“Last one home, but you’re home now, Cassie.”

Amiee stood in the doorway to her bedroom. “Is everyone done crying yet?”

Cassie beamed a smile at her two sisters and it felt as if the doors of her heart had been tossed open. “I believe so.”

“Tell me a story from when you were kids my age,” Amiee pleaded.

“Let me see,” Karen lounged back in the sofa. She glanced toward Nichole and Cassie. “Remember Grandma Coulson and the fun things she used to cook for us?” Karen asked.

“Yum—those pizzas she used to make us with English muffins,” Nichole said.

“She made us green eggs and ham once, too, remember?” Karen said.

“And she served us sauerkraut for dessert and it was good,” Nichole added.

“Are you nuts?” Cassie said. “That was gross!” All three laughed at the memory.

“Oh, Karen, Nichole,” Cassie said, tearing up again. “I have so missed you.”

Owen stirred and Amiee immediately went back inside her bedroom.

“You never called,” Nichole said, but her voice wasn’t accusing or critical.

“I couldn’t,” Cassie admitted, lowering her gaze and clenching her fingers together. “Duke wouldn’t allow it.”

“What do you mean he wouldn’t allow it? How could he stop you? You had your own cell, didn’t you?”

“No. He made sure there was no way I could communicate with any of my family. Once he caught me; I’d borrowed a neighbor’s phone and … and let’s just say I paid the price for defying him.” She told them how he’d dislocated her shoulder and given her two black eyes. He refused to take her to the hospital and had a friend reset her shoulder. The pain was so severe Cassie had briefly passed out. She never tried to use a friend’s phone again.

Both were silent, aghast.

“I don’t understand,” Nichole continued. “If Duke was so cruel, why didn’t you leave him?”

This was a question Cassie had asked herself a million times. She gave Nichole the same answer she gave everyone. Getting away from Duke wasn’t as simple as it sounded. “The thing is, walking away from an abusive situation is hard. Harder than anyone realizes.”

“I don’t mean to criticize you,” Nichole said. “I’m just trying to understand.”

“Dad missed you something terrible,” Karen said, taking hold of Cassie’s hand.

“And I missed him and Mom and both of you so much. I don’t think you’ll ever know how I longed for my family.” Tears filled Cassie’s eyes again and she valiantly tried to blink them away. It was the memory of her parents and sisters that helped her through those lonely years; the belief that one day they would all be reunited.

Amiee returned to the doorway. “Mom talked about you all the time. I know just about everything there is to know about both of you. Aunt Karen, when can I meet my cousins? I’m the oldest, you know, and I want to meet Lily. Does she wear makeup yet? Mom won’t let me until I’m thirteen. She said that was because that was how long her mother made her wait.”

“Lily will love meeting you.”

“Can I see her sometime this summer?”

“You bet.”

“We’ll arrange a time later,” Cassie promised.

“Did you know Mom is no longer dating Steve?” Amiee said.

Karen’s eyes connected with Cassie’s. “I thought I heard something about that earlier. Are you okay?” The question was directed at Cassie.

“We miss him,” Amiee answered for her. “Mom doesn’t talk about it much, but I know she does.”

Owen stirred awake and right away Nichole was on her feet. “He’s going to need a diaper change.”

“Can I help?” Amiee asked, hurrying back into her bedroom.

Karen took hold of Cassie’s hand. “I’m sorry about Steve.”

Cassie nodded. “Me, too, but I’m not ready for a serious relationship.”

“I can understand your hesitation. Relationships are hard. Marriage, too.” Karen lowered her head.

Cassie hesitated before gently squeezing her sister’s hand. “Is everything all right between you and Garth?”

Karen nodded. “For the most part. Garth lost his job about three months ago … he was afraid to tell me and so he took money from our retirement account. It’s like we have to start all over again. My husband has hit bottom and frankly so have I. We’re in a tight place financially, but … but that doesn’t concern me nearly as much as seeing Garth in this kind of emotional anguish. I’ve never seen him like this.”

Cassie wrapped her arms around her sister. “I know what it is to hit bottom and to have to start over with nothing. The thing is that there’s only one direction left to go and that’s up.”

“He’s out every day job-hunting and comes home discouraged and deeply depressed. There’s nothing available in his field, and I mean nothing.”

“Is there anything else he’d like to do?” Cassie asked.

“I … I don’t know. I’ve never thought to ask him.”

“I had no job skills when I left Duke, but I’d always enjoyed working with hair. I decided to learn to be a stylist.”

“Garth enjoys golf, or at least he used to, but now it’s too expensive.” She hesitated. “He does a lot of crossword puzzles and works sudoku. From what I can figure that’s how he spends most of his days. To be fair, he does almost all of the household chores now and the cooking, but I can’t see him opening up a housecleaning service.”

“Talk to him. You might be surprised.”

“I will. We both need to look at options. At this point he’s butting his head against a wall. I feel like such an idiot. I should have known something was wrong, but like a fool I ignored what my instincts were telling me.”

“It will get better, Karen, trust me. I’ve been at this same point myself. God will make a way where there is no way. He did in my life, and He will with you, too.”

Her sister smiled and her eyes revealed the light of hope.

Nichole returned with baby Owen on her hip. The baby leaned his head against his mother’s shoulder.

“He wouldn’t come to me,” Amiee said in a dejected tone. “I held out my arms and he turned his head away and refused to look at me.”

“He will once he gets to know you better,” Nichole promised her.

Amiee, however, wasn’t about to let it go at that. “I’m your cousin, Owen, and one day maybe your mother will let me babysit you.”

Nichole laughed. “I think that could be arranged.”

They sat down and ate their cake and talked nonstop for nearly two hours. By the time her sisters left, Cassie was exhilarated and overwhelmed, giddy with happiness. Their visit had gone even better than she’d hoped.

“I like my aunts,” Amiee said, as they stood on the sidewalk and watched Karen and Nichole drive away. “They’re exactly as I pictured them.”

“They really haven’t changed that much.”

“You have,” Amiee insisted.

Karen had brought along the family photo albums their mother had kept, and they’d laughed their way through most of the pictures.

“Do you have pictures of me as a baby?” Amiee asked.

“Very few.” It did no good to remind her daughter there hadn’t been money for frivolities such as cameras and film when Duke needed beer and drugs. She didn’t mention that whatever photos she’d managed to get had been left behind.

“It’s good to have family, isn’t it?” Amiee asked, wrapping her arm around Cassie’s waist.

“Yes, it is,” she agreed, and kissed the top of her daughter’s head. Steve came to mind then, and she wondered where his family was and if he was close to his parents. They hadn’t talked about so many things. The thing was, even so, he was never far from her thoughts.

Chapter 32

After waiting impatiently for two months to hear from Cassie, Steve had given up hope of hearing from her. The next move had to be from her. He’d never meant to pressure her and now it seemed there was no going back and correcting his mistake. For the first couple weeks, he’d been calm and cool about it, but when she didn’t reach out the way he’d hoped he grew irritable. For the last six weeks he’d been angry at the world. It’d gotten to the point that even his best friend had taken to avoiding him.