A Chance Meeting

ALESE EDEN

A CHANCE MEETING

Cassandra Sawyers had become a creature of habit. Her friends told her she needed more spontaneity in her life. They saw her life as dull and felt she was too rigid. But she liked the way she spent her time. She loved her work choosing to spend her spare time putting the final touches to lengthy financial reports. A chance meeting was about to change her orderly routine forever.

A CHANCE MEETING

ALESE EDEN

Published by Blue Wings at Smashwords

Copyright [2016] ALESE EDEN

Discover other titles by Alese Eden at

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AleseEden

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CHANCE MEETING

ALESE EDEN

CONTENTS

Prologue – Reflection – Sunset Cove, Southern Australia 1985

Chapter One – The Gardener – 1982

Chapter Two – One Single White Rose

Chapter Three – Almost in Love

Chapter Four – A Family Reunion

Chapter Five – A Chance Meeting

Chapter Six – A Whispered Name

Chapter Seven – Finding Solace

Chapter Eight – A Cottage with a Garden

Chapter Nine – Moving On – 1985

Chapter Ten – Just a Glimpse

Chapter Eleven – The Esplanade

About the Author

Other books by Alese Eden

PROLOGUE

Reflection – Sunset Cove, Southern Australia 1985

The sun was setting over the western shore casting an orange haze as far as the eye could see. Cass felt the breeze pick up so she pulled her cardigan a little tighter around her small frame.

It was peaceful sitting on the rocks and the cool air, refreshing. The lap of the waves was the only sound to interrupt her thoughts. Her dainty mouth turned into a grin as she looked out to sea.

Now, this was the perfect setting!

Hmm. Pretty, she spoke out loud to the empty beach, her eyes scanning the now barely visible coastline. In the distance, she could see the lights of the city. The perfect setting for what, Cassandra Sawyers, she picked up a stick nearby and traced her name in the sand, romance?

Of course it’s the perfect setting for romance, Cass had little conversations with herself from time to time. She found it comforting to hear her thoughts spoken out loud. The stick she was using as a pencil seemed to have a mind of its own for a moment. She could just make out the letters she had written at her feet. Her toes rubbed the initials away. She traced the initials again, R.J.

It was the perfect setting for romance but that was of no concern to Cass. There was no chance of a romantic evening here for her tonight, or any other night in the near future. And she was glad, she decided. She had been a romantic for a little while and now all she could think was that she had been a romantic fool. But she’d stepped outside the safety of her cocoon long enough to know with hindsight, she should have stayed where she was. Secure, sensible and safe. That’s the way she had always been. Cassandra Sawyers was known for her sensible no fuss approach to life. Romantic settings were for books and movies, not for real life - at least not as far as Cass was concerned.

…books, movies and fairy tales. Just like the lights of the city. It may look like a fairy tale land, but I know differently. She let the stick fall by her side. She’d had more than her fair share of fairy tales in the city - fairy tales that left her wondering when she might arrive at the happy ending. She could feel the tears starting in the corner of her eyes. She brushed them away and scolded herself.

Don’t do it Cass. It’s not worth it. He’s not worth it. Forget about him. She picked up the stick again. Why didn’t I stay in my cocoon RJ? How do I forget you when all I want to do is remember?

Cass let the memories flood back in. She remembered the good times. The fun they had together. She had a dream, and some of it had very nearly come true. But then her dream had been shattered. She’d let her defences down and she’d gotten hurt. Well, it happens. She knew that. It had been a valuable lesson as well as a painful one. She rationalised and analysed it for the hundredth time. Her head ached from going over the same old ground. She likened it to an old scratched record. The thought brought more tears for her to brush away. That was exactly how she felt. Like a worn out record spinning on a turntable with the needle picking up the same old scratch.

You’d think after two years I could forget. She still couldn’t believe it was so long ago. To her it was as if it happened yesterday. ‘Two years, RJ and I can’t remember what my life was like before you came along. I must be crazy!"

She shook herself as she stood up, partly to remove the sand that clung to her but to remove her thoughts, mostly.

The drive home saw her heading away from the lights of the city. She thought for a moment how lucky she was. It was good living here. She had the best of both worlds, within easy reach of the beach and all its solitude yet close enough to the ‘big smoke’ if she wanted to keep in touch with life in the fast lane. Cass spent little time in the fast lane these days, though. She had opted for the quiet life two years ago.

Again her mind wandered but she forced herself to concentrate on the windy road ahead. At least, she tried to concentrate. Not for the first time, she pictured herself as she was - before she had moved to the country. Before she met and fell in love with Reid Johnson.

…AE…

CHAPTER 1

The Gardener - 1982

You coming for a drink tonight, Cass? Brian was leaning on her desk again. They went through the same routine every Friday night. Brian would saunter over from his office and ask her to join them for a drink and she would refuse. Cass had been working with Brian for six months now and he had asked her the same question every Friday night.

