Page 5 of Scorched

Chapter Three

Cassie

Five Days Ago

I hadn’t been in this house in two years, at least.

Walking in was like a stab in the chest.

On every wall were photos—my mom, looking like an older version of me; Noah, always smiling in a baseball cap and Hawaiian shirt. I was in some of them, too, laughing or lying on the beach.

I hadn’t even been here five minutes, and I was already in tears.

With a shaky breath, I came in and shut the door. I grabbed my suitcase and started up the steps.

On the landing, I stopped.

This picture had always been my favorite.

I wasn’t in it—I’d taken it. Mom and Noah were on the beach below the house, facing each other, hands clasped. Neither of them wore shoes. Mom wore a yellow sundress. A purple hibiscus was tucked behind her ear. Noah wore linen shorts and his nicest Hawaiian shirt. He’d taken his baseball cap off for their wedding, at least.

They were staring at each other, both grinning broadly.

I swallowed, touching the glass.

Mom had let me curl her hair. We’d gone shopping for that dress together. They hadn’t spent a lot on the wedding, but Noah had bought her a bouquet of sweet-smelling tropical flowers.

Out of all the couples I’d ever known, Mom and Noah had loved each other the most.

I sniffled. “Mom,” I said softly. “God, this sucks. I miss you, you know that?”

No reply.

There was never a reply.

I swallowed and shook my head. “I miss you and I miss Noah and…and I hate this. A lot. I hate this house being empty.”

I kept expecting one of them to walk around the corner and greet me. Noah would have laughed and opened his arms for a hug before carting my suitcase upstairs. Mom would have kissed my forehead.

Instead, I was talking to myself in a huge empty house.

I looked at the photo for just a moment longer. “I’m just glad Noah’s with you now. That you two are together again. I hope he understands why I never came to visit. It just…hurt too much. To see him without you.”

I knew I should have visited him more. I loved him. He’d always been a good stepdad to me.

But being around him reminded me of losing Mom, of spending all that time in hospitals and watching her die slowly.

It hadn’t been fair.

Just like it hadn’t been fair for Noah to get hit by a car while on his usual evening walk.

I sighed heavily and went upstairs. For a moment, I lingered at the master bedroom.

Technically, it was mine now.

Technically, everything in the house was mine now.

But I couldn’t sleep in the master; it was Mom and Noah’s room.

---