A breakfast booth, a phone call to Adam that goes nowhere good, and a scroll through unanswered texts that adds up to everything Cassie has already lost.
Erin felt utterly defeated as they stepped into the little breakfast place with the yellow walls and the upside-down umbrellas hanging from the ceiling. They had a few hours to kill before their flight, and neither of them had eaten since leaving home that morning. They were both hungry, but the thought of food felt pointless.
They sat in the same booth as that first morning. The vinyl seat creaked under Erin as she shifted, the familiar smell of coffee and syrup thick in the air. The cheerful decor felt mocking now. Erin stared at the menu without seeing it, her mind spiraling.
Where could Parker have gone? Has she made new friends? Has she chosen a major? Is she happy? Is she safe?
She found herself glancing around the restaurant, half-expecting to see her daughter at another table.
What if she just transferred to another college in Virginia? It was already hundreds of miles from home. She wouldn't have had to go any further to get away from them.
How had she not noticed that the Sunday calls had stopped? How had she let it slide, let the silence become normal, called it space?
The waitress came over, notepad in hand. “What can I get you ladies to drink?”
Erin ordered coffee for both of them, barely registering the words. When the waitress left, she looked across at Cassie, who was staring at her phone, eyes red, wiping her face on the back of her hand.
Erin reached across the table and placed her hand over Cassie's. “Hey… talk to me. What's going on in that beautiful head of yours? Was it good to see Acacia again at least?”
Cassie was silent for a long moment. Then she passed the phone over without a word.
Erin looked down. It was Acacia's Facebook page. Cassie was blocked.
Cassie's voice was small. “It's the same on the rest of her socials. I kept texting her the whole way here. She hasn't read them. I guess I'm blocked there, too.”
Erin's heart twisted. “Oh, honey. What happened?”
Cassie took a shaky breath. “The last thing she said to me… she said…”
Erin squeezed her hand tighter. “It's okay. I'm here. You can talk to me.”
Cassie took a deep breath and said, finally, “She said… hide your moms, girls… Cassie Klein is back on campus…”
Shame hit Erin hard. She tightened her grip on Cassie's hand, thumb stroking the back of it in slow, soothing circles.
After a moment, Erin asked hesitantly, “What about the registrar? What did she want?”
Cassie wiped her eyes. “She wanted to know if she should send my transcripts to Caltech for next term.”
Erin recoiled slightly at the words.
In a better world, Cassie would be at Caltech right now. Not here in Virginia with her.
“After the wedding,” Erin said quietly.
“Yeah,” Cassie replied, voice small. “That's what I said…”
Trying to lighten the moment, Erin said softly, “You know, the last time we were here, you couldn't keep your foot to yourself.”
Cassie gave a weak, watery smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. A single tear slipped down her cheek.
Erin's mind drifted back to that first breakfast. Back then, she had known this was wrong. She had known she had to stop. And yet here she was, engaged to Cassie with no idea where Parker was.
Adam. God help her, he was the only place left to turn.
Erin took out her phone. Cassie looked up. “Who are you calling?”
“The only person left — her father.”
Cassie started to speak, but Erin held up a hand as the phone started ringing on the other end. When the line was picked up, Erin could hear a woman's voice in the background, distant. Then Adam's voice saying, “Yup! Be right there, babe. Just one second.”
Then, “Hello?”
Erin's voice was tight. “Adam, it's Erin.”
A huge sigh. “What?”
Cassie was looking at her hopefully. Erin turned away slightly. “Adam, I… I'm in Virginia. Parker's roommate said she moved out — that you helped her move.”
“Only took you nine months and a flight to Virginia to figure that out,” he said, coldly.
Erin tried to stay calm, but the panic was rising in her throat. “Adam… please… just tell me where our daughter is.”
“Oh, now she's our daughter? Listen, you, your fiancée, and that piece of shit roommate can all go fuck yourselves.”
The line went dead.
Erin redialed immediately, but it went straight to voicemail. She tried three more times while Cassie watched in silence, before she finally gave up.
“Well?” Cassie asked.
Erin's jaw tightened. “We are going directly from the airport to his place. He is going to tell me where Parker is or so help me…”
✦ ✦ ✦
The flight home was silent.
Cassie sat by the window, staring at the dark sky outside, the hum of the engines the only sound breaking the quiet. Erin was in the seat beside her, head back, eyes closed, but Cassie could tell she wasn't sleeping. Their hands were still linked on the armrest between them, but Erin felt miles away.
Cassie's mind wouldn't stop spinning.
Thanksgiving was coming up.
The realization rocked her like turbulence. She had been looking forward to bringing Erin down to meet Mama Webb and the family. To finally show Erin what a real holiday felt like — no stress, no pressure of having to prepare everything herself. After watching Erin exhaust herself over Christmas dinner last year, Cassie had been excited for her to just sit down and enjoy a meal someone else had made.
Now she wondered if they would be welcomed at that table. Would she sit at that crowded table with Erin and the Webbs, laughing and eating too much, like she had every year since she was a kid? Or was this going to be the first Thanksgiving she spent without them?
The idea made her chest ache. Mama Webb had been the closest thing Cassie ever had to a real mom. The woman who made sure she had a place to go when her own mother was too drunk or too high to care. The one who always asked how school was going, who slipped her extra money for books, who hugged her like she was one of her own.
Everything she had lost.
Acacia. Ten years of friendship — sleepovers, secrets, Mama Webb's Sunday dinners, the way Acacia always had her back no matter what. Gone. Just like that. Because she had chosen Erin. Because she had let months slip by without a single text, without a call, without showing up.
She loved Erin. That was true. But in the silence of the cabin, it was hard not to count the cost.
Cassie pulled out her phone with her free hand and opened her messages with Acacia. The long string of blue bubbles stared back at her — unread, unanswered.
She started scrolling up.
Kaysh I love you. You're the only family I have. Don't shut me out.
I know I don't deserve it but I'm begging you.
I miss you. I miss us. Please.
Kaysh I'll do whatever you want to make this right. Just please answer.
I'm so sorry. You're right about everything. I was a shitty friend.
Kaysh please please please just text me back. I'm so sorry.
She kept scrolling.
Hey, I really need to talk to you. Please, please, please just text me back. Call me anytime, whenever.
Cass, I'm having a really hard time. Can you just call me?
Hey, I think Parker's really mad at me. Can you just text me back?
Something's come up with Parker. Can you please just call?
Hey, are you and Erin coming to my graduation?
Cassie locked the phone and pressed it to her chest, eyes burning.
The silence of the plane pressed in around her.
She glanced sideways at Erin, the woman she loved, and wondered how much more she was going to lose before this was over.