things, and she had
them. Well, not everything. There are a few things missing that I
wished she had saved.”
    “So, why is it here?”
    “I thought…maybe you’d want to see it.”
    She shook her head as if to clear
the cobwebs. Why would I want to see
them? “They're your memories.”
    “Will you look?”
    “Yes. But I’m not sure why you want me to do
this.”
    He glanced at the gurgling coffeepot and then at
Cassie. “I don’t know either, other than Colleen is my wife.”
    “Well, there’s one thing. Let me guess. You are
feeling guilty because we had sex last night?”
     
    ***
    He turned his gaze away from her.
She collected his hand into hers and brought it to her lips. Warmth
spread down his arm and right to his heart, where it masked all his
other feelings for a moment. Yes,
guilt.
    “Coffee is ready. How do you like it?”
    “Black and sweet.”
    She giggled. “One more thing we have in common.”
    “I doubt we have much in common.”
    She fixed two cups and passed him one before opening
the box. “Curiosity is killing me.”

 
    ~~7~~
     
    Cassie leaned into Trent’s shoulder and he wrapped
his arm around her. He felt too good. His warm muscular body was
lightly scented with a natural musky smell of male. She planted a
noisy puckered kiss on his neck, as she ran her fingertips over his
unshaven face. She forced herself away from his body.
    “Do you want my opinion on what to do with the
contents of this box?”
    He shrugged.
    “Give the glass heart box to Shawn. He can keep it in
a drawer. It’s not crystal or anything very special, but it was his
mom’s. He can keep little things in it. The jewelry needs to be
kept for him. With luck, his bride can wear the earrings on her
wedding day. It’s called family heirlooms.”
    “You’re assuming he’s going to live that long.”
    “Yes. And you need to start to think about him
surviving and becoming a man.”
    “Right now, I can’t think past the surgery.”
    “And between now and June first, you could be killed.
We don’t know what is in store for us. You never in your wildest
dreams thought you’d lose Colleen during childbirth.”
    “You’re right. I thought we’d always be
together.”
    “Give him the picture of his mom. You don’t have to
hang it in his room, but at least he should have it so he can look
at it. You can hang it in his closet, if you