Small Town Help: Small Town Brides, #4

By Ava Catori

Cassidy's attempt to achieve independence isn't going well. She's made bad first impressions all over town. A trail of mishaps isn't doing her any favors. She's like a tornado twisting out of control. Can she turn matters around before she does more damage?

When Connor agrees to a blind date, he knows it was a mistake the moment he comes face to face with Cassidy. They've already met, and things didn't go well. In fact, the sooner they go their own ways, the happier he'll be.

When Connor's sister insists they at least give the situation a chance, will the couple make things right or will Cassidy's sassy mouth land her in trouble—again?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ava Catori Books
• Release date: Dec 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386497073

Book preview

Chapter 1

Round Valley, Tennessee was less than an hour from home, but some days it felt farther. Cassidy Spencer had finally moved out of the apartment that roosted above her brother’s construction office. Prior to that, she’d lived at the family farm in a small town just east of Knoxville.

Now that she’d graduated from dental hygienist school, she was ready to strike out on her own. Her three older brothers had married off, which left her, the youngest, to finally make her mark on the world.

After some doing, Cassidy found a place to call home. The price was right, and circumstances worked in her favor. The woman looking for a roommate had just lost one. The two-bedroom, two-bath townhome would be shared with a nurse who worked long shifts through the weekends. That meant that on her days off, Cassidy would have the place mostly to herself.

Once she graduated, the college’s job placement program helped find work options. There were a couple of choices for the students, but no guarantee of a job. Cassidy interviewed at two different dental practices but hoped to land the job in Round Valley. When everything came through and she was offered employment, they picked out a starting date.

She could have commuted from Branchburg but moving closer made more sense. Once she found the townhome, things fell into place.

Cassidy made the transition the weekend before she started her new job. All she’d known was life on the farm and school. This was a chance to finally become her own person—a chance to gain independence. There would be new friends, new opportunities, and a fresh start. She was more than ready.

Being the youngest in the family, the others still treated her like a child. She was inching toward thirty...okay, not quite thirty, but late-twenties! Whatever. All she wanted was to be taken seriously, seen as her own person, and respected. Instead, her brothers and parents sheltered her from the harsher realities of life. She knew they meant well, but she’d been smothered in the process.

Cassidy loaded the last of her stuff into her dusty, burgundy pick-up. It was packed to the gill. The Ford F-150 fit her like a well-worn, leather glove. A little beat up, but a workhorse nonetheless. The home she was moving into was furnished, which made for an easier task, albeit a chore either way.

Once she’d finished unloading the last of her things, she said her good-byes and promised to stop home for family dinners the first Sunday of every month.

I can’t believe my baby is on her own, her mother sighed. She acted like she’d moved to Egypt in a far away land, not one county over. She hadn’t even left the state!

Mom, I’m not that far away. Besides, it’s time for me to get my life together. I’m ready for a change, Cassidy added.

I know. I know. It’s just seeing all my children grown. Time goes by too quickly.

Taylor, her new roommate, had left the house keys at the bottom of a steel milk box by the front door. She worked at the hospital’s emergency room through the weekend and wouldn’t be home to catch up with her until later in the week. With three twelve-hour shifts back to back, it meant when she did get home that she slept until it was time to leave again. Taylor lived her life in the four days she had off.

Once Cassidy was able to pry her mother off her after the millionth hug, her parents finally left. She dropped onto the sofa and propped her feet up. She was home. Home without a safety net. Home without her brother’s office below her. Home without being on the farm.

She was her own woman. It was a moment she’d waited for all her life.

CASSIDY SET OUT HER dark blue scrubs on the bed before heading to the bathroom to grab a shower. The two bedroom-townhome boasted two bathrooms, well, two-and-a-half if you counted the small half-bath downstairs with only a sink and toilet. Taylor’s bathroom was connected to the master suite. Cassidy’s was down the hall from her room, but it was all hers— her brushes, her shampoos, her soaps, her make-up, and her towels.

Butterflies fluttered in her belly as she turned on the faucet. She reached over to adjust the water before climbing into the shower. It was her first day of work. Hopefully things would go smoothly. She’d get an early start, make sure she was ready, and be on her way.

Cassidy hummed as the hot water cascaded over her head. She’d been an early riser from years of working on the farm, but it always took a few days to get a good night’s rest in a new place—even when she moved into the apartment over Jack’s office. She squirted a glob of glistening pearl-colored shampoo into her hand to wash her hair.

Big changes were coming. She’d never worked in an office before. It was a far cry from being a farm girl. Not that she didn’t love the outdoors, she did. It’s just that she’d never worked in a regular job outside of her home. It was as if she’d upgraded to a new dimension. The best part was that on cold and bitter days, she’d be inside, not outside in the barn. There’d be no more cold noses and freezing fingertips—no complaints there.

As she readied for work, she decided what to have for breakfast. A quick bite of oatmeal would work, then out the door she’d go. The funny part was that she looked forward to coming home after work, because it would be the first time she got to sit and talk with Taylor for any length of time, other than when she’d applied for the house. She hoped they became good friends and weren’t just casually polite. She didn’t know anybody in the area, and each new friend would be a victory.

With her purse in hand, she headed out to her truck, ready to take on the day.

You have got to be kidding me, Cassidy groaned. Met with a flat tire, she shook her head in frustration. Really? Today of all days?

After a couple of short expletives under her breath, she threw her purse into the truck and dug out the jack that sat behind the seat. She’d need to undo the spare tire and flip the old one off. The timing—she growled under her breath again, venting the best she was able.

Cassidy got to work on the project ahead of her. Changing a tire was child’s play. It was something her dad had taught her to do early on. She’d changed enough truck tires and tractor tires over the years that it didn’t overwhelm her. It’s not like she was afraid of hard work or a challenge. Though, being late for work on her first day wouldn’t do her any favors. Let alone if she got dirt on her uniform before she even arrived. It certainly wouldn’t set her on the right path with her new employer.

Cassidy worked quickly, trying to do the job in half the time it should have taken. She tightened the lug nuts on the spare tire, then made a note to pick up another replacement after work. Maybe a plug would fix the old tire. It would save money to do it that way, but there wasn’t time to think about it now. She’d need to look into that later. Round Valley was still new to her and she needed to find her way around a little better. Maybe one of her coworkers could point her in the right direction.

Cassidy brushed off dust and dirt from her scrubs the best she was able. She tossed the jack behind her seat, then threw the bad tire into the bed of her truck. She took a quick glance of her watch, then panic set in. She sighed deeply after losing twenty minutes in the process. She’d need to make up time.

Once in her truck, she slammed the key in the ignition and floored the accelerator. She shot down the development’s main drag, trying not to obsess over the time on her truck’s clock.