The Divide Page 0,10
looked to her left and then to her right to be sure nobody had heard her. And then, as Cassie expected, she launched into a history lesson.
History and botany lessons were pretty much mandatory when talking to Laurel. You either loved her for it or you had the urge to tape her mouth shut, but for now Cassie humored her.
humored her.
"Like many traditions in New Salem, the origin of the spring festival has roots in paganism," Laurel said. "This festival used to be called Ostara's Festival, and it was a holiday to celebrate the Goddess waking from her winter slumber. It was a time when our ancestors honored the balance of all things, the physical with the spiritual. The old books said it was a time to plant seeds in the garden, as well as a time to plant the seeds of desired manifestation."
"But what does that mean?" Cassie asked.
"It means it's a time to start new projects and put new plans into action." Laurel picked up her tray with a grunt and began to walk away. "It's something to get excited about," she said over her shoulder.
Cassie let her eyes wander around the square. In every booth was a local merchant offering samples of food or drink, or the chance to bid on some item up for auction.
Local bands were setting up their equipment on a ramshackle stage. The whole event had simply become a backdrop for the kickoff of the tourist season. But still, Cassie thought she should embrace it. It was a celebration of sorts, like Laurel said.
Cassie found her mother on the far side of the square, stapling paper daffodils along a wooden baseboard.
Across from her, Cassie saw Melanie and Constance setting up their jewelry booth. Melanie's smooth cap of chestnut hair was pulled neatly back, while Constance's gray mane feathered madly in the wind. They were quite a pair; Melanie was tall and beautiful and prepossessing, and Constance was shrunken and slumped over, bossily calling Constance was shrunken and slumped over, bossily calling out commands with her wrinkled pointer finger. But the love and compassion between them was palpable, and the jewelry they designed was a physical product of that love.
Melanie had told Cassie that the local townspeople didn't have a real understanding of crystals, but that didn't matter.
Their jewelry made for pretty conversation pieces, and Aunt Constance really appreciated the extra cash.
Cassie waved to Melanie from afar and then spotted Diana. She was wearing all white, and the way the sun was striking her blonde hair, it appeared almost white, too. My God, Cassie thought, Diana is literally shimmering like an angel. And appropriately, she was helping with the charity raffle this year. In fact, she'd organized it. Sometimes Cassie wondered if there was anything Diana couldn't do.
Cassie gave her mom a signal to let her know she'd be right there and then headed over to the raffle table to say hello to Diana. She'd felt so distant from Diana lately, she thought stopping by would be a nice gesture. Maybe even a first step in clearing the air between them.
Cassie understood the distance was because she spent most of her free time with Adam these days. How could that not make things weird, when not so long ago it used to be Diana who spent all her time with Adam?
But in spite of all that, when Diana noticed Cassie coming her way now, she couldn't have offered her a more heartfelt greeting. She dropped her clipboard onto the table and jogged across the square to meet Cassie halfway.
"I'm so glad you're here," she said. "Your mother's decorations look fantastic."
"Thanks," Cassie said, and then hesitated. She hadn't known she was going to do this, but in the moment it felt right. "Can we talk?" she asked.
Without waiting for an answer, she took Diana's hand tightly in her own and led her to the side of the square, where there was a long stone bench they could sit on without the risk of anyone overhearing their conversation.
"There's something I have to tell you," Cassie said.
Diana's green eyes narrowed with concern, but she sat down, as instructed. Cassie sat across from her, anxiously rubbing her fingers along the bench's stone surface.
"I've been feeling so bad," she said. "For all the awkwardness."
Diana smiled wide. "Kind of like right now?"
"Yeah." Cassie felt herself blush. "I guess I am being kind of awkward right now. It's just that I know how close you and Adam were, and the sacrifice