Page 63 of Undoing

This was the younger Rebecca shining through. It was such an odd sensation for Cass to see Rebecca like this. Her wife was poised and authoritative. God, she missed that part of Rebecca. Yet, getting to know this Rebecca was… interesting, too.

“Can we please stop talking about Aunt Wills being up people’s cracks?” Cass asked, shuffling her feet uncomfortably. She scrubbed her face with her hands when both Blaise and Rebecca laughed at her. Despite the slight embarrassment, Cass was glad they stopped in Blaise’s shop. Leave it to Blaise to bring levity to every situation.

“Go on before Cass tattles on me.” Blaise pushed the couple towards the door. “Don’t keep her out too late, Cass! Ta-ta!”

“You’re up, baby cakes,” Blaise announced when Eve answered her call.

“Baby cakes,” Eve repeated with a laugh. “Great. You’ve just given my wife a new nickname for me. How is she?”

“Good. Other than the amnesia, she seems healthy and… happy with Cass. We had a moment when we thought she remembered something. Get this, the color pink wasn’t always her favorite, but it gives her the tingles now.”

“The tingles.” For the life of her, Eve couldn’t figure out why she constantly repeated what came out of Blaise Knight-Steele’s mouth. Perhaps she was trying to see if it made any more sense coming from her own. “Rebecca said… tingles?”

“Well, no. That’s my word. But it works, so don’t knock it, baby cakes.”

Eve saluted even though Blaise couldn’t see her. “You got it, sugar tits. I see them outside. I’ll report back to the Cupid Squad later.”

“Work your magic. I’m going to cut Aunt Wills off and call her an Uber.”

“I’ve had one mimosa!”

Eve cut the call when Blaise and Willamena continued arguing. “Never a dull moment.”

Lainey took Eve’s hand. “I’ve done dull, my love. I never want to go back to that. However, if we could have normal every once in a while, I wouldn’t complain,” she smiled. “Here they come.”

“That was…”

“Blaise,” Cass laughed.

“Well, I was going to say interesting, but I feel like I’ve been using that word a lot today.”

“Maybe we could go back to the diner and see if Joslyn Cohan is still there. Surely she has a thesaurus.”

Rebecca hip-checked Cass. “We’re not allowed to bother her. And is it a rule that we must call authors by their full name?”

“I think so.” Cass’s arm involuntarily wrapped around Rebecca’s waist. “I mean, how else would you know exactly who I’m talking about?”

Rebecca burrowed into Cass’s side without a second thought. “She is the only Joslyn I know.” She frowned. “Right? Do I know another one?”

Cass cleared her throat to hide a chuckle. “No. And technically, we don’t know Joslyn Cohan. So, it’s probably best to keep calling her Joslyn Cohan.”

Rebecca laughed heartily. It was the first time she could remember laughing since… well since her parents were alive. “Whatever you say.”

Cass peered down at Rebecca with a grin and wiggled her brow. “Would you like to go in?” she asked, gesturing toward Sumptor Gallery, LA.

“Sumptor Galleries,” Rebecca read out loud. “This is where Aunt Wills says your work is displayed.”

Cass nodded. “Yeah. But Eve and Lainey showcase many talented artists from different mediums. It’s almost intimidating being surrounded by art of that… caliber.”

Rebecca frowned, stopping to look up at Cass. “Your work is in there, too, Cass. You are of that caliber.”

“You haven’t seen my work, Becca,” Cass reminded her.

“I don’t need to. Something,” Rebecca said, her hand once again finding its place over her heart. “Something about you tells me you wouldn’t waste time doing anything you didn’t love. Which means you put your whole heart into it. Why would you think you don’t belong here when clearly others do?”

Tears threatened, but somehow Cass held it together. “I, uh, it’s imposter syndrome, I guess. I’ve been doing murals most of my life. Or, you know, sketches here and there. I never thought about doing canvases until…”

“Until?”

---