Second Best (Twin Series Book 1) Read online

  It was strange, her sister eloping. Cassie hadn't foreseen this happening, because well, she always believed Helen deeply loved Nicholas.

  Nicholas was crushed. He didn't say anything when Cassie's parents explained to him what happened. He just sat there in her parent’s living room, gazing into the fireplace, looking miserably upset and tragically hurt.

  “We are so sorry Nicholas," Mr. Baker stated.

  Nicholas nodded.

  "We are so ashamed of what Helen has done," Mrs. Baker confessed apologetically.

  "Now there won't be a wedding," Nicholas finally spoke, deeply.

  Mrs. Baker kept wringing her hands as she tried to control her emotions.

  "You poor dear, I suppose you will have to start telling your guest...you don't deserve this," she choked.

  Mr. Baker patted his wife on her shoulder.

  "You are a good man Nicholas. We were so proud of the thought of having you as our son-in-law. Jeremy was so happy about it─" She sniffed.

  Cassie couldn't bear to watch this sad exchange any longer, and so she made her escape to her room. Cassie didn't know how long she was in her room before she heard her mother calling her.

  Moving as quickly as she could, Cassie limped back into the living room expecting to find her parents all alone, but Nicholas was still there. He was sitting in the same blue wingback chair he had been sitting in when she left the room. He didn't look up at her when she entered back into the room. His gaze still remained on the crackling fire in the fireplace. Self-consciously she swept her fingers through her black curly hair, and then straightened the sleeves of the brown shapeless dress she wore.

  "Yes Mother," her voice was a mere whisper. There was an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  "Cassie sit here child." Mrs. Baker pointed to the empty spot on the tufted back sofa which was right next to her.

  Taking a few more steps into the room, Cassie walked up to her mother, consciously aware of her limp and sat down.

  "Cassie, what your sister did to Nicholas was horrific. Your father and I feel solely responsible. We raised you girls to be kind, decent, loving women. We never dreamed either of you would do what Helen did. Our families are so close. I respect and admire the Andersen's. They are wonderful people…" Mrs. Baker paused.

  "I think what your mother is trying to say is we need to help Nicholas," Mr. Baker added gently.

  Cassie nodded. She had no idea at the time how she could help Nicholas, but help him she would. Nicholas was like family after all.

  "Well, we have been thinking about this. We proposed this idea to Nicholas as being the only way we could ever right what was wrong. Honey," Mr. Baker swallowed, “what your mother and I have suggested is that the wedding will still go on as planned in three months."

  Cassie looked puzzlingly at her parents, then at Nicholas who was physically there, yet he seemed miles away as he dealt with his grief.

  "I don't understand...Helen has already married. There couldn't be a wedding─"

  "Unless, you married Nicholas instead," her mother spoke wistfully.

  Cassie couldn't believe her ears. Nicholas wouldn't want her, she was a poor substitute for Helen. But it was strange how things never really changed, no matter how old she got.

  Most of the time when they were kids and Helen did some mischief, Cassie usually got the brunt of it. She took the punishment without even complaining. This time, it was different, though, they were not little kids anymore. This time, the brunt of Helen's mischief would make her a bride.

  Why were her parents asking her to do this? Why couldn't they see Nicholas would never agree to marry her instead of her sister?

  "I think," Cassie began in a small voice, "what you are trying to do for Nicholas is noble, but I don't think he would agree to do this─"

  "I have accepted their proposal Cassie. Will you?" Nicholas spoke casually as if they were talking about any ordinary topic, like the weather, instead of the deep commitment of marriage. He still did not look at her.

  "I don't think we should─" Cassie began.

  Nicholas cut her off, "Are you scared of me, Cassie?"

  It was a silly question. Of course, she was not scared of him. "No." She shook her head.

  "Do you think I would be a good husband?

  She clasped her hands tightly together. "Yes."

  "So then you will marry me, Cassie, in three months." This time, he posed no question and she could not refuse.

  Those three months went by far too quickly and soon it was their wedding day. Unlike Helen, Cassie wanted as little part as possible in planning her wedding. Her mother planned every detail of the day, down to the dress she wore.

