Page 52 of Cass

She smiles at me. “I know he was. So is my current man. He wants to talk to you. He’s extremely regretful for how he treated you this morning. He’s been beating himself up about it all day.”

I smile. “I know he’s a good man. I could never be mad at him. I love how much he cares about you.”

“He cares about you too. He wanted to come with me to see you so he could apologize, but I told him you and I needed some time alone.”

I nod. “I understand.”

She turns to me and grabs my hands. “Cassandra, Trevorreallyloves you. He blew us away when he came over today. You have no idea the things he said about you, Cass. They were so incredibly special. I’m so happy for you. You deserve the kind of truly special love he has for you.” She hugs me.

“He’s special.” I give her my patented smile. “And he’s extremely well-endowed.”

Darian laughs. “Like father, like son. All the way around.” We both laugh, as we wipe away the last of our tears.

She takes my hand and pulls me to stand. “Come on. We have something to do.”

I look at her in question. “What do you mean? I don’t think I can physically move after all of the events of today.”

She smiles. “There’s something Trevor thinks you need to do, and I think he’s right about it. We agreed I would be the one to take you.”

We get in her car and drive for about forty-five minutes. She refuses to tell me where we’re going, despite my best efforts.

We eventually pull up to an old looking row house. It’s actually surprisingly well-kept, but it’s old.

We get out of the car and knock on the front door. A young woman in scrubs answers. “Can I help you?”

“Hi. I’m Darian Knight. I called earlier today about visiting.”

“Oh, yes. Come in. Perfect timing. She just woke up from her nap.”

I look at Darian in confusion. I genuinely have no clue where we are or what we’re doing here. We follow the woman and walk straight toward a bedroom where an old, sickly woman lies in a hospital bed.

She turns her head toward us, and I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me. “Cassandra? Is that you?”

I slowly nod at my father’s second wife. A much older, much sicker looking version of my father’s second wife. “Hello, Barbara.”

She smiles at me. “You’re still so beautiful. You’ve barely aged a day in twenty-five years.”

I swallow. “Thank you, Barbara. What’s…what’s going on with you?” It’s hard to get the words out since it’s clear she’s dying.

“Well, as I’m sure you can see, I’m not doing so well. I’ve had cancer for years, but the end is finally here. I don’t have much time left.”

“I’m really sorry to hear it.”

“Thank you.” She reaches out for my hand. I walk to the bed and I take it.

Darian steps forward. “Barbara, do you think you could help Cassandra understand her father a little more?”

Barbara smiles. “I would love to. Oh, I loved him so much. He was good to me. I hope you know his fractured relationship with you was his biggest regret in life. He always thought he’d have time to make it right, but then he passed so suddenly. He was too young. I tried to call you many times to explain things, but I never heard back from you. I guess after a while, I stopped trying.”

I squeeze her hand. “I’m sorry, Barbara. I probably should have taken your calls. I was hurting at the time. I was wrong.”

“I know you were hurting, sweetie. I never faulted you for anything.” She pats the bed right next to her. “Come sit. Let me fill you in.” I sit on the bed.

“When you were young, your father had a major car accident. Do you remember?” I nod.

“Whatever happened in that accident caused several repressed childhood memories to surface. Memories of abuse he suffered when he was a child.” I feel tears stinging my eyes.

“It really shook him. He was having trouble functioning in life, and wanted to seek help. He wanted to go to therapy to attempt to deal with it. Your mother didn’t want him to explore it. She thought it would cause more damage than good. She thought opening old wounds would be a mistake.”

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