"I'm going to go check on Mom," Cadence said, standing. As an afterthought, she picked up one of the throw pillows on the edge of the couch and threw it at Elliott, hitting him in the head.
"What did I do?" he asked, shocked.
She said nothing, just walked into the kitchen, a smile on her face. She had always wanted a brother.
Liz was just hanging up the house phone, still attached to the wall by an actual cord, as Cadence entered the kitchen. "Steve said that Alice was so thankful. It really means a lot to them, Cadence."
"That's good," Cadence replied, approaching the stove and sampling the mashed potatoes with her finger. "You sure you don't need anything?"
Liz seemed to consider for a second. "No, I'm good, honey. The meatloaf just needs a few more minutes. How are you feeling?"
Cadence pondered the question for a moment, wondering what her mother would expect to hear. "I'm okay," she finally answered. "It's definitely hard. But, at least I have good friends to help me through."
"Mmm hmmm," her mother said, a small smile pulling at the corner of her mouth.
Cocking her head to the side, Cadence asked, "What's that grin about, Mom?"
Attempting to look innocent, Liz replied, "Huh? Oh, nothing, honey."
"Bologna, Mom," Cadence disagreed. "Don't you think I know when you're thinking something that you don't want to say?"
"Oh, honey," Liz began. "It's nothing. I know now is not the best time to be talking about dating and the such. You probably don't want to discuss it, what with poor Jack being your only guy for so long. I'm just. . . happy you seemed to have found a nice, young man."
Cadence was genuinely confused. She leaned back against the counter next to the stove, her arms crossed. Her mother opened the oven to check the meatloaf and then closed it again before Cadence finally asked, "Mom, what are you talking about?"
"Cadence, I know you, darling. I can see it. You clearly have a little crush on someone. It's fine, honey. He's a good guy." She turned to grab a spoon to give the potatoes one more whip.
"Who are you talking about?" Cadence asked, trying to figure out who she had even been around in front of her mother recently. The only answer she could think of didn't even make any sense.
"Why, Elliott, of course," Liz replied, finally looking her daughter in the eye.
While the answer of, “gross," was what immediately popped into Cadence's head, she knew her mother might take that the wrong way. It was gross because she thought of him like a brother now, not because he was an icky guy. Although, he certainly wasn't the kind of guy that she would date. "Mom!" she finally said. "I do not have a crush on Elliott!"
Liz looked puzzled. "You don't?" Now, she looked disappointed. "But he's such a nice guy and such a teddy bear. And you seemed to get along with him so well."
"We do get along," Cadence admitted. "But I don't like him like that. Mom, he's totally not my type."
Liz considered that remark and knew it to be true. "Well, then, who is it that's got you all sulky and then happy and back and forth? There's got to be something going on."
Cadence shook her head. Her mother astounded her sometimes. "Oh, I don't know, Mom. Of all of the guys from LIGHTS that you have met, who do you think could possibly be a complete distraction? Who would literally make a girl's heart throb? Hmmm. . . let's think about this, shall we? You've known some of these guys a lot longer than I have. You're a woman, Mom. Who do you think?"
"All right, honey," Liz stated. "No need to get snippy. Give me a second to think."
"You're unbelievable, Mom," Cadence said, shaking her head, grabbing a glass out of the cabinet, and crossing to the refrigerator to get a drink.
"Oh!" her mother exclaimed behind her. "Honey, isn't he . . . gay?"
Cadence almost dropped her glass. "What?" she asked, spinning around. "Isn't who gay?"
"Well, Aaron," she said shyly. "I mean, he's definitely the best-looking man I've met at LIGHTS, or possibly at all for that matter," she added under her breath, "but, I'm almost certain he's, you know, batting for the other team."
"Mother, who says things like that anymore?" Cadence inquired emphatically. "No, he's definitely not gay. Why would you think that?"
"He's just . . . too perfect. So nice looking, well groomed, organized. Are you sure, honey?"
"Yes," Cadence confirmed.
"But honey, I think he might. . ."
"I'm certain, Mother. Certain."
"I don't know. . ." Liz insisted.
Cadence sighed. She still wasn't getting it. "Mom, I know he's not gay," she said gesturing so widely a splash of water from the glass in her hand spilled onto the floor.
Liz seemed to catch her drift at last. "Oh," she said, that small grin back at the corner of her mouth. "Well, okay, then." She nodded her approval of her daughter's taste and handed her beloved daughter a towel to wipe up the water. "You've always had your mother's good eye for men," she added patting her daughter on the shoulder. As she crossed back to the stove, she probed, "Now, tell me how this is going."
"Mother," Cadence exclaimed, wiping up the water. "No, not now. Maybe in a few months. Or years. It's . . .complicated."
"Okay," Liz acquiesced. "But if you ever need a backup plan, I think that Elliott is a nice boy, too. And he sure seems to care about you."
Cadence considered this information, especially since she knew that Elliott had requested she be removed from the team not that long ago. "He's a great guy," she replied. "Definitely someone I want to have around if I ever get myself into trouble."