  It was a lovely rayon bridal satin and lace gown, with a sweetheart neckline. The sleeves were long and tapered with a wedding point over each of her hands. The waistline was a dropped basque waistline that accentuated her tiny figure. The back of the dress flowed regally down, trailing to the ground. Cassie's headpiece was made of wax blossom, the tulle romantically flowing behind her.

  She looked into the mirror after she was dressed, stared at her reflection, and then burst into tears. This was not the way she dreamed her wedding day would be like. This was not the kind of marriage she envisioned. Yet despite how she felt, Cassie allowed her father to walk his second daughter down the aisle, to a man whose heart was lost to the first.

  Chapter 3: Her Husband

  As she walked another old memory sprung up before her. A memory of when Helen orchestrated a mock wedding and chose Nicholas to play her groom. A mockery is truly what she was. Now everyone Cassie knew would never let her forget it. Though they would never say so with their lips, she read their unspoken words in the depth of their eyes.

  “Cassie,” Nicholas called out as he walked towards her, taking long and forceful steps until in seconds he stood towering over his tiny wife.

  She looked up at him and saw the disapproval in his eyes before he'd even spoken. Cassie shivered, but it was not from the cold. He looked furious.

  Nicholas was furious. He watched her at a distance at first in sheer disbelief and then uncontrollable fear gripped him. The ground was covered with ice for miles. It was easy to slip and fall, yet she had trailed through the countryside, all alone, walking on her injured leg!

  Cassie could have fallen, been laying somewhere unbeknownst to him. Why did she have to do this? Why was Cassie always attempting something she knew was dangerous for her to do? Why couldn't she just lean on him and let him help her for once? He was her husband. Or was she still trying to forget that? Nicholas couldn't forget the look on her face, on their wedding day one year ago. Cassie looked like a martyr, a regal sacrifice.

  "What do you think you’re doing walking out in this kind of weather? Do you know how dangerous it is to be out alone in weather like this?" he spoke in a harshly pointed tone. "I have lived in Cherry County all of my life, and I have never seen a winter as bad as this one!"

  Cassie pulled her coat even more tightly about her. She instantly felt like a child who was being disciplined by her father for doing something wrong, when all she had done was purchase the things they needed.

  "I-I wanted to buy some grocery," she said this so softly, he leaned down closer to hear her before the wind took away her words.

  I always displease him, I never do anything right, she thought sadly.

  "I came home just a few minutes ago and you were gone, why didn't you wait for me?" he sounded annoyed and upset. "I would have driven you into town." Then Nicholas looked down disapprovingly on the brown paper bag she held in her hand.

  "You carried this bag all the way from town?" he made a deep growling sound from the back of his throat. "Give me the bag Cassie!"

  He stood there waiting for her to let him have the bag. She looked so pale and vulnerable and he just ached to help her. Nicholas could see Cassie wanted nothing from him. Everything he tried to give her, she pushed away.

  Nicholas took the bag fr
om her when she hesitated to hand it over to him, then shook his head as the wind wiped through the air tossing his hair all about.

  Cassie's gaze fell to the dirt frozen ground. "I didn't want to bother you, I..." Tears came to her bright hazel eyes and she tried to hold back her emotions. She didn't want to be a burden to him. Why couldn't Nicholas understand how she felt? Cassie wanted to prove to him, as well as everybody else just how strong and capable she was, or, at least, was trying to be.

  Another strong wind whipped by them and it seemed the cold air was intensifying the ache in her leg. It was sheer agony to stand now. Cassie flinched as the pain in her leg began to throb even worse than it had just moments before.

  Nicholas saw the tears in her eyes. He wanted to reach out to her, he wanted to take her into his arms, but he felt she wouldn't want him to. It was hard having Cassie as his wife and not being able to tell her how he felt.

  Nicholas sighed. "Bother me, Cassie! Look at you. I can see you’re hurting...three and a half miles! What would your parents say?" He shook his head as he let out a frustrated breath.

