Page 76 of The Dating Charade

Cassie moved around the wasteland of presents and across the room to put her hands on the girls’ shoulders. “Girls, I think we found one more present for you upstairs.”

Kennedy dropped the doll in her hands like a hot potato. Together, the girls bounded up the stairs behind Cassie.

A slow procession up the stairs began, and when Cassie looked over her shoulder, she saw the family following behind. She could see the excitement on their faces. Her sister, one arm gripping the handrail, the other beneath her protruding, eight-month pregnant belly, beamed as she carefully dodged the hem of her long, striped skirt and mounted the stairs. Bree, squeezing the life out of Star’s arm as she nudged her onto the top floor. Her mother, clipping off dust balls and stray lint with her reacher as she followed them up each step.

But as much as everyone had gathered together this morning acting as if it was like any other day, each and every one of them was acutely aware that it wasn’t. The gathering place was new. The monkey bread Cassie and the girls had clumsily prepared replaced over twenty years of her father’s eggs Benedict. It felt like at any given time someone’s phone was upraised, snapping pictures. Seemed everyone wanted to know and remember this Christmas day as special, as the first of many.

Cassie’s uncle pushed the door open, and Deidre and Kennedy ran beneath his arm.

Star stopped inside the door, and Cassie stood beside her. “I figured if you girls insisted on sleeping together, I might as well get something big enough for you all.”

Star ran her fingers down the king-sized black-and-white comforter replicating a map of New York. She picked up the green pillow declaring in cursive “morning sunshine” and set it back next to the mustard-green one with a winking face. Photo frames lined the bookcase headboard, including the one of them standing arms-over-shoulders with the girls and surprise Santa at Girls Haven.

“You like it? We can still trade the comforter out for something different. I tried to think like you, but I may have missed it altogether.”

Faces framed the door as everyone tried to get a good view of the room’s makeover.

“Miss C—Cassie—I love it.” Star hugged her tightly.

When Star started taking pictures and texting furiously, and the girls were bouncing on the bed, Bree stepped beside Cassie and whispered, “Now, I’m no parent, but I think that’s the twenty-first-century way of knowing if something was a hit.”

Deidre ran around to the other side of the bed, opened the waist-high, old-fashioned Coca-Cola fridge. All the snacks Cassie had been supplying before were set in neat rows inside.

Suddenly her nephew was tugging on her sister’s skirt, the new skateboard forgotten as he begged for a fridge of his own.

The moment was perfect.

“Honey?”

Cassie heard people’s voices drop off as she turned and saw her mother parting the doorway crowd. She held the reacher limp at her side.

She took a step forward, looking at no one but Cassie.

“Honey, a woman is here to see you.”

It was her mother’s eyes that frightened her.

“Who?”

“A woman from DCS. She says her name is Rachel.”

As if on impulse, Cassie picked up Kennedy. Cassie’s tone lifted. “Thanks. I’ll just . . . be a minute.”

Her mother reached her hands out for Kennedy, but as if her instincts were on high alert as well, Kennedy’s knees pressed tightly into Cassie’s ribs.

Cassie’s legs numbly took her down the stairs, chest pounding so hard her heart threatened to fall right out and tumble down. She shouldn’t expect the worst. And yet, every detail in her surroundings right now was an immediate reminder of what today was for: celebrating Christmas. Family was welcome today. Yards of crinkled wrapping paper and the scent of cinnamon cloves from homemade eggnog—these were welcome. Case workers making house calls were not.

Rachel’s legs came into view first, a parka still hanging loosely over her as she stood beside the piles of visitors’ shoes. In the last seconds before she saw Rachel’s face, Cassie wanted to be naïve, wanted to coax her fretful mind to believe there was nothing to worry about. But instead she found herself pressing her cheek against the cornrow braids of the child in her arms. Found herself kissing the top of Kennedy’s head.

She would know when she saw Rachel’s face what this meant.

Her knees weakened and she gripped the railing. She didn’t think she had the heart to find out.

But there, she took one more step. And knew.

Rachel’s voice came low as she fidgeted with her keys. “I’m sorry, Cassie. I’ve been trying to call all morning.”

Cassie felt like she couldn’t breathe. Slowly, she started to lower Kennedy to the ground. Kennedy only gripped tighter, however, the tulle of her velvety red dress covering both of Cassie’s arms.