Page 49 of Mistakes Were Made

“Did you do something to scare her off?” Parker asked.

“Oh my God, Parker, what would I have done?”

“I don’t know! I’m just asking.”

“I went to the grocery store. Did that scare her off? Is she afraid of groceries?”

“Yeah, she’s afraid of groceries.” Parker rolled her eyes and Erin tried to remember to be reasonable. “Whatever. She just—she’s been in her room all morning and she won’t come to Dad’s with me. It’s weird.”

“She won’t go to Dad’s with you?”

“I even told her he probably got her a present she could open, and she still said no.”

Erin had counted on Cassie going with Parker today. She was supposed to leave, not to stay here alone with her. Having Cassie in the house was a constant reminder of how terrible she had been to her.

But it made sense that she wouldn’t want to spend more time around Adam than necessary after what a dick he’d been to her.

“Just like, be nice to her if she comes downstairs, okay?”

“Of course,” Erin said, tucking her hair behind her ears. “Have fun at your dad’s.”

And then Parker was gone, and Erin was alone in the house with Cassie.

She finished putting the groceries away and tried to work. Sheneededto work. In the New Year she’d be presenting her plans to create a free clinic to the hospital board. There were numbers tocrunch and reports to look over. There was information to learn and absorb until it became a part of her. That was how she had always studied in school, and it was what she fell back on as she prepared for her presentation.

It wasn’t going well. White papers stood out against the dark walnut of her desk, but she wasn’t processing any of the words on them. Parker had left fifteen minutes ago. The house was cavernous, empty, and open, its silence reverberating.

Erin couldn’t focus on anything other than Cassie’s presence. She might as well not be here for how much noise shewasn’tmaking, but Erin suffocated on the knowledge that they were under the same roof.

She needed to say she was sorry. Because she was! And she could be the adult here—Cassie couldn’t mope in her room for the rest of break. That would be more suspicious than anything she and Erin had done so far. Erin would apologize and Cassie would get over it and they could move on.

Sure, maybe her guilt factored into it, too. She hated the idea of Cassie hating her. It was like the phone call—Erin chose to be a bitch, and then felt too bad about it not to apologize. But this time would be different. She would apologize but keep her distance afterward. It’d be fine.

Erin pushed away from her desk to go upstairs.

It’d be fine,she told herself again. She’d find Cassie in her room, apologize, move on. By the time Parker came back, Cassie wouldn’t be in such a mood, and Parker would be none the wiser.

Too busy thinking over what she wanted to say, Erin didn’t notice the door to Cassie’s room was open until she stood right in front of it, the room itself empty. Erin looked down the hallway. The bathroom door was closed.

As Erin approached it, the shower turned on.

Fuck.

She had to do this now, or she’d lose her nerve. Maybe Cassie wasn’t in the shower yet—the water needed time to warm up, right?

“Cassie?” Erin said through the door, knocking gently. “I want to apologize.”

“I can’t hear you. I’m in the shower.”

Erin opened the door and stepped inside.

She acted without thinking. She must have, right? Erin never would’ve gone into the bathroom while Cassie was showering if she’d thought it through. But that seemed too easy an excuse. Like if she could pretend she didn’t know what she was doing, it made it okay.

“Hello?” Cassie’s voice rose over the steam coming from the shower.

“Hi,” Erin said.

What was she doing? What thefuckwas she doing? Who goes into the bathroom while someone else is in the shower?

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