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“Ruth,” Davis nods. He pulls a woman from behind his back, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. “This is Cassie.”
She reaches out and extends her hand in my direction. “Cassandra.”
Cassandra is a lot of things. Young and beautiful and a dead ringer for Ashley Parker.
I have so many questions. I don’t ask them though; I let my eyes do the talking, and I figure all things come in time.
Over tea and a weak imitation of Julia’s pimento cheese dip, Cassandra relays the story of how she and Davis met.
It takes me a few minutes to set everything right in my mind. I could blame pregnancy brain, but I don’t think it’s that. “So what, you were like pen-pals?”
Davis stirs his tea and then takes a sip. “Well, it was a little different than that.”
My head cocks. “Different how?”
“We had internet. We emailed.”
Cassandra looks at my brother and then at me. “Sometimes we wrote.”
“We’re getting married,” Davis says, popping a cracker in his mouth. “And we were hoping to do it here.”
“At Magnolia House?”
A wide grin spreads across my brother’s face. “I can’t imagine anywhere else.”
“So you’ll be staying for a while, then?”
He nods. “In the guest house, if that’s okay.”
I watch as Davis stands and walks over to the sink. He stares out the window, and I wonder how much prison has changed him, if any. “There they are,” he says abruptly, catching me off guard. I follow his gaze: Cole and Shelby coming up the road hand in hand.
“They must have gone down to the beach while I was napping.”
Davis doesn’t answer. He bolts out the door and jogs down the drive toward them.
“Davey tells me you’re having a boy.”
My eyes turn away from the window. “Yes.”
“You must be so excited!”
“We are.”
“Davey?” I ask, with the tilt of my chin.
“Hmm?”
“You called him Davey. Did he tell you to call him that?”
“That’s his nickname, right?”
My brows rise, and I press my lips together. I let that be my answer.
“I mean, that’s what everyone calls him?”
“Not me.”
She leans forward, resting her chin in her hand. “Huh.”
