A/N: Well, it's been awhile! This story keeps surprising me! It is coming to an end, about 3 chaps left to go, I think, so keep checking in, cause I'm gonna be focusing on this one till it is COMPLETE.
Thanks, oh thanks so much to my regular fans, you know who you are, and shout-out to ros hiding in her little corner. I write this for you guys as much as for myself.
Anyway,
Enjoy!
Golden light streaked through the blinds in the kitchen, delighting Cassie. She tugged on the strings, letting the amber glow flood the rest of the kitchen.
She brought out the coffee and tea, George would be right in.
"Morning," George gruffed as he entered. "I fixed the fence on the other side, and filled in the hole that skunk dug. Hopefully, if we keep the garbage better contained, he'll stay away."
"Great," she said. "Coffee?"
"Please," George popped some bread into the toaster.
She needn't ask. In fact, she was already spooning the rich roast into the press. She grabbed a couple mugs and put the kettle on. As the water heated, she selected a fine Earl Grey for herself.
Cassie sighed and automatically attended to the pot of oatmeal on the stove. Despite her usual routine, there was a peculiarity in the air. A hint of spice, of surprise...
A shadow fell onto the pot. Cassie looked up, out the window. Something passed the window. She frowned, and went back to stirring, but-
Look up.
Jake?
For a brief second, his face, his strapping silhouette appeared in the window.
"Everything okay?" George pulled her back to reality.
"Hm?"
"You've been staring into space, stirring that pot for five minutes now."
"Oh." Cassie put the spoon down and turned off the stove. She turned back to George with her oatmeal and poured her tea, resuming breakfast. After they caught up on business, George left to run his errands.
Cassie sighed and began to wash dishes. Jake's image flashed in her retinas and she savored the memory. His smile. Soft skin crinkling at the corners of his eyes, teeth flashing. Then she frowned. Not at the memory, but-
Why?
Why did she see him?
"Have you seen Meredith?"
Cassie yelped at Carolyn's voice, dropping the spoon she was washing onto the floor.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you-"
"Not at all," Cassie said, gathering her wits. Wow, it'd been a long time since that happened. She patted her chest to reassure herself. Yep, heart is still there. Still alive...
"Here's your spoon," little Zola said, holding it out to her.
"Thank you," Cassie replied, putting it into the dishwater. "I haven't seen her," she told Carolyn. "She's not here?" Odd.
"She woke me last night. Said she couldn't sleep. She asked me to watch the kids. I thought she would be back by now." Carolyn lifted Bailey onto a chair. He pushed a toy car across the table, making 'vroom' noises.
Strange, thought Cassie, that she didn't sense Meredith like she did with many of her guests. "Maybe she went to the bridge."
"That little creek bridge? In the middle of the night?"
It was unusual, for sure, Cassie considered. What mother ran out in the middle of the night and didn't come back? One who needed help. "I should take a look around. Why don't you settle here with the kids? There's yogurt and berries in the fridge, and I have some cereal here." She reached into the cupboard and pulled out a box of corn flakes.
"Gramma, can I have cereal?" Zola asked.
"Of course. Why don't you help Bailey back into his chair and I'll get us some bowls," Carolyn said. She turned to Cassie. "All right," she said, "I'll stay here, keep an eye on the kids."
"Gramma, where mommy?" Bailey asked.
"She uh, went for a walk," Carolyn answered. "But don't worry," she smiled. "She'll be back."
xxx
Walking out the front door, Cassie studied the driveway, and then the house across the street. It might be a good idea to get some back-up. And of course Sam would help.
She knocked on his door. And waited.
Cassie lifted her hand to knock again, when the door opened revealing a breathless Sam. He looked like he'd literally just jumped out of bed. His hair stuck out oddly, and his shirt and plaid pajama pants were wrinkled. "Hey."
"Hey," she said, "Sorry I woke you. I was just wondering if you saw one of my guests-"
"Dr. Grey?"
Cassie straightened, eyes narrowing. He'd seen her? How come she didn't know that? "Meredith. Yes."
"She was out here last night. We talked for a few minutes, then she said she wanted to go for a walk. I walked her down to the bridge. I didn't want her to be alone at night, even around here. Uh- is she not back at Grey House?"
