Fate (Forever & Always Book 2)

  Fate

  Forever And Always Series

  Book Two

  Cindy Springsteen

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  This novel is based on a true story. Names and perhaps the names of places have been changed to protect the privacy of other people involved. Despite being told in a fiction style, the events and history in this book are as accurate as memory would allow.

  All trademark names were used with the knowledge and capacity that none of the companies endorses this book or its contents.

  Copyright © FATE, 2018

  Book Two Forever & Always Series

  Cindy Springsteen

  Editor and Book Designer: Leanore Elliott

  Cover Art: Wicked Muse

  Cover Photo by Cindy Springsteen

  NOTE FROM AUTHOR

  Acknowledgments

  I never thought I would see this second novel truly come to life. My health has been a rollercoaster for the last two years dealing with cancer/chemo and I haven’t been able to write like I want to. You would not be reading this and none of which would have even been possible if not for the Angel who continues to watch over me, my heaven sent Editor and Cover Designer, Leanore Elliott. I wanted more than anything to get this book out, it was so important to me. So many people also have been waiting for it, dying to know who was at the door. I wasn’t able to focus much lately. It was my original plan to surprise my daughter and fiancé for their 8 year anniversary by having the book released on that date. When I couldn’t pull that off I told them and the date was changed to my daughter’s birthday June 2nd. Not realizing time and not being able to focus I didn’t realize until 4 days before it was to go live. I messaged my angel and told her, she had been extremely busy with her successful business and we were running out of time. The decision was to take it down completely, as it wasn’t able to be postponed and delete it or I couldn’t write. My angel said we could do this, we would just have to make it a novella and that I had 3 days to write at least 25,000 words, or as much as I could, I had about 16,000 at that time. I decided I could do this, I needed to do this. I then used my actual diary, as my memory isn’t too good now. I worked day and night writing, luckily my brain let me and this heaven sent angel put everything she was working on aside and worked day/night to get this uploaded by the deadline. We ended up close to the novel size I intended to release. So thank you seems does not even close to enough for all this angel did for me and for everyone who wanted to read it. She is such a dear friend and I just want to thank her from the bottom of my heart for believing in me and knowing I could get this done and for then making it her mission to make it the best it could be and upload it in time. You are my angel, you are heaven sent Leanore!

  I also want to thank my beautiful family, my husband and two children (really adults) for supporting my writing career. They believe in my story and in me, more than I do at times. They have been my strength through these last two years of fighting and I couldn’t do all that I do without them. They are also heaven sent to me and help me continue fighting. It has been a long hard road making this the best that I possibly could.

  Thank you all for standing by my side, Forever & Always!

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to two very special people: my beautiful daughter Rebecca and her fiancé Donald. The couple on the cover for this book, Fate.

  When they started dating eight years ago, somehow I just knew that he was the one. Everyone thought I was crazy, as they were so young. At the time, my daughter was just about to turn sixteen. Yet, somehow, I knew this was who she would be with forever.

  Donald seemed to fall right into our family as if he had always been there and we loved him. He loves my girl deeply and you can see it. To this day, I know my girl will have an amazing life and that she has someone who loves her deeply and will take good care of her always.

  My daughter Rebecca continues to amaze me every day. She grew into the most amazing woman that I am beyond proud of. She has a glow about her that makes everyone who knows her, love her. She is one of the most caring people I have ever seen. During my fight the last two years with cancer she has been by my side every single time I needed her. All the bad days and hard days that I had to deal with, she was right by my side. She continues to be there. At every doctor visit, she is there and gives me strength to face it all. She not only is my daughter, she is truly one of my best friends, and I am eternally grateful God sent her to me.

  So this book is dedicated to them and their love, and my love for them. They are getting married on August 11th this year, and I couldn’t be happier for them. I hope all their dreams always come true and that happiness follows them on all their paths in life.

  I love you both so much!

  Love, Mom

  Prologue

  “Hello?”

  “Cass?”

  All I heard was crying. It took me a minute to realize who it was. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  “I’m scared. I don’t know what’s wrong.”

  “Do you want me to come over?”

  “No, I’m sure everything will be fine. I shouldn’t have even bothered you, you just got home. I just didn’t know who else to call.”

  “Don’t be silly! It’s fine. I am more worried about you right now.”

  “I better go, I’m okay I just need to talk to someone for a few minutes.”

  “Are you sure? I am worried now.”

  “Yes, you know how I overreact. It’s just today, things seemed different somehow. It’s probably just in my mind”

  “I’m not going to hang up unless I know a hundred percent that you are okay.”

  “I’m okay, I promise! I will call you later if I can or tomorrow, so we can catch up.”

  “Okay, call me anytime!”

