"We have our whole lives to catch up with each other, you know. We don't have to do it all in one night." It was an amazingly comforting thought. Our whole lives.
They could go back to giggling and goofing around, and pick up this seriousness tomorrow. But Cassie had waited for this chance for far too long to let it go any longer. She needed to know the truth, about everything. "Please tell me more," she said. "I can handle it."
"Okay then." Scarlett took Cassie's hand and squeezed it, and when she did, Cassie looked down at their intertwined fingers. It seemed like she could almost see a cord wrapping around their hands, connecting them. Just like the connection between Adam and me, Cassie thought. She and Scarlett were linked. They were fated. It explained everything she felt about Scarlett since the moment she'd set eyes on her, how she was willing to go against the whole Circle to defend her and protect her.
If Scarlett saw it, she didn't mention it. She went on talking as usual, while massaging Cassie's hand in her own.
"I'll never forget the day my mother told me I had a sister," Scarlett said. "It changed everything for me. I knew one day I'd find you. And see, I was right."
She waited a moment to read Cassie's expression and then added, "I don't understand why your mom never told you."
Cassie suddenly felt herself snap to a new level of awareness. She pulled her hand away. "Wait a minute. My mother knew about you?"
"Of course she knew." Scarlett's voice contained the
"Of course she knew." Scarlett's voice contained the slightest hint of outrage. "They were all still in New Salem when we were born."
Cassie thought back to the conversation she recently had with her mother. How she'd looked deep into her eyes and swore she'd told Cassie the whole truth about her father. I loved that I was all his, and he was all mine, she'd said, but it was a lie. Her mother knew he was with someone else.
"How could my mother not have told me I had a sister?" Cassie said aloud. This was a new divide that had sprung up between her and her mother, and at the moment, it felt insurmountable. Her whole childhood and adolescence had been hindered by lies - that truth had come to light when they first moved to New Salem, and Cassie learned she was a witch. But she'd come to terms with all the covering up her mother had done in hopes of protecting her. Now it occurred to Cassie that even their more recent conversations had been poisoned by deceit. As of this very moment, her mother was still lying to her. Cassie never felt more estranged from her as she did now.
"She should have told you," Scarlett said. "I wonder what else she's kept from you."
Cassie realized Scarlett was absolutely right. If her mom could lie about the existence of a sibling, she could lie about anything. And if she was keeping secrets, Cassie would, too. She decided right then not to tell her mom anything about meeting Scarlett. Her mother didn't deserve her honesty. She hadn't earned it.
Fortunately, now Cassie had a sister, and everything would be different. Everything would be better. If it had to be just the two of them against the rest of the world, so be it.
They would remain inseparable, that was the one and only thing Cassie could feel secure about now.
"Scarlett," she said, feeling her heart overflow with love and affection, "now that you're here, I finally feel like I'm home."
"Me, too." Scarlett's dark eyes shimmered. "I've never been more sure of anything," she said. "This is where I belong."
Chapter 19
"Do you want a latte or a cappuccino?" Adam asked from the head of the line at the coffee shop counter.
"Surprise me," Cassie said, and then watched him interact with the barista, placing his order and counting out his money.
Cassie pretended not to know him for a moment and imagined he was a stranger she'd just seen for the first time. She observed his cut jaw and broad shoulders, those auburn curls. Yes, she thought to herself. It would be love at first sight all over again.
Things between Cassie and Adam had come around full circle. The past few days since the confrontation with Scarlett at the docks had been romantic and exciting, just like the first days of their relationship. When he kissed her, she shivered with that familiar pleasure and excitement, of loving him so completely with her entire body and soul, and knowing he felt the same.
Since the truth had come out about Scarlett, Adam went back to being Adam, and Cassie went back to being Cassie, but happier and more confident.
Adam returned to their table, setting down an iced mocha topped with whipped cream and a giant chocolate-chip cookie.
"You said to surprise you," he said.
"You're trying to get me high on sugar."
"That's how I like you best." He dipped his finger into the whipped cream for a taste.
Cassie glanced at the door, but the girl entering wasn't Scarlett.
Adam laughed. "She's only a few minutes late, relax."
"I know." Cassie broke off a hunk of cookie and shoved it into her mouth while Adam took another swipe at the whipped cream. She looked away, not wanting to be caught watching him lick it from his fingers.
"Should I leave you and my iced mocha alone?" she asked.
Adam blushed, pushing the drink closer to Cassie and out of his reach. Then he wiped his mouth with a napkin and tried to be serious. "I'm so glad for you," he said. "Scarlett is pretty amazing. I can totally see how the two of you are related."
"I tried to tell you," Cassie said.
"I know. And I've never been happier to admit that I was wrong."
"Well, you can tell Scarlett that in person, if she ever gets here." Cassie glanced at the door again and then took a sip of her drink. "I'm starting to worry that she hasn't shown up yet. I'm going to call her."
But Scarlett didn't answer her phone, and Cassie began to worry even more.
"I have a bad feeling about this," she said. She knew if she phrased it that way, Adam would take her seriously.
"Then we should go over to the B and B and see if she's there." Adam stood up, wasting no time.
It was exactly what Cassie wanted him to suggest.
Sometimes his predictability was her favorite thing about him.
The bed-and-breakfast where Scarlett was staying was a Georgian building just off Old Town Square. It was one of the most beautiful historical B and Bs in New Salem, owned and operated by an old man whom Cassie knew by sight. She'd grown used to seeing him walking his three Pomeranians around town. A few times, she'd bent down to pet one of the dogs, but she never engaged in much conversation with the old man. He was who answered the door when they arrived, the dogs yapping and jumping around his feet.