Waveborn

23

In the few days since Cass had visited the diner, the pots out front had exploded with pink and purple blooms, They fluttered in the breeze like little girls' dresses, while a mouth-watering jumble of food smells drifted from the open door, making her stomach growl. She couldn't remember when she last ate.

Inside, Maggie waved her to an empty table. "Want something to drink?"

No, Cass thought, I want to quiz you about my parents I want to ask if it's at all possible I have a sister-a sister who my paranoid guardian has kept a secret for the past twelve years.

The words lodged sideways in her throat. Now that Maggie stood in front of her, she didn't know where to begin. Begin by ordering, she told herself. It would be a hundred times easier to talk to Maggie if she was an actual customer. "I'll have a lemonade and cheese fries."

She listened to Maggie's muted voice, relaying her order, and then watched her make rounds with the water pitcher. How old was she? Forty, maybe? Twelve years before, she would have been in her twenties or thirties, not much older than Cass's mother. They might have been friends.

By the time Maggie returned, lemonade in hand, Cass's heart felt ready to thump its way out of her chest. She wasn't sure if that was because she was afraid to ask the question or afraid of what Maggie might answer. Both.

A frown drew lines between Maggie's eyes. "Everything all right?"

Cass searched the woman's face as if she could decipher the past from the expressions flitting across her features. "I was just hoping to talk to you-to ask you-did I have a sister?"

Maggi froze. "Oh, honey. Why are you asking me? Hasn't Jen told you about your family?"

Cass drew a deep breath. "I'm asking because you knew them. Jen's told me almost nothing. She doesn't like to talk about them. She..." Cass hesitated, feeling disloyal, but it had to be said. "She lied about them. Until we came back here, I thought my parents died in a boating accident."

Maggie gazed past her. "She must have...there must have been a good reason."

A voice called from the kitchen and Maggie hollered back, "Just a sec!" Then, to Cass, she said, "Your fries are up. Let me get them for you."

When Maggie returned, she hovered at the table's edge, wearing the expression people got when they were trying to decide whether to treat Cass as a kid or an adult. Cass was sick of being treated like a kid. She was sick of people keeping things from her "for her own good."

"Do you have kids?" she demanded.

Maggie gave her a startled look. "Yes. Two boys, both off at college."

"If you died, wouldn't you want them to know what happened to you? If one of them died, wouldn't you want the other to know?"

"You're just like your mother-too damn smart for your own good." Maggie glanced behind her to the other tables, filled with ordinary people-tourists and islanders-murmuring ordinary conversations. "Fine. I'll tell you whatever you want to know, but if anyone asks, you didn't hear it from me."

Cass's heart picked up speed. "I won't say a word. Promise."

"What has Jen told you?"

"That my mother was murdered. That Dan was a suspect. That's it."

Maggie nodded. "All right, then. We'll start with the facts as I know them. First off, yes. You had a sister. Her name was Selena."

Cass gripped the table edge so hard her fingers ached. She thought she'd been ready for the answer, but it still hit like a punch in her stomach.