Melodies of the Heart

Chapter 24

Kassidy

The few sips of cola she'd had bubbled back up in Kassidy's throat. Her head was spinning like she'd had too much wine and her forehead grew damp with sweat.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" she asked, though she knew exactly what Paul had said. He wanted her to sell the family bakery, to sell everything her parents had worked their whole lives for. It was the dream she'd held on to ever since she was a little girl, and he was just casually telling her to throw it away.

"I'm simply suggesting that you sell the bakery," he said with a shrug. "I mean, I doubt anyone's going to buy the bakery part, but the building itself is only going to increase in value when more businesses come to town.

"More businesses?" she asked, her eyelids fluttering in confusion.

"Of course," Paul said, his tone unbearably casual. "Look, my dad knows about this because he signed the permits and he told me about it a few months ago, but next month a paper processing factory is breaking ground just outside of town. They'll be employing about a thousand people, which is why ShopMart built here a couple years ago. They knew the plant was coming and got in before land prices went up."

"Land prices?" Kassidy managed to ask. Her throat was dry and her drink wasn't helping any.

"Of course," Paul told her. "A new subdivision is being proposed next month at town hall. Nothing huge, maybe about one hundred houses. Pinewood Grove is ripe for a bit of a boom. It's a pretty little town that city folks dream of moving to."

"What does that have to do with my bakery?" Kassidy asked.

"It's not the bakery, but the building," Paul clarified. "The paper plant is just the start. My father has had a few corporations proposing to build here. There's so much open land that the town has room to grow, but Main Street will always be a major street, that will never change."

"So?" Kassidy asked.

"So in a couple years, you'll be able to sell the building for a mint," Paul told her. "Sell it to some chain, like Pita Paradise or one of those burrito places. Heck, you could rent the building out and keep making money every month. Plus you can make a fair bit of money when you sell all the baking equipment."

"But I don't want to sell the bakery," Kassidy told him. "It's my home, and in a few years that will be my store."

"Come on," Paul laughed. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's great that you've turned things around in there, but how long do you think those cute little cupcakes of yours are going to keep you afloat? Be reasonable here."

"I am being reasonable," Kassidy insisted.

"I wish I could agree," Paul said. "Kassidy, I can't have you being a working mother."

"Excuse me?" she asked, her confusion turning to anger.

"When we have kids, I'll need you home with them," he said. "Kids turn out better when the mother is home to raise them."

"My mother worked when she had me," Kassidy shot back. "I think I turned out okay."

"Oh, of course you did," Paul tried to clarify. "But that's not a risk I want to take. Plus it looks good for me to have a supportive wife at my side. You know I want to get into politics as soon as possible and having a family behind me will only help my image. Bachelors don't do well in the polls."

"Okay, we need to slow down here," Kassidy told him. "This isn't even a real date. We're just two friends having dinner and you're talking about us getting married. Hold up."

"Kass, calm down," he told her, but that only made her face redder. She could feel the heat in her cheeks and she didn't care who saw them turning bright crimson.

"Don't tell me to calm down," she told him. "You're rushing me into a marriage I don't even want."

"I'm just explaining my expectations," he told her. "I want to be president before I'm forty-five and that means I need to get into politics no later than thirty. This is my dream and I'll do anything to get it."

"But the bakery is my dream," Kassidy told him.

"And that's really sweet," he said. "But Kass, you can't think it's something that will support you for life, can you? I dreamed I would be an astronaut when I was five, but I grew up and picked a smarter path. It's time for you to do the same thing."

"Excuse me?" she asked, her voice turning low and deep. "What makes your dream any more realistic than mine?"

"Maybe because mine doesn't include some rock star coming to sweep me off my feet," Paul said. "There, I said it. Kassidy, he's not coming back, and you need to get yourself sorted out before it's too late. You won't be twenty-one forever."

"You think he's what this is about?" she asked, her face so hot it burned. "You don't know me at all, do you?"

"And you think that guy does?" Paul shot back.

"Maybe not," Kassidy said. "But at least he never told me my dreams were stupid and childish. At least he didn't try to force me into a life I didn't want. Your goals and mine aren't even close to the same thing, and you're too self-centered to get that."

"Calm down," Paul said, his eyes narrowing at her. "You're making a scene."

He was right. People were starting to look toward their table, but Kassidy didn't care.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, her voice turning sickly sweet. "Am I embarrassing you?"

"Yes," Paul hissed at her.

"Good," Kassidy said as she stood up. "At least I have the sense to know we shouldn't be together. Maybe you're the one who needs to grow up a bit."

With that, Kassidy spun on her heel and marched toward the exit. She knew all eyes were on her, but she refused to look back. The town would be buzzing about this at church, but she didn't care. She just needed to get out of there.

It was raining harder by time she got outside, but the spray was cool on the heat of her face. She couldn't remember a time in her whole life that she'd ever been so mad, but she smiled to herself as she began to walk toward home.

By time she reached the edge of the small park in town, she was laughing. There had to be thirty people in that restaurant, and they'd all seen her telling him off. Paul Larson's pride wouldn't allow him to try to get her back again after that, and she was finally going to be free of him pestering her for another chance. At least she had that going for her.

In the distance, she heard the rumble of what sounded like thunder and it wiped the smile off her face. She still had another fifteen minutes of walking in the rain, and thunder and lightning were only going to make that worse.

But the rumbling didn't rise and fall like thunder. It only got clearer and closer as she walked, and then it hit her.

She spun, no longer caring about the rain. It wasn't thunder at all, but the deep rumbling of a familiar motorcycle. Through the rain, she could see a single headlight heading her way.