Cassie shook her head, "she never came back."
Sam pulled away from the door, "then we better go find her," he said. He disappeared behind the door to shove on his shoes and slip a jacket on. He stepped out and closed the door. "I shouldn't have left her."
She touched his arm. "It's alright. You didn't leave her alone."
xxx
Carolyn finished feeding the kids and was washing the dishes while Zola and Bailey entertained themselves in the living room.
"Cass-!" a man called from the foyer.
She looked up. A man her age walked in, carrying a hammer and a tape measure.
"Oh, Sorry, I-" he stopped and blinked, studying her.
She studied him too. Where had she seen those hawkish features before? "George?"
"Carolyn?"
"My Goodness, it's been ages!" she laughed.
"Ages! What are you doing back? I never thought you'd be back-"
Carolyn wiped her hands dry on the dish towel and scrunched it under her palm."My son-" she swallowed. All joy left her heart, "he died."
"Oh," George said. His face fell, sad and haunted. "I'm sorry. Truly."
Carolyn regarded him. He meant it. He knew it for himself.
Little feet thundered across the kitchen floor. Zola grabbed the corner of Carolyn's burgundy sweater, pulling her from her daze, "Gramma! Bailey keeps stealing my crayons!"
Her hand fell onto the top of Zola's head. Her fingers wound through the child's soft kinky hair.
"Give me my crayon, Bailey!" Zola shrieked.
"Nooo!" he giggled, waving the blue crayon.
"Zola, why don't you choose a different color?"
If Zola simply let it go and picked another color, Bailey would get bored and calm down.
"No," she said. "I need blue for my pictures. I need it."
Carolyn sighed and turned to George. "Excuse me." She shuffled to the living room, careful not to step on the rest of Zola's scattered crayons. "Bailey, come here, where's your car? Would you like to play with your car?"
The boy shrugged. "Dunno," he said. "Want mommy."
"I know. I know you miss her. She just went out for a little while. She went out… to talk to daddy."
Zola looked up from her drawing, "she's talking to daddy?"
"Well, I suppose she misses him."
"I talked to daddy last night," Zola said.
"Did you?"
"Yeah. I drawed him a picture, see?" Zola walked over and showed her a picture. Carolyn made out Meredith and Derek, holding hands. One tree beside each of them and… was that a river flowing underneath? That explained Zola's need for the blue.
"Ah, I see. Very nice, Zola."
"I'm gonna draw another one," Zola said, reaching for a fresh piece of paper.
Carolyn turned to George, "It has certainly been a long night." And possibly a long day.
"That's all right."
"Bailey! No! I need that one!" Zola snapped, yanking a brown crayon from his hand.
Carolyn frowned, but George stepped forward. "Bailey, hey there bud, wanna see something neat?" He held out his tape measure. "Pull on this," he said. "Go ahead."
Bailey dropped the crayon, intensely focused now on the little metal clip. His tiny fingers wrapped around it and he pulled a little. Suddenly, it whipped back. He looked at George, startled, then he laughed.
With Bailey occupied, Zola picked up the brown crayon and happily turned back to her drawing.
Carolyn sat on the couch and watched Zola scribble. "I'm worried," she told George. "Meredith went for a walk… late last night. She hasn't come back."
xxx
"This is where I last saw her," Sam said. "Late. One or two in the morning. Come to think of it, I'm worried," Sam said. "Meredith told me some things… it could just be grief, but now that she's missing..." he trailed off, staring up at the tall, leafy trees that towered all around them.
Cassie trailed a finger on the untreated wood of the railing. Under her feet, the gurgling creek offered her no answers. She knew these woods. Tracking Meredith should be easy. But since she stepped into the woods today, her 'second sight' was muted somehow, like looking through a blurry lens. Cassie looked one way and turned slowly on her heels, nothing called to her. The universe was silent.
"Everything all right?" Sam asked.
"I don't know," she said, a tad frightened.
Sam pushed ahead of her, "well, why don't we just follow the path? Seems logical."
The path. Right. It made sense. Human sense. She decided to trust it, following him over the bridge, further into the woods. They walked together, peering this way and that, eyes and ears open to anything unusual.