  Chapter One

  May 1990

  Two years earlier…

  They say everything can change in the blink of an eye. When you feel everything is going along as it should and you’re as happy as you think you can be is when it will happen. It will be just a moment in time, a decision that you make and in that split second, your path, your destiny are set. You also know that once you make this choice, there will be no turning back. It all will happen so fast – a mere heartbeat in time, and it’s done. You won’t see it coming. There’s nothing you can do about it, so there is no preparing for it.

  It started as a simple typical day. I was off work and my mom and I went shopping at the mall. Summer was just around the corner and we wanted to get some new clothes for the upcoming season. We had a great time, laughed hard as we tried on things that we wound up thinking we would look ridiculous in. We stopped for lunch at our favorite mall restaurant when our arms couldn’t carry much more. We enjoyed a nice lunch together, talked and laughed about our day. It was the perfect way to spend my day off. We finally made our way home hours later, our hands filled with bags from our purchases.

  “Do you girls think you left anything in the stores for others to buy?” my dad jokingly asked us.

  “Maybe, I don’t know…probably not.” I laugh as I look over at my mom and smile.

  “I guess I’m out of luck on getting any dinner now that you girls ate at the mall, I bet?” My dad already knew the answer. It wasn’t often my mom and I went to the mall without stopping at the restaurant where we loved to eat.

  “Mom will make you a nice bowl of cereal,” I say, laughing as I pick up my bags and start to head upstairs to my room to put them away, after I tried them on again, of course.

  “Gee, thanks,” my dad says as I hear both him and my mom laughing now in the kitchen.

  Then the doorbell rings.

  “I got it,�
€ I say as I put the bags down on a nearby chair and began walking to the door. “Are you expecting anyone?”

  “No,” I hear my mom say just as I put my hand on the doorknob and open the door.

  My heart stops. I couldn’t move and I’m left completely speechless. If anyone would have told me what was about to happen I would’ve never believed them. There he was standing at my door, standing on my steps…and here to see me? Why? Our eyes locked and my mind began to fill with so many questions.

  I open the door very slowly. Our eyes continue to stay locked—I didn’t even blink. I’m afraid if I do that it would be a dream. My heart begins to race in anticipation as I step outside.

  We were face to face. There’s nothing between us, only unanswered questions as to what brought him to my doorstep.

  “Can we talk?” he asks, not taking his eyes off mine.

  I stand here and for three first time in years, I remembered being that young girl. The young girl who meets the boy that would forever and always have her heart….

  Moving Day, June 25th 1977

  Liz and I sat on the stoop and watched all the kids playing street hockey. The two I met earlier waved when they saw me. I waved back and smiled. A few minutes later, I saw another boy about my age, heading towards me. My every instinct was to put my head down.

  “Hey! I’m Danny. My brother and sister said they met you earlier.”

  I glanced up and when I saw him up close, my heart skipped a beat, fluttering uncontrollably. I’ve never felt anything like this before. I didn’t know what was happening to me, but looking into his blue eyes made me feel like instant melting butter. “Hi, I’m Cassidy—umm—yes, I met them earlier.” I was instantly dumbfounded as to what more to say. “This is my friend, Liz.”

  “Hi Liz. Nice to meet you.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too, Danny,” Liz replied, giving me a holy cow look that he couldn’t see.

  A warm feeling came over me, as I took in his athletic build, clearly visible in his blue jeans and t-shirt. I found myself staring at him, mesmerized by his every move and the sound of his voice. I forced myself to look away for a moment. When I glanced back, he was staring at me.

  “Well, I’d better get back to the game, but I will talk to you later, okay?”

  “Sure. I should get back to unpacking anyway,” I replied as Liz and I headed back into the house. “Did you see his eyes? I couldn’t stop staring at him. I think I’m going to really love living on this street.”

  “I noticed,” Liz teased as she laughed.

  We went back upstairs to my room and returned to emptying more boxes. I found that I couldn’t stop thinking about Danny. I wondered when I would get to see him again….

  Chapter Two

  This truly isn’t happening to me. What I’m seeing just can’t be real, yet…it is. He’s actually standing here in front of me and I just stare at him speechless. I brush away or I try to brush away the memory of when I first saw Danny and another memory comes to me. One not as pleasant as when I first met him. I’m taken back to when he broke it off with me I’d been waiting in the car for him to get off work….

  When I got there, his boss came over to my car and told me Danny was on a call. He said he would be there soon. When I saw his car pull in a few minutes later, my heart began to race again, and my hands instantly became sweaty.

  “Hey, were you waiting long?” Danny asked as he was getting in my car.

  “No, I haven’t been here long,” I replied, maybe too fast.

  “I’m off for a couple hours. Let’s go drive somewhere, okay?” he asked as he closed the door.

  “Should I be worried?” I asked with a laugh, but with a hint of seriousness.

  He didn’t answer, but only stared out the car window.

  “Now you are really scaring me!” I exclaimed, extremely scared. I drove as the silence in the car continued. I found myself driving to our familiar spot. It was by the docks, nice, peaceful, and beautiful. If it was going to be bad, then it might as well be where I got this last fateful news. I pulled over and turned the car off. I turned toward him and our eyes connected.

