Chapter 27 Cassidy
Chapter 27
Cassidy
They’re gathered in the library under blankets in the semidarkness. The gray, dreary day casts a veil over the inn, and rain patters against the rooftop. She’s still nauseated and a little dizzy from last night’s drinking, but she ate an entire piece of toast with jelly, and she’s thinking about splurging on another.
Simone and Rosalie went to Boone for some shopping and girl time, and Cassidy feels relieved her daughter is finally out of the kitchen. Lucy and Henry haven’t left their room, and Leo and Penny went off somewhere to talk, which leaves her with Sienna and Adam.
As much as she’d like to dislike Sienna—the unearthly beauty, an enviable figure (despite eating M&M’s at any given moment)—the woman doesn’t make it easy. After a few competitive games of Connect Four and Sorry!, Cassidy finds her witty, and she likes the way she asks questions and listens to the answers.
Adam buries his face in his phone while half listening and half watching an episode of Billions on his iPad. There’s a peacefulness to the afternoon that surprises Cassidy, and she wonders if this was Rosalie’s intent when she picked this place, for the two of them to become a part of something—to make friends. A surrogate family.
After they tire of the games, Sienna squishes beside Adam on the puffy sofa, and Lucy hobbles into the room beside Henry. Adam sets his phone down and fills them in on what’s happening on the episode.
The storm outside seems to pick up steam, and a clap of thunder shakes the building.
“Does anyone know if the power’s coming back anytime soon?” Sienna asks.
“You’d think they’d have a generator,” Cassidy replies, turning her phone off to conserve power. She catches Sienna watching her. She looks afraid.
“Do they have candles?” Sienna asks. “We’re going to have to light candles.”
“No candles.” Lucy waves a finger. “Ever since a candle burned that cabin down a few miles away, Renée has a no-candle policy.”
“I don’t remember that,” Henry says.
“That woman and her husband. Near Roan Mountain. I think she was pregnant. The husband died.”
Cassidy feels awful about that.
“They must have something for light!” Sienna lowers the bag of M&M’s. “We can’t sit here in the dark.”
Her high-pitched squeal gets Cassidy’s attention. Is Sienna shaking? Cassidy wants to ask her if she’s okay, but she’s not sure they’ve reached that level of friendship. “I’m sure the power will come back on soon.”
“But what if it doesn’t?”
Adam (the guy’s a dimwit, she’s decided) finally notices his wife’s discomfort. “Hon, we’re not doing this night-light stuff again, are we?”
Lucy’s intrigued. “What night-light stuff?”
Sienna glares at Adam.
“Sienna, what’s going on?” Lucy asks.
Sienna turns to her friend, her voice shaky. “I was planning on talking to you about this.”
“We have to sleep with a night-light,” Adam says, talking over her. “Something about the dark.”
“What do you mean, Sienna?” Lucy asks. “What’s he talking about?”
Sienna’s face turns beet red, and she stares at her hands clasped in her lap. Everyone in the room notices her fingers trembling.
“It’s true,” she stutters. “Something happens—”
Lucy pushes, asking her to explain.
“I can’t explain.” She’s knotted like a pretzel. “I just freak out.”
“How long has this been going on?” Lucy asks.
She shrugs, and she looks like she’s about to cry. “But it’s gotten worse the last few months. And we literally just got Julia to sleep in her own bed without a night-light.”
“Now we have a Nemo lamp in the room,” Adam says. “It’s very romantic.”
Lucy sneers at Adam. “This is important, Sienna.”
She looks up, her eyes brimming with tears. “I’ve wanted to talk to you, but you haven’t been the easiest to reach.”
Lightning flares outside the windows, another clap of thunder. Sienna looks like she’s on the verge of hysteria. “If we don’t have power tonight, what am I supposed to do?”
Cassidy wants to help, but she’s never been good at advice. People like her aren’t taken seriously, and her advice is often ignored. So she reaches inside her bag and hands Sienna a prescription bottle. Sienna takes her time reading the label.
“Trust me. Two of those, and you’ll sleep right through it.”