Chapter 273

Cattie was a lot more confused and hurt about Sherry than Heather. She really hadn’t even started to process that betrayal yet, and when we opened the floodgates the mourning started. She didn’t wail and scream, but she was deeply wounded and Cassidy and I spent the next hour just holding her. Occasionally we talked a little, and I had to turn off my ‘problem-solving brain’ to just sit and be with her as she processed.

Cattie’s family was kind of messed up. Sherry was only her half-sister for a reason, and Cattie had done everything she could over the years to be a good older sister even when they were split apart because of custody agreements and parents moving around. I couldn’t fathom what had been going through Sherry’s mind throughout the week. When I’d first met her in the parking lot of the boat rental place she’d seemed just a little shy, but cute and sort of bubbly. What had changed? And when had that change really started? It couldn’t have happened over the course of the trip, it had to have started earlier than that.

I didn’t say my suspicions out loud. It might have further hurt Cattie instead of helping to just explain things.

Heather was an aggressive predator without any sense of sexual boundaries, as far as I could tell. How likely was it that she’d set her sights on Sherry long before this week and been laying the foundation of getting her into bed?

Cattie eventually got up and took a shower, feeling gross after all the crying. I wanted to go with her, or at least have Cassidy with her, but she just shook her head and asked for a bit of alone time. Cassidy snuggled into my side as soon as Cattie shut the washroom door and cried a bit again herself, though this time it was in empathy for her friend. By the time the shower turned off in the washroom, I was up and knocked on the door. She opened it, and I entered to dry her off with a towel myself. She cried again, happy tears, as I pampered her. Then we went back out and Cassidy met her in a big hug, promising that we’d both always be there for her no matter what.

This time, before getting back into bed naked, I made the executive decision that we needed to at least put some underwear on. Once that was accomplished we sat on top of the sheets and I held Cattie’s hand.

“There’s one more thing I wanted to check in with you about,” I said. “Tonight Cassidy and I have a date with Becca. Unless something dramatically bad happens, the expectation is that I’m probably making things official with her as well.” I had to stop and take a deep breath. “You’re my girlfriend now, baby. That means if you have a problem with me having another romantic partner, your feelings and opinions matter a lot. It’s also a big change... thing in the future. What do you think? What do you feel about that?”

Cattie’s shoulders relaxed a little as I talked, and when I finished she leaned over and kissed me. Cassidy, watching with a big grin, squeezed my other hand.