Seeing Shadows (Shadows 1)

The next day went by quickly since I was anticipating the trip to Connecticut. By the time I got home after my last class, Sarah was practically bouncing up and down on the couch, beside herself with excitement.

"Finally!" she exclaimed. "I thought you were never going to get home!"

"I come home the same time every Friday," I said with a laugh, but Sarah's excitement was contagious. Much to my surprise, I was actually looking forward to visiting Simon's hometown. I tried to push back the nervousness of meeting his family.

"Yeah, but it's not everyday I get to see Grant on his home turf." Sarah hesitated, the glow in her eyes dimming slightly. "Do you think we'll see Cara?"

I gave Sarah a sympathetic look. I knew she was torn between wanting to finally see the girl who could twist Grant around her finger versus fearing she would have to see Grant fawn over the girl she considered the competition. Sarah respected relationships and had never pursued Grant while he and Cara were together, but she considered him fair game on their "off" periods, which were more frequent than not.

Grant never talked in much detail about Cara, but from what I could glean she sounded materialistic and controlling. I thought it was odd that she had never visited Grant at school in the year and a half we had known him. He would always be the one to go to Connecticut to visit her. Wasn't she curious about his life at Maxwell?

I couldn't understand why someone like Grant would let a girl pull his strings like a puppet. Grant had known Cara since they were both in elementary school and they had grown up together. I wondered if that was a factor in their apparent dysfunctional codependency. I just wished Sarah could move past him and let someone who actually reciprocated her feelings have a chance. Grant and Sarah were good friends, but he had to know how she felt. It was pretty overt and he never seemed to discourage it.

In fact, even though he never acted on her implied invitations, he seemed to enjoy it. I thought it was only fair that he be honest with her and let her know if there was no chance, but Grant seemed to give just the right amount of encouragement to keep her hopes up.

"I'm not sure if we'll see her," I answered. "Maybe it'll be a good thing if we don't."

"I wonder if she even knows who I am. If Grant's ever mentioned me to her." Sarah looked glum at the possibility that she didn't rate important enough for Cara to be aware of her existence.

"Let's just agree that Grant's an idiot if he passes on someone as fantastic as you," I said vehemently. "I love Grant but he's a man. Men are stupid. It's in the chromosomes."

Sarah giggled and I was happy her spirits were lifted. "Simon's a man and he seems pretty smart. He knows exactly what he wants and goes for it." Before I could interrupt with a protest, her eyes lit up. "Wait! You could ask Simon about Cara. He must know a lot about their relationship since he and Grant grew up together. He must know her pretty well. Can you ask him? Please?"

It was hard to refuse Sarah's pleading tone. I felt uncomfortable asking Simon to delve into Grant's love life. I didn't want to seem nosy. But I also understood the obligation to help out a girlfriend in need, especially when it centered around gathering intel on a crush.

"Well," I said, drawing the word out. "I guess I could ask Simon about their relationship." I gave Sarah a warning look. "But don't expect me to ask for all the details. I'll ask him what he thinks about their relationship in general, saying I was just worried that you were headed for heartbreak."

Sarah clapped her hands in glee, acting like a little girl who just found out that Santa Claus had indeed come to her house on Christmas Eve. "Yes! Thanks Caitlin, I owe you one!"

I looked at Sarah fondly. "Let's just say this one's on the house." I sat down on the couch beside her as we waited for Simon to pick us up. We had dragged our suitcases next to the front door earlier this morning, so we were ready to go. I ran my nail over the seam of my jeans as I nervously searched for my next words. I hadn't told Sarah yet about my aunt. There had been so many things going on that it never felt like the right time to tell her. I was nervous because I was afraid she would see through my story and dig deeper, demanding the truth. And I just wasn't ready for that yet. Not until I got more answers from Aunt Brenda.

"I haven't gotten a chance to mention something that happened the other day," I started. "I randomly got a call from my aunt...well, at least someone claiming to be my aunt, but it seems like she's the real deal. She's my father's older sister. She lives in Connecticut so I'm going to make a quick trip on Sunday to see her."

Sarah's eyes widened at my words. She knew what a big deal it was for me to be contacted by a relative. She knew how painful it was for me to have no relationships with my extended family, especially since my one close family member, my father, seemed to find me so lacking.

"That's awesome, Caitlin!" she shrieked, ecstatic for me. She threw her arms around me, giving me a quick but fierce hug. Sarah pulled back, grinning at me. "I'll go with you!"

"But you're going over to Grant's on Sunday," I reminded her.

Sarah shook her head. "No way. There's no way I'm letting you go to your aunt's by yourself. I know that it'll be great, but just in case..." She faltered, not saying the words I knew she was thinking. She wanted to be there in case my aunt turned out to be as critical as my father. After all, they were siblings. But I couldn't let her come with me. I knew how badly she wanted to go to Grant's. I felt a rush of love for her willingness to so easily push that aside because she thought I needed her. But even more importantly, I doubted that I would be able to convince her to not come inside my aunt's house. Sarah would think it was odd and I wasn't sure the excuse of my aunt being wary of strangers would work on her.

"Don't worry, Sarah. Simon is actually going to drive me over. I won't be going alone." I didn't add that a prerequisite for me agreeing to have Simon come with me was for him to wait in the car.

Sarah looked surprised. "Simon already knows?" She looked flummoxed because she was usually the first person I told things to. But she didn't seem perturbed by it since a slow smile started to stretch across her face. "And you're letting him take you over to your aunt's house. Hmm...very interesting." Sarah gave me a knowing look, grinning from ear to ear.

I rolled my eyes. "It doesn't mean anything." Sarah just continued grinning like a fool. "Really, it was just-"

I was interrupted by a knock at the door and I was grateful that I didn't have to finish my explanation because I wasn't sure what I had been going to say. I jumped up to answer the door, opening it to reveal Simon standing there, looking as gorgeous as ever. It should be illegal the way he filled out his jeans and green t-shirt. He was also wearing a brown leather jacket that enhanced his masculine good looks. Simon's brown hair was mussed perfectly as usual and his blue eyes were sparkling in anticipation. He looked happy and relaxed and I felt a smile growing on my face in return.

"Ready t

o go?"

"Yup, we just have to grab our bags." I turned to tell Sarah that we should carry our suitcases to Simon's car but before I could utter a word, Simon picked up both our suitcases as if they weighed nothing. That was impressive since I knew Sarah's suitcase was as heavy as a ton of bricks. I had reminded her a few times that we were only going to be in Connecticut for a couple of days, but she had insisted that she had to be prepared for all occasions and fluctuating weather.

My suitcase, in contrast, did really weigh practically nothing. I had just packed a couple of tops, an extra pair of jeans and a sweater, plus my toiletries. I did have one nice dress and heels I brought for the party since Simon had said it was going to be dressy. The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass Simon in front of his family by showing up dressed as a frump.

"I got it," Simon said, easily bounding down the stairs to put it in the trunk of his car. Sarah and I grabbed our coats and followed him down.