you back.” She stretched
her arm around me. “Oh, you get to meet Charlie tonight.”
“Who’s Charlie?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. Cassie
dated frequently, but she hadn’t mentioned anyone prior to now.
“He’s my boyfriend,” she said joyfully. “You are going to love
him.”
“How long have you been dating him?” I asked. Cassie never
dated anyone for more than two weeks. She smiled and glanced
over at me.
“About a month,” she replied. “He is gorgeous, different from
anyone else I have ever dated.”
“A month, huh?” She noticed my surprised expression.
“What? You think you’re the only girl to find true love?” she
snapped.
“No, it’s just you always told me your motto was to never get
attached. Heartbreak was too painful,” I quoted.
“Well—I still believe that. It’s just that Charlie”—she
swooned—“no words describe how I feel about him. He is
completely devoted to me, and I couldn’t imagine my life without
him.” It was good to see Cassie happy, for however long it lasted.
This was a better look for her. Not to say she was never happy.
She was just known as the female philanderer. Not the best
reputation to have in this town.
“I’m happy for you,” I replied.
CHAPTER THREE
Later, at the garden
, my camera didn’t stop snapping pictures
even as I carried on a conversation with Cassie. The bright reds
and oranges were incredible against the deep-green foliage that
was late in transforming. An hour was spent just walking through
a trail in the forest, leading us to a botanical garden with a large
pond and amazing sculptures made out of bushes. The sculpted
scenes were inventive. It was as though it was a scene from Alice
in Wonderland and at any moment the Mad Hatter would jump
out—because with my luck that’s who would greet me. I had to
chuckle at the thought.
As we walked farther, Cassie pointed out a giant mermaid
sculpture in the middle of the pond. The flowers of fall bloomed in
reds and oranges, framing her face. It was an incredible sight.
“They call it
mosaiculture. It has spread all over the world. It’s
quite remarkable,” Cassie pointed out.
“To say the least,” I said, in awe of the beauty that engulfed us.
“There is a really beautiful waterfall around here too. Unless it’s
too cold with the mist in the air.” She said.
“Not at all,” I replied, gesturing for her to lead the way.
“Speaking of waterfalls,” I began, following her over the bridge
through thick green and red foliage, “do the Fosters really own the
land where we used to picnic as kids?”
“Yes,” Cassie replied. “The park closed and everything was torn
down after another drowning happened. The people who owned it
were sued, and they couldn’t afford to keep the park anymore.”
“Again?” I gasped.
“Yeah after you nearly drowned—”
“My what?” I stopped short, grabbing her arm, unable to get
over the fact that she said I had nearly drowned.
“Yeah, after you almost drowned, it seemed to happen a lot.”
“I drowned?” I scanned my brain for this event but came up
blank.
“Yes. Don’t you remember?” Cassie asked, confused.
“No.” I trembled, slowly turning my head, and stared out at the
water.
“It was horrific,” she replied. “That year I think the dam had
been damaged, caused by the hard winter we got. The tide was a
lot higher than normal, and when you went into the river, you
slipped, went down the rapids into the big pond. You hit your head
pretty bad.” Cassie’s head tilted slightly as she observed me.
I rubbed the scar on the side of my head. Flashes of that day
came back to me. “A boy saved me.” I looked up at her,
remembering.
“Yeah, I believe he was given a medal from the Mayor for his
bravery.” She nodded. “I can’t remember his name, though.” She
tapped her index finger against her lips. “I think it was—”
“Matthew,” I gasped, and then smiled.
Cassie’s head