Chapter 6

Kinsale Ireland August 2015

"Come on slow poke ... almost there!" Cassandra called over her shoulder as they turned off the path at the Bulman Bar and started the last leg of their early morning five-mile run up the hill toward Mary's Cottage.

"I'm not slow, I'm just enjoying the view ... you know how I love spandex!"

Cassandra laughed and said, "That better just be me in spandex buster!"

Fitz Jamison caught up to her and matching her stride for stride smiled and said, "Damn lawyers ... always with the details!"

Cassandra was feeling particularly competitive this morning so she lengthened her stride and pushed ahead. "Let's go old man!"

She knew she'd not be able to shake him. William had the natural grace and practiced strides of a long-distance runner and his height advantage was mostly in his legs, so despite the age difference and no matter how much effort she put in her kick, at the finish he was always just there at her shoulder. She knew he could outrun her but that wasn't his style. William competed against himself and the clock. She also knew he loved her and considered their marriage a partnership, not a competition, so he always finished their run at her shoulder matching her stride for stride.

Minutes later they reached Mary's Cottage. They walked around in the front yard, recovering from their vigorous run while enjoying the view and the gentle breeze that swept up the hill from the small harbor which belonged to the village of Summercove. It was located on the estuary to the River Bandon. In the other direction, toward the sea was Charles Fort, a Seventeenth Century star shaped bastion which protected the town of Kinsale. Across the broad blue estuary was the other coastal guardian, James Fort, also a relic of an era of sailing ships and iron cannons, and threats from the French fleet.

Mollie the dog walked with them. She had wisely decided to stay in bed this early summer morning and give the run a miss.

As they walked he took her hand and turned her to him and asked,

"Did you ever think we'd get here?"

She laughed, "Between your schedule and mine getting away for a month seemed impossible ... so delaying our honeymoon by a mere three months was practically miraculous!"

He laughed and then pulled her to him and kissed her.

Cassandra smiled. "Yuck, how can you stand to be near me? I'm all sweaty."

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

"I wouldn't have a rose that smelled like me. Even Mollie's keeping her distance!" she laughed.

"Humm ... I seem to remember something in the wedding vows..."

"I'm sure that's one thing I would have remembered about that day!"

Cassandra gave in to his embrace, forgetting her protestations, and just held him while basking in the feeling of being loved by this remarkable man, and in turn loving him so completely some days she just couldn't believe all the wonderful things that had come about over the last few months. She put her head on his shoulder and moved her hand to his chest where she could feel the beat of his heart.

"So you don't remember much about our wedding huh?" He teased.

She looked up at him, "I just remember the important bits, like you saying you'd have me as your bride, and the love in your eyes when Father Patrick pronounced us husband and wife."

"That's the important stuff ... I do remember how lucky I felt that you'd said 'yes, ' and then seeing you as you came down the aisle, the most beautiful woman in the world."

This time she initiated the kiss loving the feel of his arms around her and the warmth of the early morning summer Irish sun.

They stood holding each other for a few more seconds, enjoying the view below and each other. Finally Cassandra asked, "What time is it?"

Fitz consulted his running chronometer. "A little after six."

"Damn, no time to play in the shower this morning!" She rubbed against him, feeling his hardness.

He smiled and said, "May be our last chance ... once the girls get here we may have to ... well curtail things a bit."

"You do have a point there Doctor Jamison ... but I think we'd better hurry. Ahhhhh." she moaned as he stroked her hard nipple through her nylon running shirt.

He took her hand and pulled her toward the cottage. "Well Mrs. Jamison ... if we're a little late getting to the airport, the girls will understand..."

Cassandra laughed as they moved through the living room of the cottage shedding their running gear as they went. "They understand too much already and they're only fourteen and I have a flight to catch too!"

Sooner than they wished they were in their rental Peugeot heading north toward Dublin where they'd meet Jessamy and Anwen, and then put Cassandra on a flight to Edinburgh.

"So tell my again why you're interrupting our honeymoon to fly off to Edinburgh." He said it with a smile as he drove down the hill toward Summercove.

"It's a contract that Dominique's been working on ... a company in Quebec wants to sell machine parts to McGregor and Sons, a company in Scotland which fabricates parts for the oil industry ... and well, since I'm already over here..." She frowned and touched his face. "I'm sorry William ... I hate being apart from you even for half a day."

He touched her hand and said, "You know we owe Dominique lots of favors, so I really don't mind. Since you hired her to handle the Canada side of International she's been doing all the traveling, so you can come home to me and the girls every night. I owe her big time for traveling to Dead Horse in the middle of winter ... or any other time for that matter!" He laughed.

Cassandra laughed, "That's White Horse ... Dead Horse is in Alaska!"

"Regardless of the color or morbidity of the horse, I'm just glad she's the one doing most of the traveling now!"

She laughed. William delighted her with his sense of humor, which fortunately had been passed along to his daughters. She was also happy that William understood and supported her career and that he was okay with this half-day trip to Edinburgh for a business meeting.

