"Cadence! We're so happy to see you!" Liz Findley exclaimed, welcoming her daughter into her home and embrace. "How are you sweetheart?" She planted a kiss on her cheek before taking a step back to survey her oldest daughter, and then pulling her back into her arms.
"I'm okay, Mom," Cadence assured her. She waited for her dad to complete his handshake greeting to Aaron before enveloping him in a tight hug. "I missed you, Dad," she whispered, kissing him on the cheek.
"Welcome, Aaron," Liz said hugging him as well. Cadence knew the smile on her mother's face was forced, but she appreciated the effort. While she was certain he was also aware of her mother's true sentiments, he didn't let it be known and thanked her politely.
"Where's Cass?" Cadence asked, longing to see her little sister, despite the fact that she was whole-heartedly dreading telling her what they had come to reveal.
"She's on her way home from cheerleading camp," her mother explained, guiding them into the living room. "She should be home in about an hour. Can you believe her friend Lucy has her driver's license?"
Cadence sat down on the couch, her mother on one side, Aaron on the other. Eli, her father, took his usual place in his favorite chair. "No, that's crazy," Cadence agreed. "Cassidy is one of the younger kids in her class, though," she reminded her mom. "I was always the oldest."
"Well, if you'd have come out when you were supposed to," Liz stated, shaking her head.
"Okay, Mom, I know. I was two weeks late. I've heard this story a bazillion times," Cadence replied, shaking her head.
"It's that September birthday. Makes you seem a whole year older than everybody else, sweetie," her dad chimed in.
Cadence just nodded, her mind wondering to the true reason for her visit. Her expression must have given her sentiment away, as Aaron reached for her hand, and her mother said, "We were... devastated when your grandmother called with the news. I can only imagine how you must feel, honey."
A solitary tear rolled down Cadence's cheek, and she allowed it. "It's been hard on all of us," she finally replied after a few moments, squeezing Aaron's hand.
"And then Hannah said you had to go out of the country, but she said nothing more. Is everything else okay?" her father asked, a tone of concern in his voice.
"It is now," she replied, glancing at Aaron for a moment. He gave her a weak smile, and then looked away, as if to say he was sorry he had her and her family so worried.
The conversation wavered back and forth between sports, the antics of her parents' friends, and the weather before the sound of squealing tires outside let them know Cassidy, and her newly christened driver friend, Lucy, had arrived.
Cassidy burst in the door, suitcase in hand, Lucy behind, trying to keep up. "OMG!" she yelled as the door hit the wall with a smack. "Cadence!"
Cadence was at the door to greet her within a fraction of a second. "Hey!" she said, wrapping her arms around her little sister. "How'd you know it was me?"
"Because Aaron's the only one who drives the Lamborghini, and he wouldn't be here without you--at least, I didn't think he would be. I can't believe you're home! I missed you so much!" she explained still squeezing her sister's neck tightly.
"I missed you, too, sis," Cadence said, kissing her on the head. Then, she turned to the blond behind her sister, whose hair cascaded down her back almost to her knees. "Lucy, it's nice to see you, too," she said smiling.
Lucy was staring past Cadence, and at first her words must not have registered. After a very long pause, she managed an "Uh, huh," and Cadence realized Aaron had followed her to the door.
"Luce, you okay?" Cassidy asked, waving her hand in front of her friend's eyes.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," the young girl finally replied.
"This is my boyfriend, Aaron," Cadence explained.
"Boyfriend?" he asked, a lull of amusement, or possibly surprise, in his voice.
"Damn straight."
"It's nice to meet you," Lucy managed to get out, eventually taking the hand he was offering her.
"You, too," he said, stifling a laugh. Cadence didn't know if it was at Lucy's reaction or her comment. "It's always nice to see you, too, Cassidy," he added awkwardly, not sure whether he should offer his hand or hug her.
Cassidy stepped forward and gave him a quick hug, which Cadence found to be quite polite, considering she was fairly certain her sister didn't know what to think of Aaron.
It only took a second for her to ask the question Cadence had been dreading. "Why isn't Elliott here?" she asked, looking around.
"Cassidy, sweetheart, how was camp?" Eli asked ushering his daughter into the living room and successfully changing the subject for the time being.
"Lucy, thanks so much for bringing her home," Liz smiled. "You're such a good friend. I bet your parents will be so excited to see you, sweetie."
"Oh, yeah, I guess I should be getting home," Lucy nodded. She said her goodbyes, took one more lingering look at Aaron, and then bounded out the door.
"Now that little girl has a lot of hair," Aaron commented as Cadence took his hand and followed her mother into the living room. Cassidy was sitting on the sofa and her father was asking her about cheerleading camp.
"We came in fourth, which isn't bad, but I really feel like we can do better next year," she was saying. As Cadence entered the room, she looked at her with a peculiar expression on her pretty face, and then repeated her earlier question. "So, you didn't answer me. How come Elliott's not here? Is he at the hotel or something?"
"You know what, I was just about to put some cookies in the oven," Liz remarked. "Eli, darling, can you help me?"
"Do you want me to stay or go?" Aaron asked.
"Go," Cadence replied, knowing her sister would be more comfortable if he was out of the room. "But not far."
He kissed her on the cheek and followed her parents out of the room, and Cadence absently thought the conversation he was about to have with her parents would seem painful when compared to any other conversation in the universe, save the one she was about to have herself.
Cassidy was extremely bright and the mass evacuation of the room was not lost on her. As Cadence sat down next to her on the couch, tucking a foot beneath her and placing a throw pillow on her lap, she said, "Cadey, you're scaring me. What's going on?"
Even though Cassidy had not been friends with Drew, she had known her. Cassidy had been extremely fond of Jack. As excruciating as it had been to go through those two deaths for Cadence, it had been difficult for her sister as well, and part of Cadence's suffering came from knowing her sister was so upset. This would be the hardest of all, however. Cassidy had grown extremely fond of Elliott over the last six months or so. Despite the fact that Cadence had gone over this conversation in her head dozens of times in the past few days, she knew there was no way to break it to her in a way that would prevent her from falling part. Nevertheless, it had to be said, and she had to be the one to say it.
"Cass, there was... an incident... at work, a few days ago," she began.
"Cadence, is Elliott... dead?" Cassidy asked, getting straight to the point.
