Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Cadence
“Ican’t believe you’re leaving me to fend for myself in Charleston.” Jade crossed her arms in the passenger seat of my Jeep as we drove to into Fayetteville. She’d agreed to help me move back home and made me realize how lucky I was to have her as a sister.
“I’m sorry, Jade. It’s just that you are the only person there I like.”
“What about Rachel?”
“Okay, you got me. I like Rachel. But she was a work friend. Work friendships don’t last long once you’ve left the job. It’s just how it is.”
“Fine. But still. I’m enough to make you stay.”
“You’re right, but I have to do it this way.”
“I get it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Actually, I don’t.” She turned her body toward mine. “Yeah, we talked about it. But what the hell happened? I thought everything was okay. And suddenly, boom, you’re breaking up and moving away.”
“Things haven’t been good for a while, and I just got tired of putting up with it.”
Jade took a second before answering. “Why didn’t you ever talk about it? You know you can tell me anything.”
“I couldn’t talk to anyone about it. It wouldn’t have mattered, anyway. I was blind to it all until I saw it myself.”
I glanced at the driver’s side mirror to make sure everything still looked good on the trailer I towed. I’d filled it with the stuff I deemed essential. The rest of my belongings would come after the house sold.
Since we’d bought our home together, we agreed to sell and split the profits.
I already contracted a company to move all my furniture up to Fayetteville after the sale.
As of now, Elijah was using those items to stage our house.
I didn’t need any of it at this moment, anyway. Not without a place to live.
“If you can’t bear the thought of living without me, come up here and get an apartment with me.”
Jade chuckled. “Don’t tempt me with a good time. I can do my job anywhere in the world.”
As a freelance writer, she worked from home, so she really could.
I giggled. “Can you imagine after all these years, us finally living together again, as adults this time? We wouldn’t get anything productive done.”
“Remember when we were kids, and we tried to stay up all night? We eventually passed out around 6am, and Mom would make us get up. She never let us sleep in, said we knew what we were getting into.”
“Or when we wanted to talk about Barbies in public or in our notes, so we called them B’s & K’s. Like that really hid our true intentions.”
“And when we tried to sneak into the kitchen for snacks, but your dad fell asleep on the couch. So, we walked during his snores to avoid getting caught.”
“Spending all night setting up our Barbie game, to include their outfits, backstory, and conflict, but never actually playing it out.”
“Oo! Like when we went to the park, as full-fledged teenagers, and ran around acting out our stories and getting weird looks from the little kids who were supposed to be the ones on the equipment.”
“And when it was curfew, we came home and tried to re-enact it with our… ”
“Barbies,” we said together.
We erupted into a fit of laughter, the memories from our childhood bringing us more joy in the present than they had back then.
“When our parents got married, we seriously won the lottery. You are the best bonus sister anyone could ask for.” I leaned back in my seat.
“Tell me about it. Sometimes people get stuck with some real weird step-siblings.”
“We were fortunate.”
“Extremely.”
“Now, you have to move in with me. You don’t have a choice. You made the option too appealing, and my life will be over if you refuse.”
“Whatever. No need for the theatrics”
I turned on my blinker to exit the highway. “You know you want to.”
“I might consider it.”
“Good. Because while you’re here, I need help looking for apartments.”
“Geez. Put me to work, why don’t you?”
“Why else would you come all the way to Fayetteville with me?”
“Gee. I don’t know. Maybe because I was scared for you during your mid-life crisis. I needed to make sure you weren’t being held at gunpoint.”
“Now who is being dramatic?”
“Just one of the many specialties.”
“Not to change the topic from how much I adore you, but do you need anything before we pull in?”
I watched Jade shake her head out of the corner of my eye. “No, I’m okay. Thanks.”
We got closer to my mom’s neighborhood, and the finality of what I was doing settled in. This was it. I was finally home.
I’d spent the last week locked in the guest bedroom while Elijah wasn’t at work and packing up my stuff when he was.
Elijah thought a good night’s sleep after our big fight would make everything okay. For two nights, he had sought me out when he came home from work. He pounded on the door, angry at me for shutting him out. After threatening to break it down if I didn’t open up, he finally walked away.
He returned a while later, calmer, and tried to reason with me. He begged me to open the door and talk about it, promising he’d do better and try harder to be supportive.