Eight months ago Cassandra knew she was taking a chance hiring a new law graduate and then making the decision to let her work from her home in Canada, but Dominique Bonett had become an amazing asset to the firm and a close friend. She was happy she could do her friend a favor, and at the same time save the firm some money. Dominique had hated asking Cassandra to interrupt her honeymoon, but it did make sense since Cassandra was only an hour flight away so she could be the point person to represent their Canadian manufacturing client for the initial meeting in Edinburgh.

They were stopped at the turning for the main highway to Dublin and she watched his eyes travel over her outfit. "Well you'll certainly wow them in your new lawyer suit." She tried not to blush as she thought about how she had teased him as she put on the light blue silk panties and matching bra and then covered them with a cream-colored silk blouse and light gray jacket and skirt.

"The only 'wow' I care about is the one from you when I get back to Dublin tonight ... as you take it off me."

He grinned, "You can count on it ... that's why I got the girls a separate room at the hotel! I'm glad you thought of spending a couple of days in Dublin before going back to Kinsale ... gives us all a chance to explore the city and I know the girls will enjoy it too, plus saves us a drive back to Kinsale tonight ... especially when I have other plans for you ... and it'll give you something to think about today!" He teased.

She just laughed. "Stop it ... or I won't be able to concentrate at all in my meeting this afternoon!"

"That's the idea!"

They traveled for a while in silence, just enjoying the scenery of late-summer Ireland, her hand resting on his knee. She resisted the temptation to let her hand move higher, trying hard not to distract him too much since he was driving on the 'wrong' side of the road. She wasn't really concerned since William was an excellent driver with quick reflexes, but a lifetime of driving on one side of the road meant that in a new place new habits had to be learned quickly.

After about twenty minutes, she asked, "William, when did you know?"

He smiled. "Humm ... is this one of those unfathomable female questions, like what is the meaning of life, or worse yet one of those trap questions like, does this make me look fat?"

Cassandra smiled too and then leaned across and rested her head against his shoulder, "No ... I mean ... well ... when did you know you loved me?"

He was quiet for a bit as he concentrated on passing a couple of giant tour buses, which were ubiquitous on the narrow Irish lanes in the summer.

Finally he said with a smile, "Well let me see ... the night we met at the Queen Anne ... well that was infatuation ... maybe with a little lust thrown in."

"Oh?"

He glanced at her and smiled, "Long legs, short skirt, amazing violet eyes, lips Angelina Jolie would die for..."

"You really think I have better lips than Angelina Jolie?"

"I'd say so, but if I ever kiss her I'll let you know for sure!"

"You'd better just get that image out of your head Doctor Jamison!"

"Well it would only be to answer your question of course ... you know like in the interest of science!"

"It would definitely be in your interest to change the subject!" she laughed.

"Well you asked!"

"Enough or I'll be sharing that room with the girls tonight, and you'll be all by yourself!"

"Okay ... where was I?"

"At the Queen Anne, lusting after a stranger..."

"Oh yeah. So I was fascinated and perhaps a little smitten."

"I like 'smitten, ' that's a good word, but not in love?"

"Not yet ... and when I saw you the next morning..."

"Outside, when I was in the cab?"

"No actually you walked right by me. I was sitting in the lobby."

"I did?"

"Yup, and you had your nose buried in your cell phone so you didn't notice me."

"Oh."

"Well ... when I saw you ... the fresh-scrubbed all-American girl, who now looked all of about nineteen ... I felt like a pervert."

"Nineteen huh?"

"You came striding through the lobby like a yearling out of the gate, hair in a ponytail, dressed neatly but casually and at the same time very wholesome sexy – at that point my heart kind of sank."

"You don't like wholesome sexy nineteen year-olds?" she teased.

"I don't mind looking ... but it's kind of like a dog chasing a car ... what would I do if I ever caught one?"

She laughed. "But you did wave at me as my taxi pulled away, and I know you were staring at me."

"Yes I did, and yes I was. You're a beautiful woman, hard not to stare even if you looked nineteen ... much too young for an old guy like me."

"You know when I saw you looking at me I had this urge to jump out of the cab and run to you and grab you and ask you to take me with you wherever you were going. What would you have done about that sexy nineteen year-old then, old guy?"

He paused, thinking about that day. "What would you have done had I suggested that we check back into the hotel and just spend the rest of the day in bed?"

Cassandra laughed, "I guess the dog would have found out what it was like to catch that car!"

He laughed. "Well it wasn't meant to be on that day ... and remember I'd decided you were too young for me."

"To bad I wasn't wearing a lawyer suit that morning ... makes me look older!" Cassandra giggled. "But, I guess I wasn't too young for you to think to call David and get me a job."

"Least I could do after roughing up your boyfriend. He wasn't very happy I interrupted whatever he had planned for you."

"Boyfriend!" I'll give you 'boyfriend, ' and Mr. Greeley was about to get a knee in the balls ... that would have definitely put a crimp in his plans!"

"I would have liked to have seen that!"

