“Want me to tell you why I call you that?” I ask her.
Cassandra nods.
“Because you remind me of one. Beautiful. Mesmerizing. Too fragile for this awful world.” I slide one hand up to palm the back of her neck. “A pretty little butterfly I can’t help but want to protect.”
She sniffs again, then leans back just enough so she can look up at me. “Is that really why?”
I nod. I thought it the first time I saw her.
“That’s really nice.” Her wet lashes glitter. “I’m not fragile though.”
I swipe my thumb across her cheek, catching a tear. “You’re like spun glass.”
The side of her mouth pulls up. She thinks I’m teasing her, but I’m not. She’s the most precious thing to me.
Cassandra brushes at my shirt. “Sorry for crying all over you.”
“It’s alright.”
Her hand stills against my chest. “I always wanted a sister.”
I place my hand over hers. Not sure how to answer.
“What was her name?”
I close my eyes.
It’s been so long… It’s been so incredibly long since I’ve said her name.
“Freya.” I say it so quietly that I can barely hear the hitch in my voice.
My throat burns, and I have to swallow twice before I can pull in another breath of air.
Cassandra tips her forehead against my sternum, and I’m sure she can hear my thudding heart.
“Freya,” she repeats. “It’s a pretty name.”
I nod my agreement, even though Cassandra isn’t looking up at me. Hearing someone else say my sister’s name is… I fill my lungs again. It’s cathartic. It… it makes her real, having someone else say it. Like not every part of her is gone.
CHAPTER 35
Cassie
A timer beeps back in the kitchen, and I force myself to step back from Hans.
“Sorry.” I apologize again, brushing my hand over the damp spot on his T-shirt, which is thankfully not super noticeable on the black material.
“Please stop apologizing.” Hans lets his hands slide away from my body.
“Sorry,” I automatically reply before I can catch myself. Then I use my fingertips to wipe away the lingering tears under my eyes.
I don’t know why I responded like that. It feels like an overreaction, but I’m not certain it was. The man I’ve been crushing on for a year, who I’ve been getting very close to in the last couple days, just told me his whole family is gone. And that he lost his only sibling in one of the worst ways.
His overbearing actions make more sense now. His impulse to control.
Too fragile for this awful world.
My heart aches even more at his explanation.
Hans reaches out and brushes back a loose curl stuck to my damp cheek.
“It suddenly smells like cinnamon rolls in here.” His voice is gentle, and when I finally look up at him, his expression matches.
I sniff one last time. “Mom always makes them as dessert when we do breakfast for dinner.”
He gives that loose strand of hair a gentle tug. “Probably could’ve told me that before you fed me a whole second serving.”
I brush at my eyes again. “Maybe I wanted more cinnamon rolls for myself.”
Hans narrows his eyes at me, and I feel the sadness start to dissolve around us.
He steps forward, bumping his body into mine. “Get back to your chair, Girl.”
A genuine smile pulls at my mouth. “Or what?”
When Hans reaches for me, I jump back and hurry to the kitchen.
CHAPTER 36
Hans
Cassandra and her mom are still saying their goodbyes when I finish lacing up my second boot, her mom giving advice on what to pack in her carry-on just in case her main luggage gets lost on the way to Mexico tomorrow.
After our little sidebar in the hallway, the rest of the evening was filled with light topics and a surprisingly fun game of Scrabble, which I won.
Cassandra accused me of cheating, but when I won the second game, too, she settled for giving me adorably fake dirty looks.
Scrabble. With my sexy neighbor and her parents. What has my life become?
I brush off my knees as I stand to my full height and find Cassandra’s dad watching me.
I can tell that he wants to ask me something.
He glances at the women, then steps closer to me, keeping his voice low. “Did they catch the people who hurt your sister?”
His jaw is tense, and I can see it in his eyes… the dread that I’m sure every parent holds deep in their chest. The worry of what could happen.