Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Clearing out the house and getting it ready to sell wasn’t much fun. Cass helped immensely, which meant that they were ready to leave in seven days instead of two weeks.
The service for their mother was small, but nice.
He talked to a few people who had remembered him, but he didn’t spend a lot of time chatting with his mother’s friends.
Honestly, he’d been surprised that many people showed up and called her friend.
He guessed it was true that some people just treated family differently.
Gina wasn’t able to go back to work before she turned in her notice. They’d talked one night, and she’d told him she wasn’t satisfied with her job. She loved nursing, but working here hadn’t been like other places. She’d never fit in, and it felt like some of the staff made it difficult on purpose.
He hoped she would fit in when she started working in California. They were leaving in two days, driving across the country since they had Gina’s stuff that she wanted to take with her. Cass was a little sad that they weren’t flying, but she was excited about seeing different parts of the USA.
“Hey, Aaron,” Cass called from her bedroom.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“I need some help.”
He headed back to her room, unsure what she needed. When he stepped into her room, he didn’t see her. “Where are you?”
“In the closet.”
He moved to the closet door and saw her up on a stepstool, poking her head in a hole he’d never seen before.
“An attic entrance? Did you know that was in your closet?”
She stepped down one step, her eyebrows raised. “Do you think I would have slept in this room if I knew there was a hole in here?”
He couldn’t hold back the laugh. “I guess not. What was blocking it?”
“Mom put a box up there. It was big. I never pulled it down because I thought it was just her old clothes.”
“What did you find?”
“I don’t know. A box and I can’t get it. It’s heavy. Can you get on the stepstool and pull it down?”
“Sure.”
He moved past her into the closet and stepped up on the stool, shining the light from his phone around. The attic space wasn’t big, only about five feet high and maybe six-by-six wide.
He grabbed the box and pulled it to him. He was glad there weren’t a bunch of spiders up there and no rodents. He hated missions when they ran into mice. He thought those were some of the grossest creatures. Rodents were crazy destructive, and mean. At least the ones in the wild were.
The box wasn’t big, but it seemed like it was packed full of something. What was in this box that his mom kept hidden in a tiny attic space that she kept clean? He hadn’t known about this, and neither had Cass. It was weird to think she had hidden secrets she didn’t want them to know about.
Cass stepped closer to the stool as he stepped down. “What’s in it?”
“Not sure yet. I haven’t looked.”
“It’s odd, don’t you think? She had this up here all this time, and I never knew.” Cass ran her finger over the top of the box. “It’s not dusty either. Like at all.”
It was weird that a box in an attic space had no dust. Attics were notoriously dusty, and yet this space was very clean.
When had his mom last cleaned it? She had to have already been sick.
Had she planned for them to find this box?
“Yeah, a little odd. But whatever it is, it probably doesn’t matter.
” He said that last bit to make Cass feel better.
“Maybe.” Cass twisted her hair through her fingers. “It might matter. Like what kind of secrets could she have?”
He shrugged, still trying to downplay what they found. “The older people get, the more secrets they have.”
“It’s weird.”
Cass stepped back, and he set the box on the dresser. His sister moved to him, bouncing on her feet.
“This is exciting.”
“Yes, I guess it is.”
Gina stepped into the room. “Did you find something?”
Cass spun to her. “A box that was hidden.”
“Oh, what’s in it?” Gina asked.
“We’re about to open it.”
Wave paused. “It could be nothing.”
“Maybe. But it could be something.”
He hoped this wasn’t anything that could hurt his sister. She seemed very hopeful, and he’d learned a long time ago that he couldn’t be hopeful as far as his mother was concerned.
He opened the box, seeing a bunch of files. Cass pulled one out and started leafing through it. He grabbed a file and opened it, seeing information for someone he didn’t know.
“What is this?” Cass asked.
He shook his head. “I don’t know.” His stomach clenched as a weird feeling slid through him. “Wait. What if it’s something you don’t want to know about?”
Cass paused and looked up, meeting his gaze. “I don’t know, but I can face anything.”
He swallowed over the lump in his throat, wondering if he should look through the files on his own. Cass was an adult, and if he put his foot down, it would only cause problems between them.
“Okay, but if it’s something weird, we can stop and talk at any time.”
“Let’s take it to the kitchen and look through it in there.”
Wave carried the box to the kitchen and set it down hesitantly. He had the feeling that this was going to change things.
Cass pulled a file from the box and opened it. Wave grabbed another file, reading the information. It was a medical file for a woman he didn’t know.
“I think this is a medical file,” Wave said.
“Same for this,” Cass said.
Gina moved closer. “Can I look?”
