Mistakes Were Made(25)

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Erin said, because Cassie never responded to her apology text, and she really was sorry.

Cassie just nodded at her.

“C’mon let’s get our bags,” Parker said, already heading away. “You’re making pot roast, tonight, right?”

“I swear you only like me for my cooking.”

“Nah, the college tuition helps, too.”

Erin rolled her eyes at Cassie, giving her a little smile. They could do this. They could be fine. She matched Cassie’s pace as they walked toward baggage claim. Cassie played on her phone and said nothing, shuffling along in socks and Adidas sandals.

Before their bags arrived, Parker disappeared to the restroom. Cassie was still focused on her phone. Erin tried not to look at her. The airport was small, only two luggage carousels. Other passengers from the same flight milled around. Erin eavesdropped on a couple with matching gray curls as they bickered about how expensive airline tickets were. Out of the corner of her eye, Erin saw Cassie slide her phone into the pocket of her sweatshirt, before both hands came up to take her hair out of the messy bun. Erin was staring by this point—she couldn’t help it. Cassie’s movement was like a rock skipping across a flat pond, breaking through the stillness.

“No more pink?” Erin asked.

Cassie looked at her, brows furrowing.

“In your hair,” Erin clarified.

“Oh,” Cassie said. “Nah. I’m too lazy to keep it up, and I’ve got grad school interviews in the spring.”

“She’s gonna abandon us for California,” Parker said with a whine as she returned from the bathroom.

“Is she?” Erin asked like it was possible she’d forgotten a single moment of their conversation at breakfast over Family Weekend.

Cassie shrugged. “Assuming Caltech recognizes a good thing when they see it.”

“Oh right. That’s where you’re going to learn to be an astronaut.”

Cassie groaned and Parker giggled. It wasn’t weird, then, how Erin remembered Parker teasing Cassie about that. It wasn’t too friendly for Erin to join in the teasing—Parker certainly looked delighted. Cassie had settled, too, no longer fidgeting and grimacing like she was when they first said hello. Maybe the next two weeks wouldn’t be impossible after all.

They all settled in further as they ate dinner. Cassie asked for seconds of the roast and potatoes, though apparently one serving of green beans was enough for her. Parker had always been talkative when she first arrived home—whether from a trip or simply a day at school. Once she’d finished updates of her classes and stopped to take a breath, Erin snuck in a question.

“And what about Sam?”

“Pass the potatoes, please,” Parker said as though Erin hadn’t spoken.

“Oh, do you not know?” Cassie said, a gleeful smirk on her face. “Your daughter is quite the exhibitionist.”

Erin raised her brows and Parker hissed, “Cassie.”

“It’s not my fault you made out with her in front of like a hundred people!”

Parker’s face froze in fury, and Cassie looked relentlessly pleased with herself. Erin bit her lip to hold in her laughter.

“That’s fine. I’m not embarrassed about it,” Parker said, though her cheeks were pink. She reached to grab the bowl of potatoes herself, then added a scoop to her plate. “Unlike some people—sneaking around with a secret lover.”

Erin blinked. What did that mean?

“You never told us who you were talking to that night,” Parker continued. “Maybe you’re the one who’s embarrassed.”

Erin didn’t know what Parker was talking about, but it didn’t seem good—the way Cassie’s eyes cut to Erin’s and away, as her throat worked to swallow her bite of pot roast.

“We did tell you. My secret lover is Acacia. We’ve been hiding our love for years.”

Parker leveled a look at Cassie. “I was with Acacia; you couldn’t have been talking to her. You were off by yourself drunk dialing someone else.”

Erin looked at her plate. Maybe she did know what they were talking about. She’d never deleted the texts from that night.

“Maybe I wasn’t dialing anyone,” Cassie said. She was studiously not looking at Erin. “Maybe Acacia and I were just sexting.”

Erin’s fork clattered against her plate.

“Shit. Sorry,” Cassie muttered. “The dinner table is probably not the best place to discuss sexting.”

Parker snickered, and Erin cleared her throat. Cassie could talk about sexting all she wanted—it was that she was actually talking about sexting Erin. Sure, Parker didn’t know, but Erin did.

“Yes, well,” Erin said. “I’d still like to hear more about Sam.”

Parker heaved out a sigh. “I’d like to hear more about dessert, instead. Did you make pie?”

“I’m making two pies for Christmas Eve, Parker. You don’t need three pies in one week.”

“Says who?”

Erin had never been more glad to move on from a conversation.

On the whole, dinner was, embarrassingly, very much like the breakfast the three of them shared in Virginia. Erin tried to focus only on Parker, but not in any noticeable way. She worried both that she was paying Cassie too much attention and too obviously ignoring her. Parker seemed carefree—oblivious, if Erin wanted to be rude about it, but she didn’t. She was grateful for Parker’s lack of suspicion.