When they arrived at the clearing, Cassie abruptly stopped.
Jake.
Everything faded on all sides except him. Her late husband crouched in the long grass, his back to her. He wore the same things he wore the day he died. Jeans and a crisp white button-up uniform shirt.
Cassie gasped sharply when he finally stood up. He turned toward her, brushing dirt off his fingers. She took a few steps toward him, and he to her. She reached for him.
Jake smiled an, 'I miss you smile'. Standing inches from her, his gaze made Cassie forget everything else. He reached a finger out to brush aside a lock of her hair, but it slipped through. Of course, Jake couldn't exist fully on this plane. He shook his head. "Trail's cold that way,"he said. Then he continued on past her, back the way they came. Cassie turned to follow him, but he was gone.
Instead she was staring into Sam's concerned face.
"Cassie?" he gripped her shoulders.
She swallowed. "I think we should go back."
xxx
"I lost my daughter, Jennifer, years ago," George was saying as he watched Bailey play with his tape measure again. "So, I stayed to help Jake with the kids, Brandon and Lori…" He smiled, "Then he met Cassie."
"But Jake-?"
"He passed too…"
"That's awful," Carolyn choked. "I'm terribly sorry."
"He was like a son to me." He shook his head. "But I've still got my grandkids."
"Grandchildren give us quite the reason to go on, don't they?"
"Gramma!" Zola waved a picture in front of them, happy to show off another work. She's becoming a regular Michealngelo, mused Carolyn.
"What's this?"
"It's the kissing tree."
"Kissing tree?" Carolyn took the page Zola handed her to give it a look. Again, two figures leaned in close to each other, this time under the branches of a tree rather than over a creek. "Zola, this is wonderful, but there are no leaves on the tree," she said, noting the lack of green in the picture.
Zola shrugged. "I know," she said. "Can you- Gramma… Can you help me draw a… Draw a heart?"
"A heart?"
"Yes please. It needs a heart, the tree." Her little dark finger jabbed in the middle of the tree.
"Oh, it does, does it?"
"Mm hm," said Zola.
"Very well. Get me the black crayon."
Zola looked at the pile of crayons on the floor and found the black crayon. She handed it to Carolyn, holding on to her arm to watch her draw the heart.
Carolyn rested the paper on her knee and carefully drew a heart right in the middle. "There," she said. "Are you going to color it in?"
Zola studied her work of art. "Hmm, no." she said.
"Well alright, then," Carolyn handed her the picture back.
"It's not done yet," Zola said. She wiggled the black crayon out of Carolyn's hand and went back to the floor to put her 'final touches' on it. When she finished, she folded the picture up and gave it to Carolyn. "For you, Gramma."
"Oh, that's lovely. I shall keep it with me," she said, tucking it into her pocket.
"Mommy will be back soon, right?" Zola tucked herself into Carolyn's arms. "Cuz I need her."
"I know you do. So do I." Carolyn mustered, fighting the worry in her heart. If anything happened to Meredith, the love of her only son's life, she wasn't sure what she'd do. Carolyn's thoughts were beginning to run away on her. It'd been just over an hour, and she was beginning to wonder whether she should call the police.
Just then, a policeman did walk into the room.
George stood up abruptly, "Brandon? What are you doing here?"
"Cassie here?" he asked. "I'm supposed to bring her this package." He held up a small bundle, wrapped in old newsprint and tied with twine.
"You know it's a good thing you came by. We think someone's gotten lost-"
"-Oh Brandon, you're right on time." Cassie said as she entered the room. "Oh, my package!" Cassie said.
"Cassie?" Carolyn stood, seeing that Cassie had come in alone. "What's going on? Where's Meredith?"
Distress marred her usual calm features. "Sam and I looked for an hour. I… don't know where she is." She turned to Brandon, taking the bundle from his hands. "But… I know how to find her."
She reached for a letter opener off her desk and placed the package down. After untying the twine, she cut through the tape and the thick paper, peeling it away to reveal a solid round object.
Carolyn gasped. It was the compass.
A/N: Thanks so much for reading! If you have time, please pop in a review for me, it's food for the writer's soul.