Vol. I - When we were kids - Track 02 (Part A)
Now I’m picking up the pieces
From spending all of these years
Putting my heart back together
‘Cause the day I thought I’d never get through
I got over you!
"Over You" - (Christopher) Daughtry
After meeting Buck, Alexander's visits to Strangetown became more often,
but even though Cassandra was pleased to have her young sibling around, happily spending time with his new, first and only, friend,
the things he vaguely mentioned about their father worried her deeply, specially since he started expending more time than ever with Dina Caliente, after Cassandra moved out.
Dina had been approaching her father since Bella disappeared, and though Mortimer was visibly uninterested at first,
as time passed, he started enjoying the attentions and company she offered,
but always seemed to be clearly aware and conscious that Dina wasn't a woman to trust their fortune, nor his children, and more than once assured his concerned daughter that he wasn't planning to make any formal commitments with her, regardless of whatever Dina wished to believe.
But everything had changed drastically, after the blond woman informed Mortimer she was expecting his child,
and quickly got married on a private wedding, one morning while Alexander was still at the school, just a few days later.
It could seem like a natural course of events for most, but for someone who knew Mortimer and the story of their family, as well as Cassandra, the whole situation was more than concerning, it was also extremely suspicious.
Even if she was in fact pregnant, which could be easily untrue, Mortimer would have never married her. Knowing him well, he would have probably offered support or even allowed her to move in, but never tied himself legally to Dina Caliente.
She had been involved with the Goth's in different ways over the years bringing only suffering to their family, and though maybe Mortimer could be enjoying her company more than he should, deep down he didn't trust her. Never did.
Cassandra simply couldn't understand why his father had decided to legally marry her. It just made no sense.
"You shouldn't worry so much, Cassie" Bella said, suddenly entering Cassandra's room, where she had been quietly trying to settle the rush of news her brother kept bringing from Pleasantview.
Her mother always seemed to know when something bothered Cassandra. Even with the time apart, and the memories lost, there was something about motherhood intrinsic on Bella. She could tell when her daughter was sad, or worried, or tired; and above all, always knew exactly when she needed her support and company the most.
Perhaps Bella was simply good at reading people, maybe due to a natural wisdom gained after the experiences of her struggled life, but for Cassandra felt more like a reassuring fact that Bella was still the same woman she remembered from her childhood and early teen years. The one who always knew what bothered, why, and how to make her feel better. Her mother.
"Maybe Dina Caliente is not the kind of woman you wish for your father," Bella continued calmly sitting on the bed "but I don't think Mortimer would had married her if she were really such a bad person. My brother was married to her, wasn't he??"
"Yes, mom, but she ... she ... " Cassandra sighed frustrated.
Of course, regardless of how well Bella could understand her daughter's mood, there was still much she didn't remember, neither knew, about their family's past, therefore couldn't comprehend the gravity of Cassandra's concerns about her new step-mother. And it was very hard to explain how founded her mistrust was, without actually telling her mother the full extension of Dina's involvement with the Goth family, which was filled with horrid details Cassie wasn't sure about sharing with Bella yet.
Her mother only knew what was widely and publicly known.
Michael Bachelor, who was on his elderly years, had meet Dina Caliente when she was barely an adult and fell in love with her at first sight,
and regardless of difference of ages, their relationship strengthen quickly,
until they had suddenly gotten married;
but unfortunately he had soon died by natural causes, leaving behind a mourning young widow.
Bella wasn't aware of how suspicious the circumstances of her brother's sudden marriage and prompt death had been; or how eerily similar the situation with Mortimer was now. There was only a hand full of members in their family who knew that Dina had also claimed to be pregnant with Michael, only to cry a miscarriage, after her husband's death. And certainly, she couldn't know, or recall, how much herself was the one who mistrusted Dina the most.
But her daughter did, and clearly.
Cassandra was maybe a kid back then, but old enough to remember her parents talking about Dina behind closed doors.
From the beginning, they suspected she was lying about her pregnancy while only using Michael as an easy way to get into the powerful Goth family, and their suspicious were painfully confirmed when the elderly passed away shortly after.
The official explanation was that Micheal died while sleeping at night, due to his bad health and advanced age, but in fact his family knew that he was only just starting to enjoy of an early retirement, and always had great health. There was no medical reason that could explain the apparent heart failure that presumingly took his life. That added to Dina's sudden miscarriage, and the the fact that she seemed more preoccupied about Michael's will and life insurance than anything else; left no doubt on Bella's mind.
She was devastated. Even thought there were no proves, Bella was convinced Dina was, somehow, involved on her brother's death, and never forget herself for let it happen.
Her only consolation was knowing that Michael always had integrity, and never accepted economical help from her, or Mortimer, who had had been one of his closet friends since they were young, but his blond, young and still slightly naive wife, made the mistake of assuming otherwise, leaving her with barely enough to hold for a few months, instead of the fortune she probably expected.
Everything had happened so fast, her uncle didn't even get to meet his nephew who was born shortly after,
and now imagining that same greedy and heartless woman, in charge of Alexander and living on the Goth ancient household, with her claws over Mortimer, caused Cassandra a sickening feeling;
but still, she couldn't share any of that with her mother, at least not yet. Certainly not considering the recurrent nightmares she was having, almost every time they spoke about their family's story, prior her disappearance.
"Cassie, listen" Bella finally broke the silence, with a deep sigh and spoke calmly, but directly "Perhaps you don't trust her, but you must trust him, don't you?" Cassandra tried to reply, but her mother wasn't finish "He's a wise man, hun, you know that better than anyone. You should trust him. He must know what he's doing."
Cassandra could only hope she was right for the sake of their family, but couldn't avoid to feel that something was wrong. She had learned never to trust Dina's word, if she was indeed expecting, Cassie would still doubt if the baby was actually Mortimer's, but unfortunately the picture looked even grimmer then, because there was only one other name she would imagined to be involve in such a scam. Don Lothario
Continues next
( CLICK HERE TO READ PART B)