Page 91 of The Dating Charade

Light from the hallway shone upon her. Her biceps were taut as she gripped two young girls against her sides. Her formerly polished hair now sputtered out in different directions. Black smears just beneath the eyes hinted that she had shed tears. But while many in the room didn’t notice all of these details, he knew one thing they all did see: she was positively radiant.

Cassie caught Jett’s eye and walked through the gazing crowd, glancing often to the teen walking beside her. “Jett,” she said when they arrived in front of him. She took a breath. Then another. “Allow me to introduce you to Kennedy.”

The little girl peeked her eyes out from beneath Cassie’s neck.

Jett nodded, unsure of what was happening. “Nice to meet you, Kennedy.”

“And Deidre.”

The girl outstretched her hand silently, and he shook it.

“And Star, one of my most wonderful Haven teens.”

As he began to shake her hand, Cassie added, “And one of the three in my custody. Permanently.”

His grip tightened on Star’s fingers as his face jolted Cassie’s way. “Three?”

Cassie nodded, the spark in her eyes just daring him to question her.

Couples swirled around the stuffy room, the scent of chocolate heavy in the air. Slowly, Jett took in the faces around him, from the syrup dripping off Drew’s chin to the baby in his arms. From Dakota sitting so sweetly in her chair to the two young girls on Cassie’s hips. Finally, to the teen standing, beaming, beside Cassie.

“So, what’ll it be, Mr. Don’t-Want-Kids?” Cassie said. “The ball’s in your court.”

Without waiting one second more, he bent down and met her lips.

There are moments in life when time stops and the objects in the world around you quiet into hovering silence. Important moments. Critical moments.

This was theirs. And he could practically taste the hay barrels, the porch swings, the summer’s-eve sunsets in it.

Gently he moved his hand to her face, feeling the soft curls of her hair on his fingertips as he slowly stepped back. When he did, he saw the unmistakable twinkle in her eye.

“I’d say it’s about time we joined the same team.”

Epilogue

One Year Later

Timmy squirmed on Cassie’s lap as she unbuckled her seat belt and looked at the menu board. Flurries dusted the windshield, blades methodically reaching up to slide them out of the way.

More dashing than ever in his black tuxedo, Jett cast a glance to Cassie, his voice rich with anticipation. “Ready?”

She took a deep breath then looked to the back two rows of the minivan. Car seats covered every available space, barring Star’s seat in the captain’s chair, where the green taffeta of her dress overflowed. “Ready, guys?”

The explosion of cheers was enough for Cassie to nod her head.

Jett rolled down the window, where a woman waited at the drive-thru. “One order of your Let’s Just Do It, please,” he said to her.

The woman smiled to the group, her eyes falling particularly on the infant wrapping his hands around the lace of Cassie’s dress. Deidre rolled down the back window, and the woman saw the rest of the kids. She gaped. “My, aren’t you all just the Brady bunch?”

“We’re not the Brady bunch. We’re the Bentleys,” Deidre corrected, her grin a mile wide.

Cassie grinned back to her middle daughter, adopted legally a mere two weeks ago.

“Oh, then,” the woman trilled. “My mistake. Well, for ten dollars more you can have the ceremony and a high-quality five-by-seven photograph to memorialize this special occasion.”

“No, thanks,” Jett said. “We have photography covered. And witnesses.”

Jett jutted his thumb back. Her gaze followed and eyes widened. Sunny and several others were already spilling out of the rumbling fire truck behind them, car paint and string in hand. A trail of cars that looked a mile long led from the Drive-Thru We Do on the side of the parkway. Bree, her red hair high and polished in a bun, was already snapping away with her camera. Edie and Donna Gene, the kids’ adopted grandparents, stood three feet off blubbering into handkerchiefs. In between sprays of hand sanitizer, Edie threw rice at the van.

The woman chuckled as she tapped on the register. “You know, I’ve worked in this business twenty-two years. And I’ve seen a lot of unique people come my way. But now? Now, I’ve seen everything.”

Three minutes and twenty-three seconds later, aluminum cans scraped along merrily behind the van, The Bentley Bunch in foam paint across the window.