Not tonight Brian, but thanks for asking. Cass smiled at her fellow junior accountant partner. She liked Brian. When she had first started with Barrett and Barrett, he had been her ally. He told her he knew what it was like being the new kid on the block and the youngest one at that. He had been twenty-three himself when he’d joined the accountancy firm three years before.

Not only was Cass the youngest she was also the only female partner. From the moment she’d walked into the office she was on trial. Mr Barrett had told her as much in that first interview. But she had more to prove than most.

Okay, blue eyes, maybe next time? Brian smiled at her as he turned to leave. What a waste, he thought. He hadn’t been married that long and he could still appreciate an attractive woman when he saw one. He wouldn’t call it pretty, exactly. It was the blue eyes contrasting with the jet black hair and fair skin that made her looks appeal to his manly sense. He often wondered what she did in her spare time. He laughed to himself. He knew what she did. She worked of course. It was a standard joke in the office. Cass the ‘workaholic’ following in the tradition of Barrett and Barrett. In nature, she could have been Mr Barrett’s daughter – studious and dedicated.

Cass looked on as Brian headed to the elevator. Every body else was leaving, too. They were all excited about the coming weekend and shouted out to her as they left. Unlike Brian, the girls in the office had long given up asking Cass to join them on a Friday evening. She was friendly enough during work hours and often shared a coffee and a chat. But after hours she preferred to keep to herself - and keep working. It was the quietest time of the day and the most productive for her. She gave a small sigh and returned to the column of figures she had been working on. The next time she raised her head, the clock on the office wall showed six thirty. She was hungry now so she cleared her desk and made her way through the partitions of the typing pool.

Mr Barrett’s office was at the other end of the building, on the same floor as hers. The door was open and he was sitting behind his desk holding the phone to his ear. There was only one Barrett actively involved in the firm now. It was when the senior brother had retired that Cass had come in as a partner.

See you Monday, Cassandra, he whispered and gave her a small wave before returning to his phone call. Five minutes later Cass was boarding the bus for the ten minute ride home.

It was still light when the bus pulled into the curb. Cass left by the rear door and began her walk home. Her apartment was a twenty minute walk from the bus stop. She supposed she could have brought her car this far and drove home, but she enjoyed her walk at the end of each long day. It gave her time to wind down and clear her head from the day’s work.

Besides, Cass loved being out in the open. Even though she was close to the city she lived in a quiet street. The houses she passed as she walked were magnificent old stone homes mostly, built in the early 1900s and built to last. With circular driveways and massive gardens - to Cass they were exquisite. Living in a block of twelve apartments had its drawbacks. She longed for her own garden and would fantasise as she walked. She could see herself with her own little home, a stone cottage in the country surrounded by the most loved and well tended garden. When she came to the last house before her apartment building her feet would slow automatically. She would picture herself on her knees at the flowerbeds tending the marigolds and dahlias. The driveway leading all the way to the verandah was lined with white rose bushes stretching out to the front fence. But she noticed on that evening a small patch of ground on one side had recently been turned over and weeded. She wondered who had done it and what they might plant there. She imagined how it would look with grevilleas at the edge and melaleucas toward the back.

There was a truck parked in the driveway next to the white roses and to her delight she could see some native shrubs, freshly planted. She stopped for a moment to identify them and was thrilled to see there were a number grevilleas and others she knew by sight but not by name.

Oh, that is nice, she said out loud as she turned to walk the few remaining steps home. She was startled briefly by the appearance of a shadowy figure coming from the other side of the truck. The sun had just about set and it was difficult to see any more than an outline of the person in front of her.

Evening, a male voice attached to the figure stopped her in her tracks.

Oh! You startled me.

Sorry, I was just loading up the truck. The man had walked toward her and she could make out his work clothes and the garden spade he was holding. Like the garden?

Oh, yes! Did you plant all those shrubs? You’ve done an awful lot of work in one day. I can’t wait till tomorrow to see it in broad daylight.

Well, I happen to think it looks pretty good but then I’m the one responsible for it. His voice held a smile in it. Nice night for a walk.

Yes it is. Cass continued on her way. Beautiful.

Couldn’t have put it better myself, Cass heard him say to her back as she headed home. By the time she had climbed the stairs and unlocked her font door she was more than a little out of breath. Her pulse was racing and she wondered what had gotten into her.

She made her way to the bathroom and the comfort of her nightly shower. The water ran over her body and she closed her eyes for a moment, but then opened them quickly. She couldn’t believe what she had seen. It was the gardener! Now, what on earth had made her think about him? She had barely seen him in the half dusk of the evening, how could she possible produce a picture of him in her mind? And while she was taking a shower? She closed her eyes again as she soaped herself.

For heaven’s sake. He was still there. Brrrhh, I think you’ve been on your own too long girl, you’re letting your imagination get away from you. When she started to imagine what it would be like if he was here taking a shower with her she decided it was time to turn the water off. She reached for her bathrobe and pulled it round her still wet body and set off to the kitchen.

She glanced out the kitchen window and wondered about the man in the garden next door. As she watched she heard the engine fire up and noticed the headlights