"Sorry they're a little burnt. I don't cook much," Eileen said as she set a plate of pancakes in front of Lawrence at the breakfast table before getting her own plate and joining him.
"They look fine," Lawrence said with a smile as he started to eat. "Thanks."
"This is nice, isn't it?" Eileen remarked.
"It is. It is nice to have someone to share meals with. I'm so used to doing everything alone."
"I love having you here with me. Especially last night. I was so freaked out after the break in, I really didn't want to be here all alone. Thanks for staying."
"You don't need to thank me. It's the least I would do for you," he replied. "I was thinking we should spend the day out together. We should do something special."
"Ok, that sounds great. I'll go upstairs and get ready."
Excited about the prospect of a special day out, Eileen practically skipped up the stairs to get dressed. As she checked her reflection in the mirror and reached over for a hair brush, Eileen heard something fall off the bathroom counter and land in Lawrence's overnight bag. When she looked into the bag to retrieve the dropped item, she saw something that made her gasp. She knew she shouldn't snoop, but her curiosity was too strong.
With a quick glance behind her to make sure she was alone, she picked up the ring box and anxiously opened it. Her heart leapt when she saw what she had suspected and hoped to see, a diamond engagement ring.
"What do you think you're doing?" Amanda demanded as she walked into the living room of her sister's new house. "I told you I'd take care of that."
Alma turned from the shelves where she was putting books away. "I'm just putting a few things away. I think I can manage to stack a few books on a shelf."
"Alma, you promised you were going to take it easy and let us do the work. You're due to give birth any day now and you don't want to overdo it."
"I'm not overdoing it. I feel fine and just sitting on the sofa while you, Andrew, and Edward do everything is driving me crazy. I need to get up and do something and lifting a few books isn't going to hurt anything."
"Ok, if you insist, then sit down and look through this box and tell me where you want me to put these things," Amanda said as she moved one of the boxes closer to the couch. "While you do that, I'll put the rest of the books away too."
With a sigh, Alma reluctantly gave in and followed Amanda's orders. As she looked at the outside of the box, it didn't look immediately familiar to her. It took her a moment to recognize what it was. "Oh, I haven't opened this box since I moved from the old house."
"Really? That was awhile ago, wasn't it? What's in it?" Amanda asked.
"Old photos, papers, and keepsakes from when I was a girl. There was never room for it when I lived at Bernice's or in Edward's apartment."
"Oh, let me see," Amanda said eagerly as she took a seat next to Alma and looked into the box.
"It seems like a long time since we lived in the old house with Mother, doesn't it?" Alma said, becoming more absorbed in her own thoughts than the items in front of her. "So much has changed. It's like it was another lifetime. At the time I never would have imagined that things could have been like this. I didn't think anything was ever going to change from how it was then."
"Really? You didn't?" Amanda asked in disbelief. "All I did when we lived there was think about the future, my career, getting married, having children."
"Well, that's the difference between my life and yours. I never had the chance to hope for any of that. Not after Mother got sick and decided I'd be the one to stay home to take care of her. I didn't think I'd get a chance to do anything else with my life."
"Alma, all this time I had no idea. Is that why you called me a spoiled brat?"
"Yes, but maybe I shouldn't have. Our whole lives it's always seemed like you've been the one to get your way."
"Things aren't always what they seem, are they? Look at us now, you're the one who has it all, a job, a new house, a husband, and a new baby on the way. I'm happy for you. I just hope I will have everything that you do someday too."
"What were you doing out there?" Zara hissed as she dragged Cassie into the kitchen, out of Blaine's earshot.
"Just being a friend. Blaine needed someone to talk to about the breakup."
"Come on, Cass, it's me. You can't play dumb with me. Don't tell me you're being there for Blaine just to be a friend and nothing more. I know better than that."
"Ok, so I like him and I'm not exactly disappointed that he's available now, that doesn't mean I can't be a good friend and be there for him?"
"Uh huh," Zara said skeptically. "And you don't think you're not going to be too biased to be a true friend to him in this situation and not have your own little agenda?"
"What do you want me to do? We are friends. Maybe someday he'll see me as more than a friend, but that's never going to happen if I'm not around to give him a chance to finally take notice of me."
"And you're really going to just let him notice you on his own without interfering like you and Mother tried to before?"
"The love potion," Cassie said thoughtfully. "I didn't think it worked, but I guess it actually did . . ."
"What are you thinking now?" Zara scolded.
"Nothing. I just assumed it didn't work and I'm surprised that it did, that's all."
"Do you even feel the slightest bit guilty about that all? You're messing up another couple's relationship."
"I do feel bad about it," Cassie insisted. "I struggled with the idea of it all along and I wasn't going to go through with it anyway, but then James came in and took it by accident. I only considered it in the first place because I was so desperate. I didn't know what else to do."
"Why should you have to do anything at all? If you're so sure that you and Blaine are meant to be together, won't it happen on its own without you having to do these crazy things?"
"Yes . . ." she reluctantly admitted. "I guess so. I thought that too, but then Mom came up with this love potion idea and I started thinking, why not help things along?"
"I hate to say this, but I'm not sure having our mother live here is the best thing, especially if that is the kind of influence she's going to have on you."
"How can you say that? She's our mother."
"I know, but I'm starting to wonder, especially since the doctors at the hospital suggested that she be evaluated again. I know we thought that she was committed just because Dad wanted to get rid of her and keep her quiet about his past, but the more time I spend with her, the more I start to wonder if there's more to it than that. Maybe she really does need more help than she's getting."
"No, don't even suggest that. We just got her back, I'm not losing her again. Dad was . . ." Cassie paused, something in her mind suddenly clicked and she wondered why she didn't see everything so clearly sooner. "Oh my God. Dad. It was Dad."
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