Cassandra walked slowly up to the house, her mind somewhere else, as it had been all day. She nearly ran into Blaine on the front walk, who was on his way out.
"Hey, Cassie. How's it going? Busy day at the diner?" he asked, noticing how worn out she looked.
"Not bad," she replied, trying to sound cheerful. "What are you up to?"
"I just stopped by to change. I'm on my way to meet Reese right now."
"Oh . . . have you had any luck looking up the Hudsons?"
"Yes actually, I found an address and it's local. Reese and I are going to check it out this evening."
"Great," she replied dully.
"You still don't believe the records, do you?"
"No . . . I'm not sure."
"When I was looking up the Hudsons I looked for Lydia Flemming too. I didn't find an address for anyone with that name," he replied with a shrug. "I don't know if the information I have will get us anywhere, but right now it's the only lead we have and for Reese's sake I hope it's right."
"I guess I do too. It's not like I don't want her to find her parents, whoever they are . . ."
"I know."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
Blaine hesitated. "I don't think that's such a good idea. I mean, this is Reese's thing and I don't think she really likes having other people involved. Even letting me in on it is a big deal for her. I feel kind of bad that I mentioned anything about it."
"Oh, I see," Cassandra said quietly.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I've got to go, but I'll see you later tonight, ok?"
"Yeah. See ya." She could tell that he was sincere, but that didn't make her feel any better about the way things were turning out.
Lucy walked into the house, set her shopping bags down on the floor, and collapsed on the sofa. She had spent most of the day in town running errands. It was the strangest thing, everywhere she went she had this feeling that she was being watched. She was starting to feel like she was losing her mind.
As she leaned back and closed her eyes, she suddenly realized how empty the house seemed. The grandfather clock on the wall next to her ticked loudly, it was the only sound in the house.
Not wanting to be alone, Lucy hurried up the stairs to the nursery.
She nearly ran into the nanny at the top of the stairs.
"Hello, Mrs. Sexton. I thought I heard someone downstairs. Are you finished with your errands already?"
"Yes, I just got home," Lucy said. Seeing someone else in the house had put her more at ease. "I thought I'd come up and check on the baby."
"Oh, good. I just got him to sleep, so you might not want to wake him."
"I'll just look in," Lucy promised.
Lucy went into the nursery and found Stuart sleeping soundly in his crib. She leaned down to tuck him in before quietly going out of the room.
"Mrs. Sexton," the nanny said quietly. "I was wondering if you needed me to work this evening. Earlier this week you said you might be attending a function tonight."
"Oh, right, the play," Lucy said. She had completely forgotten about it, but now that she was facing an evening at home alone, it sounded like a good idea. "Do you mind staying tonight?"
"I'd love to. Stuart is such a good baby and I could use the extra hours."
"Great, thank you," Lucy said. She went downstairs to call Chloe and see if she wanted to go too.
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