Graceless (Grace Notes #2)

“Uh, see if you can stall Savannah?” she asked Annabelle, who blinked and nodded and headed out toward the pool.

Brynn slipped out the front door. Back outdoors, the oppressive heat felt so humid it was like trying to breathe through a wet blanket. She began to walk the long driveway, through the green fields, until the young woman appeared, walking towards her. The closer she got, the more her skin prickled until suddenly she was face to face with incredibly familiar blue-gray eyes.

The girl in front of her had long blonde hair all the way past her waist. She was small, wearing a slightly grimy crumpled green dress, black chucks, and a big rucksack. For a moment Brynn wondered if there’d been a rip in the space-time continuum and somehow Savannah Grace as a teenager had materialized in front of her. Then, real life caught up with her.

“Cassidy?” she breathed.

“You’re her,” the young woman said. “The woman my sister gay-married, aren’t you?”

“I’m Brynn,” she confirmed. “And I just gay-walked this hot driveway to come gay-meet you. Why didn’t you call first?”

“You think I have her number?”

“You don’t?”

“You don’t know anything.” Cassidy’s voice was bitter.

Brynn considered her while the sun beat down on them. She looked weary and irritable and very young, younger even than Brynn knew her to be. She gestured with her head to follow her and started back to the house.

“Can I ask what brings you here?”

“I don’t see how it’s your business,” Cassidy said flatly, her accent Savannah’s but even more of a drawl.

“Sure,” Brynn said evenly. “It’s just my home and my wife.”

“It’s between me and Savannah.” Cassidy lifted her chin defiantly.

“Alright, kid.” Brynn shrugged. “I’ll bring you to her. But…well, you’ll understand when you see her; just go easy on her, okay?”

A short, hard laugh barked out of the young woman and she shot Brynn a look of utter disbelief.

“Are you here to start some shit?” Brynn asked curiously as they reached the front door. It wasn’t like she wouldn’t let Savannah’s own flesh and blood in the house, but the clear fire burning inside the girl was giving her pause.

“Are you going to let me in the door, or should I just die out here in the heat?” Cassidy put her hands on her hips. Brynn bit back a grin.

She opened the door and they both crossed over the threshold into the relief of the cool climate-controlled house. Cassidy looked around her, at the pristine white entrance hall opening up to the view of the immense staircase to the upper floors.

“Stay here for a second,” Brynn told her, and walked through into the living room, where she found Savannah ensconced on one of the couches, a cushion behind her back, supporting the round sphere of her belly under the white gauzy beach dress she’d slipped on over her bikini. Annabelle had clearly shoved some kind of household accounts into her lap, with a sweating cool glass of sweet tea beside her for good measure.

“Babe,” Brynn started, and Savannah looked up. “There’s someone here to see you…” She was unsure how to prepare her, when suddenly her wife’s eyes went wide. Her mouth dropped open, but no sound came out. She hauled herself to her feet with effort.

“Cassie?” she whispered, taking a step toward the girl who’d ignored Brynn’s request and followed her into the room. Her eyes misted. “Oh my god, you’re so big,” she breathed.

Cassidy stayed rooted to the spot.

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?” She looked at Savannah’s mid-section with mild horror. “And you know I’m almost twenty-four, right? Just because you haven’t seen me since I was a child doesn’t mean time revolves around you.”

Savannah blinked at the hard tone. Then she cocked her head.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her eyes full of concern.

“No, I’m not okay,” Cassidy said, clearly exasperated. “You think I’d turn up here if I was okay?”

“Honey, what happened?” Savannah’s arms raised helplessly. It was clear she wanted to embrace her little sister, but every line in Cassidy’s body suggested that would be a very poor idea indeed.

“Look, can I just stay here for a bit?” Cassidy said ferociously. Brynn realized it was because she was fighting back tears and desperately didn’t want to show it. “It’s not like you don’t have the room for it,” she gestured irritably at the epic mansion around them.

“Of course.” Savannah seemed uncharacteristically at a loss, hovering a few feet from her younger sibling. “For as long as you need.”