If Cassia didn’t need her help, fine. She’d leave her alone
and stop with the online searching. That was the right thing to
do. The healthy thing to do. If Cassia had someone, a friend or
a girlfriend, then Adalynn would be happy for them. If Cassia
had no one, then Adalynn would try to make her see that it
was okay to accept help from her. Financial help, or even just
companionship. Either way, she wouldn’t leave Vegas until she
knew Cassia was going to be okay.
She took a few deep breaths as she walked over to the
kitchen and used the countertop to brace herself. Not much
about going to Vegas made sense, but then, she’d never lived a
very ordinary life.
Why should a stranger matter so much? Not a stranger, but
someone she’d met twice. Adalynn reasoned that it wasn’t just
her loneliness reflected back at her like a mirror. It was more
than a desire to save and make right. It was something that she
couldn’t name, but it was legitimate for her, strong and
compelling all the same.
She had to face the truth that the only time she hadn’t felt
entirely hollow since Pierre died was those few minutes and
then the few hours she’d spent with Cassia. The memory of
that time was like a brand, seared deep into her skin, a scar she
couldn’t turn her back on because she’d always know it was
there.
“None of this would be happening if you hadn’t searched
for her name,” she chastised herself out loud, then looked at
the window, feeling foolish. Thankfully, no one was standing
on the other side ready to catch her going over the deep end in
an ancient house that some people in town no doubt thought
was haunted.