Under the Sunlight

Chapter Two

Cassandra Cillian had a few secrets of her own. Well, they weren't really secrets because had any of her co-workers ever asked, she would have told them. But they didn't. This new world was confusing enough and they were all still finding their way as a team. So what she did when she wasn't at the Annex wasn't really a topic for discussion.

She had a feeling though that things were changing. Christmas had brought them all closer together. Stone had been particularly friendly and she thought they were finally coming together. But something had happened when he went home for his Christmas vacation. He'd gotten sick for one and hadn't been around. And certainly ever since then he wasn't hanging around the Annex like he used to. Instead he was checking the books out and taking them home. He also wasn't making his trips home every weekend any more.

She didn't think he knew that she knew where he was going every weekend. She spent as much time in the Annex as he did, maybe more. So she noticed everyone's comings and goings. And she noticed when they changed.

Something must have happened at home, she mused that morning as she'd gotten ready. He had come back late, saying he didn't need the Back Door, that he'd be driving home. Then he called in sick. She shook her head, she could only imagine that something major had happened and now he was completely estranged from his family. She wished he could talk to someone about that. She wished she could be that person, but if not her, then maybe Baird or . . . . Probably not Ezekiel. But Stone kept to himself, so who knew? Maybe he had made friends here in Portland, maybe he had a girlfriend. Despite his not visiting Oklahoma and going home more, he did seem happier than he had been since they met.

Cassandra put her tea cup in the sink rather forcefully. A girlfriend would be the best explanation for all of that. He wasn't hanging around the Annex because he had someone to see. She was not jealous. Not at all. He said he liked her, but obviously she'd ruined any chance they had. So she had to be happy he was happy right?

There was no sense dwelling on Stone or jumping to conclusions. That ship had sailed. And today was her day to do something that her teammates didn't know about.

Ever since she'd left her parents' restrictive home and moved in with her Aunt Gertrude, Cassandra had passed her time giving back. Great-Aunt Gertie had been Cassandra's role model. Gertie was quiry, fun and always her own woman, the relative that Cassandra had most taken after and admired. She'd accepted her grand niece into her home and had always tried to get her to fly. Cassandra had always been too timid to do so. . .well until Flynn and the Library. But Gertie had also encouraged Cassandra to volunteer and do new things and meet new people.

So as soon as Cassandra was fully settled in Portland, she'd begun volunteering. Although she didn't really like babies, okay she kinda hated them, she did like children. They were much more interesting when they could walk and talk. So she volunteered with a program that helped children who had been removed from abusive situations. Some of the kids were foster, others had recently escaped with their mothers (and in a couple of cases fathers) from abusive homes, and several were being raised by grandparents, relatives or a different parent. Some of the kids were highly troubled but as she was relatively new she'd been placed primarily with a group of preschoolers who were fairly well adjusted and just needed a little help.

There was a new little boy in her group today, slightly shy with messy brown hair and blue eyes. Something was nagging the back of her mind about him when June came over to her. June was the therapist, a kindly older women with a crinkly eyed smile.

"That's Maxwell," June nodded toward the new boy. "He recently moved in with his father. His father caught his mother's boyfriend about to hit the boy. "