AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m fine, Mom.” I decide right then not to tell her about the creepy guy who broke into the house. There isn’t any reason to worry her. Especially since I don’t think I was in real danger. “What’s going on?”
“Well.” She takes a deep breath and exhales right into my ear. “Your father is annoying me, as usual. Your brother refuses to answer my call so that I can send him a care package before he deploys, and Kennedy is going through advanced training for fire and police dispatch protocols this week. So, everything in our world is stressed. Then I get a phone call from Joel letting me know that he’s headed down to New York to help you get the rest of Cassie’s stuff. I might have overreacted. I thought he was down there with you this whole time.” Throughout that entire tirade, she doesn’t stop to take a single breath, and I know I am in trouble.
I groan, and not inwardly at all. I told my parents a little white lie when it came to me packing Cassie’s stuff. I’m an adult, and at twenty-two, I don’t need them to control my life. Joel, Cassie’s longtime boyfriend, is supposed to be here helping. However, the last thing either of us needs is each other’s company. I told him not to come down, and he reluctantly agreed not to say anything to my parents.
“Mom,” I say warily. “I didn’t want to worry you guys. I also didn’t need Joel here to get everything taken care of. I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself.”
Realizing that I have an audience, with Sori staring openly at me, I cover the speaker. “My sister’s boyfriend,” I explain.
Sori nods, her mouth still hanging open slightly. “I thought you had a boyfriend for a second and everything I thought about you changed in a flash.”
I uncover the speaker and shake my head in response. Then I wave goodbye while my mom berates me for lying to them. Once I’m back in Cassie’s living room, I take a deep breath and interrupt whatever she is saying. I really haven’t paid attention to any of it.
“Mom.” I cut her off mid-sentence as she goes on about how I should know better than to do something so dangerous as be by myself in the city. “Seriously. I’m an adult. I know how to protect myself.”
“That’s what your sister said, too.” She sniffles, and I immediately feel like a jackass. “And she died. You should just come home. We can hire someone to take care of everything there.”
“Cassie wouldn’t want that, Mom.” I touch the last photo hanging on the wall, pressing my fingertips to Cassie’s image. “She’d want to know that her treasures were donated or given to people who’ll love them.” Like the one I accidentally broke while trying to pack it. “I’m almost done.” I don’t address the fact that Cassie died in an accident and that she’d protected herself to the best of her abilities.
Honestly, I can probably have the rest of it done in a day or less. Except Cole has me dragging my feet. Spending time with him makes me feel normal. Like I’m not damaged or broken.
“When did Joel say he was coming?” I almost forgot that tidbit and really need to know. I have to be ready, to plan. “He doesn’t need to come.”
“Oh, he knows that, sweetie. He said that he wants you to help fulfill some of your sister’s bucket list items. Things they were planning on doing together. I didn’t even know that was something that you wanted to do for her.”
A sharp ache hits me in the chest at the memory. I find myself rubbing it to try and ease the pain. When that doesn’t work, I curl up on the couch and wrap myself in one of the last blankets left in Cassie’s house.
“Mom, I don’t think I can do that.” The thought of spending time with Joel, who will look at me and see Cassie staring back at him, almost sends me right back into another panic attack. Fortunately, I’m wrapped in a blanket like the snuggliest of burritos, already calm and collected. It’s easier to calm down than it usually is, and it helps that my mom is talking to me through it.
“Casper Townsend. We aren’t the only ones who lost Cassie. Joel thought he was going to spend his life with your sister. I think he needs this. You both do. Give the man some closure. Help him.”
Her silent entreaty does not escape me, and I feel bad for pushing him away. Especially when she is right. Joel and Cassie had been together since we were in high school. He supported her decisions, every one of them. Even when he had to watch her go to school ten hours away and only see her on the weekends, he’d supported her. They’d been planning on getting married after Cassie got her master’s degree.
“Okay, Mom. I promise.”
She sighs on the other end, and it’s clear she expected me to put up more of a fight than that.
“But you owe me. Lots and lots of pasta. Only the good stuff.”
My mom is an expert at homemade pasta, and I am not above using the current situation to finagle some of it from her.
“Deal.” She harrumphs. “Parker and Nox are coming over this weekend. I can get that cute little boy to help me make it.”
The mention of Parker reminds me of the conversation I had with Remy. “Remy wants us to keep an eye on her. He sounded worried when I talked to him last week.”
Mom hums in the back of her throat, and I can picture her in my head moving during our conversation, shifting from one part of the house to another. She would be sitting on the front porch, probably in one of her oversized wicker chairs with a throw over her lap, even though it’s warm enough that she doesn’t need one.
“I know,” she says quietly. “Your father saw them at the park this week. Nox was playing with his dog, and I guess Parker looked sort of lost. He invited her over. You know she’ll always be family. Plus…” Mom coughs. “Sarah Hayes told me that Parker won’t go over to the family house. She said that Parker’s been talking about maybe moving away. And we have to put a stop to that. Otherwise, Remy is never going to pull his head out of his ass.”
I snort. “Yeah.” We can probably count on Mom contriving some ridiculous matchmaker schemes when Remy gets home after deployment. Especially if she and Mama Hayes put their heads together to keep Parker from leaving. Although Parker’s uncle, Jake, may have something to say about that. “Are you sure Sheriff Findlay is going to be okay with you meddling in his niece’s affairs?”
Mom laughs. “Jake Findlay was a rookie when I started dispatching. He wouldn’t dare say anything to me. Not when I could tell his wife on him.”
I can’t help snickering. She really doesn’t care about anyone else’s feelings when it comes to making sure her kids are happy. She’s always been that way, but in the weeks since Cassie’s death, it seems to be more amplified than I’ve ever seen it before.
“Besides,” Mom goes on. “He might be sheriff now, but my husband is the chief of police for Birch. Let him try and come at me.” Her threat is very real, and I know she’d put him in his place if she had to. She was never afraid of the Sheriff’s Department, or any of the first responders for that matter. She’s dispatched for them pretty much her entire life.
“I miss you, Mom.” I cut her off again, needing to make sure that I tell her how I feel. “I know that Cassie did too. I’m bringing you back some of her quilts and all of her cribbage boards.” Cassie was obsessed with cribbage. She had always bought new boards wherever and whenever she could.