  "Come on, take my arm. Let's get you inside where you can warm-up."

  Cassie hesitated for a second. She didn't want his help, didn't want Nicholas to treat her like the cripple he knew she was. Her parents...he mentioned them all the time. Nicholas promised them he would take care of her. He felt responsible for her now. Nicholas always took care of his responsibilities, she thought begrudgingly.

  A knot tightened in her throat. It could be worse really, she tried to comfort herself. He could ignore her, not show any concern about what happened to her...only she wondered sometimes if it would be better than feeling like someone’s fragile possession?

  "Cassandra!" Nicholas said her name in his no-nonsense voice and she reluctantly took his arm.

  He felt the sting of her rejection. She never wanted to come near him, to touch him. His pain cut deep, so deep he ached with it.

  “This is the last time Cassie. From now on you will not leave this house to go into town without me. I have told you this before. If you need to go somewhere, anywhere, I will take you," Nicholas said, finally putting his foot down.

  Nicholas began to walk towards the house, taking slow strides to give her a pace she was comfortable with. What he said, how he said it made Cassie feel more like his child than his wife. She never really felt like his wife. When people called her by her new last name, Mrs. Andersen, she rarely ever realized they were talking to her.

  "I didn't like it when you did this even in the summer time and I won't stand for it now. It is dangerous out here in the cold. What if something would have happened to you?"

  "I'm fine Nicholas, really I am," though she said this, every step she took was with sheer will power. Cassie heard the crunch under her feet at each step. She nearly slipped once, but Nicholas held her so firmly she kept her ground. Cassie was thankful when they were but five feet from the porch steps.

  "How's your leg?" he asked deeply worried about her.

  Her hand unconsciously tightened on his arm. Cassie flinched. "It's a little sore," she tried to sound nonchalant about it, hating to be reminded she was not as whole as she would like to be.

  Maybe he regretted marrying her now. Cassie saw the way the town people looked at them when they were next to each other. In their eyes, she saw awe and sympathy. Nicholas' burden is what she had become. The thought was very disturbing, so disturbing that she found it was hard to look at him sometimes.

  He was a handsome man, her husband, so perfectly handsome. Nicholas was six feet two with broad muscular shoulders. He had light brown hair with streaks of sun-kissed blond strands throughout. His eyes were a light brown color also, lighter than his hair and hypnotizing. When he made a joke he winked adorably. His jaw was square cut, ruggedly shaved. He had a warm friendly smile, only Nicholas didn’t smile much since Helen went away.

  "Let me help you up the steps." His hand was on her arm now.

  Cassie tensed as her thoughts returned to the present.

  "No, I can do it...thanks."

  Cassie glanced up at Nicholas for a moment. He had a weird expression on his face. He didn't let go of her right away. Nicholas studied his wife for a few moments then he nodded and released her. Carefully she made her way up the steps one by one, all the while aware he was watching her. Cassie found herself cringing inside. She was always embarrassed when he watched her. She never liked it when Nicholas looked at her for too long, as he was looking at her now.

  She wondered if he was thinking of Helen and the fact he was now stuck with her while Helen was forever lost to him. Why didn't he go away? Why wasn't he off working in the barn or something? She did not expect him to be home when she returned. He only ever came back to the house for lunch in the middle of the afternoon. In the daytime, she would barely see him. Cassie sighed when she made it to the top of the steps.

  "You must be freezing." Nicholas pushed on the large cherry wood front door and waited for his wife to enter first.

  Instantly Cassie felt the heat coming from the fireplace. The warmth of the room was a vast contrast to the cold. She sneezed covering her nose as she heard the door behind her firmly snap shut.

  "Come here." Nicholas took her hand and pulled her more closely into the room, near to the fireplace.

  "Let me help you before you make yourself sick." He began to pull on the red wool scarf she wore before he removed his own scarf and coat.

  "It’s fine, I can do it."

  Nicholas turned her to face him. When she looked up into his eyes Cassie saw a look of much determination. He wasn't backing down this time. No, not this time. Nicholas was going to help her whether she liked it or not.