"Another thirty seconds and you would have! That reminds me; I got a text from Felicity last night. She said Tom Greeley was in a coma in the ICU at University Hospital. Apparently he'd been badly beaten. She said the police suspected it was done by pros ... You probably wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" she teased.

She was surprised when he didn't immediately respond and she watched him concentrate on the road for a few minutes. Still looking at the road he said, "Counselor, let me run a hypothetical past you."

"Oh, okay." Cassandra knew when he used the term 'counselor' to address her it was usually about something serious. She wondered if he even realized that was the case.

"There was a man from New Jersey..."

"A hypothetical one?"

"Yeah, and this hypothetical man from New Jersey was the toughest kid in his neighborhood growing up and he was always used to getting his way. Whenever he's thwarted he behaves badly. He managed to stay out of trouble, but most likely because he didn't get caught, or family money took care of it. He eventually managed to graduate from a pretty good law school and for some reason he decided to move to Chicago."

"Are there any hypothetical reasons he left New Jersey?"

"Hypothetically speaking, sexual assault on a couple of women ... hypothetically covered up with family money."

"Oh."

"So this guy sets his perverted sights on a young woman he works with and when he's thwarted, he starts spreading falsehoods about her and making public threats. This comes to the attention of another person."

"Another hypothetical guy?"

"Yes ... and this guy feels, well ... protective of the young woman."

"Protective?"

"Yes, protective, so the second guy has a meeting with the first guy and lays it out for him ... perhaps in legal terms, gives him a 'cease and desist' order, and amazingly that seems to work."

"Were there harsh penalties for violating that order?"

"The hypothetical penalties got his attention."

"And?"

"A few months later when the first guy finds out that the second guy and the young woman are engaged he starts in again - spreading lies, this time about both of them, and then one night gets drunk and shoots off his mouth about the young woman and starts making threats ... all in a very public place."

Cassandra said with some heat, "Everyone knows Tom Greeley is a liar and a blowhard, but a beating putting him in a coma seems extreme for getting drunk and being stupid in public. Or is this just some Chicago macho thing?"

She took her hand off his leg and crossed her arms across her chest, clearly upset.

William seemed not to have heard her, or notice her reaction.

"This hypothetical guy crossed the line..."

She didn't let him finish. She was working herself up. "Oh the macho guy couldn't let the helpless fragile young woman from far away Green Bay handle this herself?"

He glanced at her, his eyes the wintry gray she had seen only once before and he said, "Last month the hypothetical guy from New Jersey hired a couple of ex-cons from back home to come to Chicago and harm the young woman."

Stunned into speechlessness she just looked at him. Finally she whispered, "Can you define 'harm?'"

"Starting with kidnapping her..."

"Oh ... oh..." Suddenly feeling lightheaded and ashamed for doubting him, she leaned across and wrapped her arms around his arm, putting her head on his shoulder feeling his warmth and strength.

After digesting that disturbing news, she asked in a shaky voice, "And those two men?"

"They arrived in Chicago and were greeted by Chicago's finest, who take a dim view of out of town muscle coming into their fair city to harm upstanding citizens."

"Oh."

"Cassandra, they're no longer a threat."

"How do you know though?"

"Somehow they were made to understand that testifying against our hypothetical guy was in their best interests, especially since both were on parole and looking at serving what they hadn't served already in New Jersey, plus a goodly number of years on top of that as guests of the State of Illinois."

"So Greeley ... I mean our hypothetical guy is in real trouble?"

"Yes. And it really does pay to be friends with the hypothetical lawyer who is best friends of the District Attorney. Oh, there's more - when the DA's office started looking into this guy they discovered a number of irregularities in his legal practice, like offering and soliciting bribes, among other things." So when our hypothetical guy finally wakes he'll be indicted on a host of charges."

They drove in silence for a good while with Cassandra clinging to William's arm and occasionally dabbing her eyes with a tissue. Her mind raced. She was ashamed for doubting him. She knew her William wasn't some macho man who would take drastic action at some slight, but he would take drastic action at a real threat to her or their daughters. William was a problem solver and he would take immediate and direct action, just like that night back at the Queen Anne and like he'd done in Iraq – Jess had shown her the medals and citations. She wondered what she would have done had their positions been reversed. She had no contacts in Chicago like William did, and come to think of it, David had. Was David involved, other than being a close friend of the District Attorney?

Had she the contacts and the means would she have settled for just putting Greeley in the hospital for going well beyond threatening to harm William or the girls? She was happy she didn't have to make that decision.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly.

"For what? We were just discussing a hypothetical."

She held his arm tighter as she watched the sun-splashed countryside through the windshield.

"Are we there?" Cassandra asked sleepily. The car was stopped and she realized she must have dozed.

He kissed her lightly and said, "No, still about thirty minutes out. Just going to grab some coffee. What can I bring you?"

They were outside a small stone cottage by the side of the road which advertised espresso drinks. She was pleased to see he was smiling and his eyes were the soft gray she loved. The storm caused by the discussion of the 'hypothetical' and her brief overreaction had passed.

"Of course if you have to have your 'Starbucks, ' we can stop in Dublin. I think, at last count they have about a dozen there!"