Author's Note: This part not only wraps up Cindy's Recourse, but also marks the end of the Saga that all stories by Tero Wright are a part of. When viewing by date created, every story after this, starting with "The Shoe Salesman" will fill in the gaps of the 10-year time line that prior stories have set up. Enjoy!
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She doesn't make it easy to get up right away because of how she's embracing Kacie around the neck with her arms. It makes for a charming struggle as Kacie dismounts and tries to pull Gracelyn to the edge of the bed by dragging her legs. After a ticklish grip to her side, however, Gracelyn lets go and the two get up and head out of the room.
They make their way to the room Kacie noted earlier with the door cracked open, and sure enough they find Cindy inside, sitting on the side of the guest bed and sobbing into a pillow.
Before they are in her peripheral view, Kacie gets her attention with her signature delicate kitten call, "Mew!"
Cindy looks up at her, "Hey honey," and then sees Gracelyn, "OH! My baby!"
She jumps up and smothers Gracelyn in a long, tight hug!
"Ok...choking...not breathing," Gracelyn croaks from a shortage of air.
Cindy releases her with teary laughter. "I'm so sorry! I don't know what I was thinking!" She looks at Gracelyn's back, "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine," she replies with the slightest hint of irritation in her voice from being asked so many times already. "I can handle you girls jumping all over me. You really think I'm going to lose to our couch so easily?"
"Well it did knock you out," Cindy says with a kiss to her forehead, "so I was worried sick about you."
Gracelyn pecks her back on the jawline, "I promise I'm fine, really," giving her another one on the lips.
Cindy sighs in relief and hugs her calmly.
"Actually, it's us who are more worried for you," Kacie tells Cindy as she guides her back to her seat on the bed. "That wasn't the Cindy I know out there. She and I tackled someone else entirely; we just got you back when you hit the floor. Strange how that works considering what has brought us together over the years, don't you think?"
A sheepish grin forms across Cindy's lips, "Maybe that's why you were able to knock me over - I wasn't myself."
"Yeah, probably, but I think it's more than that too."
"Like what?"
"Well, she says you've kept to yourself for the past few months," Kacie says speaking of Gracelyn, "and I think you let the best part of you go because you feel like you lost it with them."
Cindy's eyes flicker from the realization that she may be onto something.
Leaning into her, Kacie says, "When we were out there on the couch, I told you we were all heartbroken and truer words couldn't replace that, but do you know what keeps my spirits up? This place!"
Gracelyn can see tears forming again in Cindy's eyes and comforts her with a soothing hand on her back as Kacie brings her point home.
"Everything about this house is what Christie and Brian were all about! We all came together to build a part of it, and even the foundation itself is in the shape of a heart! I mean really, think about it, we're in her heart right now as well as his! They are still with us, even though we can't hold them."
"When did you become the metaphorical one?" Cindy asks on the brink of sobbing again.
"I listened to Christie," Kacie says with a soft kiss to Cindy's cheek. "Someone has to remind you of her wisdom; it may as well be someone who has known her almost as long as you have."
Cindy switches her hold from Gracelyn to Kacie and lets the waterworks flow uncontrollably.
The weeping and sobbing between them speaks volumes of their friendship over the years, and while Gracelyn wishes she had that much time with them under her belt, she feels better knowing Cindy still has that connection with Kacie and is hopeful that she can recover from her help faster than she otherwise could from her own.
For nearly fifteen minutes not a word is spoken among them as they let the emotions flow naturally. Kacie had hit the nail on the head so perfectly with what she said that it only felt right to pause and remember the love that has always been there.
"We um... we should probably go get some water or else we'll have some wicked headaches soon," Cindy whispers between her girls.
The others chuckle briefly and nod in agreement. Kacie gets up first pulling Cindy with her, Gracelyn follows while drying off her glasses, and they all grab a few tissues each to dry their eyes on the way out of the room.
Upon entering the main area, they find that Amber and Ariel have made themselves comfortable with Echo under their socked feet. Amber has her face smothered while Ariel alternates pressing hers gently into the girl's stomach, more or less coaxing her into relaxation.
They all quietly acknowledge each other with smiles as Cindy's group make their way to the kitchen.
Gracelyn grabs a cup from the cupboard for herself, as well as for the others before taking their turns at the sink.
As Cindy sips from her glass, she looks in Echo's general direction, being that she's currently hidden from sight given their respective positions. She thinks about what Kacie said about the house, and with a better mindset now in use, she changes the plans for her uninvited guests.
She sets her glass down and walks to the couch, waiving at Amber and Ariel to move their feet.
Echo takes a few seconds to readjust her eyes, and upon seeing Cindy standing over her, she gasps into near petrification.
Cindy leans over and deactivates the magnetic strip that her friends set the girl back up with, and gives her a hand up.
"I trust that my ladies spared you for a reason," she says while allowing the fingerprint sensors on the cuffs to register her touch. "I've decided that it's not wise to keep you and the guys here, so for my own sanity, the cops will come pick them up tomorrow," letting the restraints click loose, "and you will go free."
Echo's stunned fear turns to confusion.
"None of our security footage shows that you did anything to this place other than follow that guy in, so there's no reason file any charges," Cindy explains, looking down at the restraints in her hands, "not against you anyway."
The girl's shoulders drop with a sigh of relief as her breathing pattern and heart rate return a normal pace.
With the consequences of her actions circling her mind, Cindy looks to both pairs of her friends before looking back at Echo. "I..." looking down again, "I'll understand if you don't feel the same way," unable to maintain eye contact as she turns back, condenses the restraints, clicks them closed, and tosses them onto the seat section Echo was on earlier as she walks back to the kitchen.
Hardly able to believe her ears, Echo glances at the ladies on the couch, as well as the others in the kitchen before speaking up.
"Hey," she calls to Cindy, "honestly, yeah this still hurts a little," referring to the bruise on her cheek, "but it's nothing compared to the years of emotional abuse that he caused, and that you and your friends have spared me from by keeping us separated." She looks at Ariel, "That's why I was really hoping you meant it when you said you'd beat the snot out of him."
"We beat more than just snot out of him, but now I'm tempted to go do some more," Ariel replies.
