Following Your Heart (Love Conquers All) by Cheryl Persons Page A

person; she would definitely make it up to her.
    ____________________
    Chad was parked in Cassie's driveway.  He knew that to the average person he would appear as a stalker, but he had to find a way into her house and back into her heart.  He looked at the clock on his dashboard, it was going on 3:00 and he couldn't begin to guess how long he had been stationed outside.  He was relieved to see that Cassie's was the only car parked in front of the house.  He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed her number.  “Cassie, please pick up.”  He replied quietly into the phone.
    “Hi, you have reached Cassie...leave your name and number and I will get back to you as soon as I can.  Have a great day!”
    He moaned as he disconnected the call.  They had the trip planned and he wanted it to go as planned.  There was no other way if he was going to get through to her.  He opened his car door and took a deep breath as he headed to her front door.  He softly tapped on the door and waited for Cassie to answer.  When the door opened, Cassie stared at him.  “Hello Cassie.”  He replied timidly, trying to not back down from the glare that she was giving him.
    “You need to leave.”  She replied abruptly as she went to shut the door.
    Chad reached out and stopped the door from slamming in his face.  “I'm not going anywhere, we have to talk.  His eyes fell to the floor where a couple of suitcases were perched by her feet.  “Going somewhere?”
    “Not that I have to explain myself, I'm going on vacation.”
    “Cassie, you don't have to do this.  We can still take our trip, it will give us a chance to get reacquainted and I will make it up to you.  Please, say you'll still come.”
    Cassie stepped back and looked at him like he had grown a head.  “Are you kidding me?  Do you really believe that I would want to spend two weeks with someone I can't even trust?  Chad, I wouldn't go on this trip if it would be my last vacation ever.”
    Chad stepped further into her foyer and he saw the anguish in her eyes.  “Cassie, I am sorry that I hurt you and I know that you have every right to never trust me again.  I am begging you to just give me another chance.  I love you and I can't imagine my life without you.”  He pulled the engagement ring from his pocket and looked at it for a second.  “I was going to give you this ring, once we were out to sea.  We belong together and I was going to propose to you.”
    Cassie looked down at the ring and then looked at him.  “When were you going to tell me?  Were you going to keep this charade going in the hopes that you would never get caught?  Surprise...you were caught.”
    “Cassie, I was going to tell you last night.  That's why I was so distant and I stopped things before they got too far.  Yesterday when you met Monica at the restaurant, I had told her it was over.”
    “Really?  It sure didn't look like it was over Chad, far from it.”
    “Last night was a huge mistake and I tried to push her away.”
    “Chad, you obviously don't have self control when it comes to her.  How could I let you back into my life knowing that it could happen again?” 
    “I have seen what pain last night has caused you and I would die before I would ever let that happen again.”  Chad moved closer to her and touched her arm.  To his satisfaction she didn't pull away.  He thought that it was possible he was getting through to her.  “Where are you going?”
    Cassie looked down at the floor, “I'm going home.”
    “Home?  I thought this was your home?”
    “I'm going to Avery, I need to make things up to Courtney and if that means helping her plan her wedding, so be it.”
    “So, you're going back to Texas...I wonder what Seth is up to.”  When the anger returned to her face, he regretted speaking his name.  The day Cassie told him about her past relationships, he could tell that she was still in turmoil about things ending between them.  It