  Without saying a word, he began to unbutton her gray wool coat, just like her mother used to do when she was seven years old. She watched as he hung it up on the coat rack. Nicholas then reached for her hat, pulling the gray knitted cap off of her head, causing her black thick wavy curls to fall down onto her shoulders.

  Before Cassie knew it she was sitting by the fire in her sweater and checkerboard wool skirt, with only her knee high boots to be discarded. When she reached down to pull them off Nicholas lightly pushed her hand away, knelt down beside his wife and began to gently remove them from her. Cassie unconsciously pulled back her right leg.

  Nicholas looked up then at her with regret in his eyes. "I'm sorry Cassie. I am trying not to hurt you, but if you move your leg like that, there is no helping it," he said in a warm soothing voice, trying to calm her.

  She looked down at him and felt more vulnerable than she ever felt in her entire life. If she was Helen, well he wouldn't need to do this for Helen. Helen was strong...capable, so unlike her.

  Cassie cried out when he removed her right boot, her hands gripping the wooden arms of the accent chair.

  "Shh, I didn't mean to hurt you, Cass. Your ankle is a bit swollen. It will be better in a little while. You'll see," he spoke tenderly, far too tenderly, so much so, it brought tears to her eyes.

  Nicholas was being so nice and she almost wished he would not. If he loved her then his kind attentiveness would have been welcomed, but because he did not Cassie felt like life was playing a cruel joke on her. She didn’t want to believe that he could care for her. She didn't want to dream about things being different between them anymore.

  ''Let me look at it?" Nicholas didn't wait for her response. He gently took the heel of the injured leg in his hand and began to carefully massage it.

  Cassie tensed trying to pull her foot away from him. "No, don't!" A tear slipped down her cheek.

  "Shh, Cassie it's alright, don't cry," Nicholas said soothingly as he continued to massage the tight ache out of her foot. "The pain will go away soon. I promise. This is why I don't want you to walk to town anymore, alright?" he said tenderly.

  His light brown eyes pleaded with her to understand. He tried to let her see he was not angry with her, it was just he cared for her so much.

>   Cassie sniffed and nodded, relieved he hadn't guessed the true cause of her tears. She closed her eyes needing and yet hating the attention he was giving her.

  "Is it better?" Nicholas asked a few minutes later, with a worried look in his eyes as he watched her.

  "Yes," Cassie whispered, wiping her tears away.

  "Don't cry Cass. I hate to see you cry.” He blinked frowning. Then his eyes suddenly lit up. “What if I make you some hot chocolate with cinnamon? But only if you stop crying."

  Cassie sniffed, then she nodded.

  Nicholas knew them so well...he'd known the Baker family as if they were his own family. He remembered the special cup of hot chocolate her mother use to make. Cassie's mom use to make her children a special cup of hot chocolate to cheer them up when they were down or sick, with a touch of cinnamon in it. Nicholas then pulled around tufted ottoman towards her and placed it under her right leg.

  "Sit here and I'll be right back with your cup of hot chocolate."

  Not having the strength to resist him, she nodded and watched as her husband removed his winter coat then slipped into the kitchen.

  He was back in the living room in less than ten minutes, seated across from his wife watching her. He liked looking at her. She was so beautiful, his wife, so utterly beautiful. It was hard to believe she really was his.

  Cassie sat sipping her cup of hot chocolate with her eyes lowered on her lap. He said nothing for a while and it made her nervous, the silence.

  "I almost forgot." Nicholas stood and went back into the kitchen again.

  Cassie heard the back kitchen door open and the harsh sound of the winter wind. Moments later the door in the kitchen slammed shut.

  "Cassie, do you remember what this day is?" Nicholas spoke from the other side of the kitchen door.

  Did Nicholas remember it was their anniversary? She thought about the disappointment he must feel on being reminded today was the day he married her instead of Helen, the woman he loved. Cassie found she could not answer him.

  "Cass?" Nicholas pushed open the kitchen door and walked into the living room with a tall and heavy item in his hands. He got up extra early this morning, walked out in the biting cold to bring this special gift to her.