Chapter 1651 Her Daughter, My Secret Sin:>Ep9

• The one person I didn't want to introduce Cassie to was my ex-wife. I knew what Linda would think, that I was just an old fool, little head thinking for the big one, etc., etc., blah blah blah. I no longer cared what she thought, I just didn't want Cassie to have to deal with it. She deserved so much better than that. Fuck Linda. She could go to hell for all I cared. She had her chance with me and didn't want me anymore so fuck her. I was sure she'd get some kind of story about Dad's new "child bride" from the boys but from the time I met Cassie, Linda was not only out of my life, she was out of my head too. That's the way I felt, anyway. It was like that for a little while, but after only about two years, I realized that Linda helped make me into the man that Cassie fell in love with. So I let my anger go. That Thanksgiving, Linda invited Cassie and I over for dinner with the boys, and she was gracious and civil and it was fine. Whatever other thoughts she might have had she kept them to herself, which was as it should be.
• That first summer we were together Cassie transferred to a school close to home and moved in with me. We bought a house. She wanted to get married right away but I told her I wanted, and I'm sure her mom would want, for her to graduate first. She immediately planned out a way to pack on the credits so she could graduate early, after only three years. Like I said, she's a planner, that girl, and incredibly smart. Anyway, with transferring schools and moving in with me she couldn't keep things secret from her mom for much longer.
• I of course offered to go with her for that difficult conversation, but Cassie wouldn't have it. She knew her mom best and was sure that no matter how bad it got, it would go over better if I was somewhere else. So I went to visit an old friend (I couldn't just sit at home and stew) while Cassie went over to Lori's. At first, it went about as well as you might expect. I was not welcome in Lori's house. Six months later, Cassie broke the news to Lori that she and I were engaged. Three months after that was her graduation. That graduation was the first time Lori and I had seen each other in over a year. She put on a brave, but strained, face. She said hello. We made a couple remarks about the weather. It was not comfortable but it was progress. She loved Cassie more than anything. Even I couldn't get in the way of that. A week after graduation we eloped, a whirlwind weekend in Vegas. Cassie's choice.