  “I always seem to have to apologize to you. I don’t want to hurt you. I really hope that you believe that,” he said softly. “I have been selfish. I have made some huge mistakes, ones that I can’t go back and change. It is my fault this all has happened. You didn’t do anything wrong, you know that. I am the one who messed up…but I can’t let my mistakes keep hurting you and holding you back from the happiness you should have. I also didn’t want to let you fully go. My love for you is not like any other I have ever known. I try to move on and try to forget you, but honestly, something always happens that reminds me of you or I see something…” He paused and looked at me.

  “I don’t know what you expect me to say. I don’t know what this is leading to. I try to get on with my life, too, but—I love you and you should have been with me!” I cried.

  “I have thought about this and I want you to understand before I tell you, that I’m not doing this to hurt you. Actually, it’s quite the opposite.” His words hung in the air.

  “Please just tell me. I do believe you wouldn’t set out to hurt me. Sadly, that is what keeps happening, though, doesn’t it?” I asked almost in a whisper.

  “I’m going to move away. I am going to move off Long Island. Actually, we just got a place upstate.”

  “What?” I screamed.

  “I am so sorry! I really am! This is hard for me too, but we need to get on with our lives. I can’t seem to do it and you can’t either. It’s the only way that maybe it will work, if I move away. I need to give my marriage a try and…I just haven’t fully been able to do that when I’m still thinking of and still loving you. This way, we won’t be able to see each other and we can both move on, like we should have done a long time ago.” Danny’s voice was filled with sadness….

  I shake the painful memory from my mind and focus on Danny’s face. “Is everything okay?” Instantly, I begin to think maybe something bad has happened.

  “Depends on what you mean by okay. Wanda and I split up, she left me…” His voice trails away.

  I didn’t know how to even react to that. So many thoughts run through my mind and yet, I can’t find words to come out of my mouth. I feel as if I’m frozen in time and everything is just spinning around me.

  “I know I shouldn’t be here, but I just had to see you. I didn’t know where else to go. You’re the only one who will understand.”

  I continue to stare into his cobalt-blue eyes. Eyes I have looked deeply into for so many years, each time hoping that he would look back into mine the same. There is something different this time, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what that is. “What happened?” is all that I’m able to say.

  “Can we maybe go somewhere to talk?”

  “Who’s at the door?” I hear my mom ask.

  I hesitate to answer as I look at Danny and worry what my parents are going to think of him being here. “It’s Danny, mom.”

  I could hear her footsteps as she made her way to the door. I try to look at her face for a sign of what she’s thinking. I still couldn’t even process what I’m thinking at this moment in time. I stood back, as she made her way to him and gave him a hug and kiss. Little did she know that he was here to tell me about him and Wanda’s break-up.

  I left them to talk as I made my way to find a jacket. I didn’t know if I wanted him to say why he’s here. I knew that as soon as my parents knew they would be worried and there would be trouble. When I finally return, I definitely dilly dallied, trying to prepare myself for whatever I was about hear, I found both my parents just sitting talking to him.

  “We’re just going to go for a walk. I won’t be long.” I try so hard to not make eye contact with them. I knew as soon as the words were out of my mouth their happy reunion with him would probably end. They would maybe realize that he wasn’t here to just stop by and say hello, or maybe I am just
being really paranoid.

  “Going for a walk?” …and there it is. My father’s voice instantly silences the room.

  I knew that tone all too well.

  I didn’t know what to say as all eyes seemed to be on me for an answer. What am I supposed to say? Do I dare tell them the truth? There’s no reason to lie right? We are just going to go for a walk. We’re just two old friends, who haven’t seen each other in a long time. There’s nothing for them to be worried about right? So why am I petrified?

  I notice what looks like fear in their eyes. The happiness they just had of seeing him, someone they both loved so deeply for so many years since he’d been a kid actually, but someone who also hurt me so terribly is gone. I think they might have begun realize that this wasn’t just a random visit to say hello.

  “I’ll be back in a little bit.” I couldn’t look them in the eyes as I turn toward the door and make my way outside. I know when I come back… I will be asked a thousand questions.

  Danny says goodbye to them and quickly follows behind me. Silence became for that moment in time… golden as they say.

  We began to walk and for a while, we didn’t speak. I truly feel afraid to ask questions, unsure if I really want to know the answers. I think he also feels afraid to explain how he wound up on my doorstep after all this time.

  “Are you mad at me for coming here?” he hesitantly asks.

  “No... I’m not mad at you for coming here. I just really am shocked that you’re here at all, but not mad.”

  “Maybe it was a mistake…” His voice fades.

  “I’m not mad, I promise. I just…well, I am just shocked to see you. I didn’t think I would ever really see you again. Well, I knew someday, I would, but not like this. Not for this reason.”