Temptation

James ~ Part 2

12 Years Earlier

"Dad?" Cassie stepped out into the rainy California day, her clothes getting soaked immediately. "Dad!" James, who was standing on the sidewalk, turned around to see his daughter. "Cass, what are you doing?" He angrily asked. He started walking quickly towards her, swaying as he did.

She painfully noted the near empty bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand.

When he got to her, he picked her up with one arm and carried her inside. "You're going to get sick!" When he set her down inside of the warm house, she retorted, "So are you." He sighed down at her and looked around.

"Go get warm," he told her. "Your mom is...working late. It'll just be us tonight." The smile that appeared on her face made him smile, too. She ran upstairs into her bedroom and got into her warmest clothes. When she came downstairs, she went into the kitchen and saw her dad making hot chocolate.

That's what he usually did on rainy days.

"Here," he said as he set it on the counter. Cassie hopped up on the kitchen island and blew on the hot liquid to cool it. When she looked over to James, she saw him discreetly pour some alcohol into his mug of hot chocolate with a flask.

After he put his flask back into the highest cupboard, he said, "I ordered pizza. It should be here soon." Cassie was about to take a sip of her drink, but he quickly stopped her to top it with whipped cream. "Thanks, dad," she said before drinking it.

James sat down next to her and drank his spiked drink. "So," he said, "what's going on with you?" She looked up at him with her big blue eyes and a whipped cream mustache. "What do you mean?" She asked.

He smirked and said, "I mean, what's up? How's school? What colleges are you applying for? What do you want to be when you grow up?" Cassie started giggling up a storm, making him smile. "Dad, I'm only thirteen," she told him.

He shrugged, then asked, "So?" She continued to giggle, but then started to think. "Um...I want to be a teacher," she told him in confidence. His eyebrows shot up as he said, "A teacher, huh? Alright." She continued, "I don't know what college I want to go to, though. But I'm doing good in school! I got an A on my test!"

James gave her a high five, then said, "That's great! I'm proud of you." He put his hand on her head and said, "I'm always proud." He ruffled her hair, making her giggle. They both finished up their drinks and just as James was taking their mugs to the sink, the front door opened.

They each turned their heads and saw Kate walking in, shaking her wet umbrella all over the hardwood floor and grumbling about the rain. Cassie always took her coming home as her cue to go up to her room. Just as she was about to do that, James said, "No, no, no. Stay here, it's alright."

She timidly sat back on her seat and waited for Kate to come into the kitchen. "I see dinner hasn't been started yet," Kate spat. James put the washed mugs away as he said, "Pizza is on it's way. We weren't expecting you back so soon."

"Yeah, such a shame," Kate said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm going to go change. And cancel the pizza and make something less crap." James sighed and shook his head. Cassie sat there with her head down, acting like she wasn't hearing any of this.

Suddenly, James started to storm upstairs after Kate. The moment Cassie heard shouting, she clasped her hands over her ears and shut her eyes. The words that were being shouted were muffled, but they were louder than they've ever been.

When she could start making out the words, she started humming a tune. James would always sing "You Are My Sunshine" to her, so she started humming that and pretended it was in his voice. It soothed her a little, but then she heard rushing footsteps.

She turned to see James start to leave the house. "Dad!" She shouted, before running after him. He was walking quickly to his car as the rain poured aggressively down on him. "Dad! Dad, wait!" James turned to her and shouted, "Go back inside! Now!"

She stopped in her tracks, stunned. He's never shouted at her before. Seeing the look in her face, he sighed and went over to her. He knelt down as best as his bad leg would allow and said, "Cass, go back inside."

She shook her head with tears in her eyes and said, "I want to go with you." He put his hand on her cheek and said, "Baby, go inside. I promise, I'm going to come back and you and I, we're going to get away from here. It will be you, me, hot chocolate, and pizza. Everyday."

That got her to smile and he ran his thumb over her cheek. "Do me a favor and pack yourself a bag," he continued. "I'm going to go find us a place to stay for a few days. I'll be back tonight. Don't tell your mom."

She quickly nodded and said, "Okay. I love you, daddy." She hugged him tightly around his neck and he held her close to him. "I love you to the moon and back, Cass. I'll be back, I promise." He kissed her cheek, then stood up and watched her go back into the house.

Once she was inside, he got into his car and drove off.