It was too little, too late.
The fourth night, I didn’t hear him at all. He’d come home and went right to bed.
On the fifth, I’d waited for him at the kitchen table to discuss the house and our future. I told him I was moving out, and I would be back for my stuff. He only nodded as I explained how we’d separate from each other forever.
As I stood to return to the guest bedroom, he grabbed my hand and asked. “Is there any chance you’ll stay?”
It took everything I had not to take him into my arms and say yes. To erase the misery that had consumed us these past few days.
I gazed at his perfectly styled brown hair, and handsome face. His clear blue eyes yearned for me to tell him what he wanted to hear. I shook my head, pulling my lips into a straight line as I fought tears and slipped my fingers from his.
I couldn’t.
It would cost me everything.
I wasn’t sure when he’d finally gone to bed because my crying muffled everything out.
What I was doing was right for me, but it didn’t make it any easier.
This wasn’t an overnight decision. It was one that had been coming for months. While it seemed sudden to others, Elijah had been pushing me away for longer than I realized.
“We’re here!” I said as I pulled in front of my mom’s house, bringing me out of my memories. “Will you back me up?”
“Duh!”
Jade jumped out and walked down the driveway to help me. When I got out of my Jeep, my mom stepped out the door and grabbed me.
“Welcome home, sweetie. I missed you.”
I wrapped my arms around her. “I was just here, Mom.”
“It’s never enough.”
I smiled and took a deep breath, and like always, she smelled like home.
“You remember Jade, right?” I pulled back and gestured to the guest we’d completely neglected.
“Of course, I do! Come here, honey.”
My mom was the epitome of kindness and hospitality. She welcomed everyone with open arms. That was, until you got on her bad side, and then all hell would break loose.
“Let’s get you two inside. I bet you’re tired from the trip.” She put her arms around our shoulders and carted us through the door. “I’ve got a fresh pot of coffee brewing.”
That night, my mom’s house echoed with laughter and unfiltered happiness, creating one of the most unforgettable nights I’d experienced in a long time.
Leaving Elijah behind had created a hole in my heart that I needed to heal.
I mourned the loss of him, and the friend he had once been.
But surrounding myself with the people who loved me most and accepted every part of me only solidified my decision.
At my mom’s, there was no pretending or expectations.
The Cadence who came out was unapologetically authentic.
I finally felt free.
My mom had a three-bedroom house, but beside her room and mine, the other was unusable. She’d filled it with workout equipment that would never be used and extra pieces of furniture.
So, Jade would sleep with me in my old queen-sized bed like we did as kids.
We hurried through our night routine before climbing under the sheets. I turned off the lamp on my nightstand and settled in, facing away from Jade, and tried to find that sweet spot in the mattress that optimized my comfiness.
“Goodnight, Jade. Thanks for coming up with me today.”
“Anytime. Goodnight.”
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and focused on relaxing every part of my body, starting with my toes.
“Hey… Cay?” Jade said a moment later, breaking my concentration.
“Hm?”
“Why did your parents split? We never talked about it before.”
I popped my eyes open. “Really? You wanna talk about this now?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Fine.” I groaned and rolled on my side to find she was already facing me.
“There isn’t much to tell from what I know.
My mom said they used to fight a lot, and she changed herself to make him happy.
He wanted something that she could no longer give.
So, they split. It broke her heart to admit that she wasn’t what he needed.
But she says she’s better for it. She’s happier now. ”
“Do you ever think she will remarry?”
“Honestly, I wish she would. She deserves it. She should be happy, and she has so much love to give.”
“That’s how I feel about my mom, too.”
“I was pretty surprised when your mom and my dad got divorced. I assumed they were happier than that.”
“Me too. But looking back, I remember hearing them argue. They tried to hide it from me, but I was a sneaky son of a bitch. Not to mention nosy. I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about, but I wanted to be involved.”
“Sounds like something you’d do. Sneak around and eavesdrop.” I pushed my arm under my head.
“Ha. As if you weren’t right behind me when you were there.”
“We are discussing you. Not me, okay?”
“Well, anyway. My mom is happier, too. Everything works out for the best, I suppose.”
“Marriage is scary.”
Jade pursed her lips. “Since you and Elijah aren’t together anymore, do you think you’ll still get married one day?”