New images of a life outside of Cascade Falls fill my head as I make the short drive from the Orso house to Cherry’s apartment. We could go live in Accident, if she wants to. We could move to a city where no one knows us or even live out on a farm with a bunch of goats for all I care. As long as I’m away from this town, and Cherry is with me, I’ll be fine with it.
The tires screech as I round the turn into the apartments’ parking lot. As I pull up to the building, Nora and Cherry are exiting, heading straight to Nora’s car. Nora helps Cherry into the passenger seat and then starts around the back of her car as I jump out of mine.
“Cherry! Cherry, wait!”
“She doesn’t want to talk to you.” Nora steps in front of me, blocking my view of Cherry in the car. “Now is definitely not the time.”
“I have to talk to her. You don’t understand.”
“No, Nataniele, you don’t understand!” Nora shoves against my chest, causing me to take a step back. “You have no idea what she’s going through, and I’m not going to put any more stress on her right now! You and I can talk later. Maybe she’ll talk to you at some point, but not now.”
“She has to talk to me!” I shove past Nora and head toward the car. Cherry is inside, covering her face with her hands. “Cherry! We have to talk! We were wrong, Cherry! Everyone was lying to us both!”
Cherry stares out the car window, mouth agape, red-eyed, and wiping her nose with a tissue.
“Nate, what the hell has gotten into you?” Nora stomps up and tries to put herself between me and the car door.
“We didn’t know everything!” I shove Nora away and grab for the car door but only manage to open it a little before Nora is pushing me away again.
“Don’t make me punch you, brother! You know I will!”
“You’re wrong!” I yell at her as I try to find the right words. I lean around Nora, addressing Cherry. “Kate’s explained it all! We are not siblings, Cherry! We’re not!”
“What?” Nora grabs my arm, digging her nails into my flesh. “What are you talking about? She’s not an Orso?”
The car door opens the rest of the way, and Cherry steps out onto the concrete.
“I can’t handle any more, Nate,” she says softly. “I just can’t. Please, just let us go. I…I have to be somewhere.”
“It’s not what we thought,” I tell her. I have to get my thoughts together and explain myself before they both just take off on me. I don’t know where they might be going, and I don’t care. She has to listen to me. “Please, Cherry—just listen for a minute. We’ve been lied to—you and me both—and we had it all wrong. Kate admitted everything to me. You are an Orso, yes. That part was true. The thing is…well, I’m not.”
“You’re not what?” Nora narrows her eyes.
“I’m not an Orso,” I say, still addressing Cherry and ignoring Nora. “You aren’t the Ramsay. I’m the Ramsay. We are not siblings, Cherry. I swear it.”
“Kate?” Nora whispers.
“Yeah, she told me everything about the treaty, including Cherry and I being switched right after we were born. We were a part of their fucking treaty terms! She is Carlo and Rosa Orso’s daughter, and I’m the son of Roland and Leanne. I’m a Ramsay.”
Cherry suddenly drops to the ground.
Nora cries out, and I barely make it to Cherry in time to stop her head from hitting the pavement.
“She fainted, didn’t she?” Nora says.
“I think so.”
“Get her feet up. It helps get blood circulating.”
“Okay.”
Cherry is only out for a minute, but by that time, her neighbor is already outside with a bottle of Gatorade in her hands.
“Sit her up and give her this,” the woman says in one of those teacher-like voices you simply don’t argue with.
I tip a bit of the drink into Cherry’s mouth, but she doesn’t make eye contact with me. Instead, she looks at Nora.
“You have to call Twos.”
“I will,” Nora says quietly. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Where is Twos?” I ask but get no reply.
We get Cherry into the apartment and onto the couch, and her neighbor—Jessie, I finally remember—forces half the bottle of lime-green liquid down her throat.
“You gotta be careful in your condition, hunny,” she says as she clicks her tongue.
Cherry’s eyes pop open as she looks from Jessie to me and then to Nora.
“Condition?” It’s my turn to look at everyone. “What condition?”
“You think I can’t tell?” Jessie laughs, but Cherry looks mortified.
My question is ignored.
“I’m feeling fine now,” Cherry says. “You don’t have to keep fussing over me. Actually, I think Nate and I could use a little time to talk.”
“Of course, hunny.” Jessie stands up and grabs my arm as she heads to the door. She pulls me into the hallway and points a finger in my face. “Mr. Orso, I know you’re the big name in town and all, but you better promise me you are going to do right by that girl. She’s a sweet thing, and I don’t want anything to happen to her. You hear me?”
“I hear you.” I give her a nod. “I will never let anything happen to her.”
“Good. Make sure she drinks that whole bottle. I’m going to go make up some chocolate chip cookies. Those will help bring up her blood sugar so we don’t have any more incidents.”
I join Cherry on the couch, and Nora excuses herself to the kitchen where she calls Twos and has a quiet conversation. I can’t hear everything she says, but it’s something about canceling an appointment and that