Cass handed her the file. “Sure.”
Gina glanced at the file, then took the file Wave had been looking at. It didn’t take her long to figure out what was in the files. “These are charts for pregnant women.”
Wave picked up another file and browsed through it. “Same kind of information.”
“Why does Mom have so many files about pregnant women?” Cass asked.
Wave checked the date on the files, and his stomach tightened. The information made him nauseous. “They were all pregnant around the time you were born.”
“That’s weird,” Gina said. “Can I see the rest of the files?”
“Sure.”
Wave handed over the box, and Gina flipped through all the files. It only took her a short moment to look at everything.
“It’s ten women who were pregnant all around the same time.”
Cass looked at the files. “This is so odd.” She met his gaze. “Do you remember anything from that time?”
He shook his head. “I was ten. Mom didn’t pay much attention to me. She was busy getting stuff ready for you.”
Cass chewed on her thumbnail. “It’s weird.”
Gina nodded and then shrugged. “She could have the files for a totally innocent reason.”
Wave had the feeling it wasn’t innocent.
His mom had been strange about stuff. She liked having guys pay for her lifestyle, and from what he remembered at the time, she really liked attention from Cass’s dad.
He hadn’t stuck around for long. He’d been a little shit at that age, so he hadn’t really paid that much attention to his mom, but Cass’s dad had been around for at least two of his birthdays.
“I remember Mom recovered quickly from giving birth to you. I don’t know how much the guy paid her before he took off, but she had money, at least for a little while, which was something new, or at least new to me. Maybe she always had money.”
“I remember meeting my dad a few times.”
Wave nodded. “I think he came by once or twice after your birth. Then it was just a few times a year when you were a kid.”
“Yeah, he wasn’t here much. I don’t think I’ve seen him since I was ten or so.”
He bit his lower lip as he thought about everything. “The house. Who gave it to her?”
Cass’s forehead wrinkled in concentration. “I don’t remember his name from the paperwork. But she always had guys hanging around.”
“Yeah, Mom got around.” Wave glanced up and met Gina’s gaze and winked. He hoped she wasn’t feeling judged by what had been said. “But it was her prerogative. She was an adult.”
Cass nodded. “Once I was older, she made sure I had somewhere to stay most weekend nights. I thought it was great fun always having sleepovers, but looking back, I wonder if she was hooking up with men.”
Wave shrugged. “She probably was.”
“I know she wasn’t very good to you. I think my life would have been a lot different if you hadn’t sent money each month. She wasn’t the best mom, but she had her moments.”
Gina put her arm around Cass. “I know she loved you, even if that love wasn’t as good as what you deserved.”
Cass hugged Gina. “Thank you. I know you saw from the outside. It was difficult. I saw how she treated Wave, and I learned to expect less. I was happy, for the most part. She wasn’t the best mom, but she wasn’t the worst either.”
“That’s a very healthy attitude,” Gina said.
Wave put the files back in the box and closed the lid. “Do you want to keep the files or toss them?”
Cass’s lips screwed up to the side. “Keep them. I want to go through them and see if I can figure out why she had them. It’s only one more box.”
He nodded. “Sure. We’ll pack them in the back of the truck.”
“How long will it take us to drive?” Gina asked.
“A couple of days,” Wave said.
“The pod company I contacted is loading the last of my stuff tomorrow, and the company shipping my car is going to pick it up tomorrow, too. We should move the furniture you want to keep over to my apartment today.”
Wave nodded. “Sure. I have someone coming to help with that this afternoon. It’s only three pieces of furniture. Everything else will go with the house or be picked up and taken away.”
Cass put her hand on his arm. “It’s weird leaving here, but it’s time.”
He pulled her into a hug. “I think you’ll like California. The person buying Mom’s car is coming later today. We’ll buy you a car when we get out there.” They would take their mom’s car, but it was small and old. There was no way all three of them could fit in the car, not with boxes or suitcases.
“Thank you,” Cass said.
“You know, it will be different, but different can be good.”
Cass nodded. “Yes, it can. I’m sure I’ll be happy out there. I always wanted to go visit you, but Mom never wanted to go there.”
“I know. You’re a good sister. I’m glad we’re related.”
“Same.”
With her moving in with him, there would be an adjustment period, but Cass was easy to get along with. They would figure it out as they went. He was looking forward to getting to know Cass better. She was his sister, and he was glad they would have this time together.
The idea of living with Gina sent a thrill through him. He needed to make sure she understood he was serious about her. He also wanted her to know he would let her go if she didn’t want to stay. Though, he hoped she wanted to stay with him, because he really liked her.