bond they had, even when they didn’t get along, was still solid. He’d known just what to say to her.
It made me wonder why for so many years, he’d never realized that there was something wrong.
“All good?” Lu asked as I came back into the kitchen.
“Change of plans,” I said, sitting back down. Casper, Farrah, Cam and Cecilia must have gone upstairs. None of them had even bothered to clear their plates. “We leave for Oregon in the morning.”
“Somethin’ happen?” Forrest asked.
“Cecilia’s cousin went missing,” I replied.
“Shit,” Eli said, drawing out the word. “That family has a lot of drama.”
“They’re part of an outlaw motorcycle club,” Wilson said, striding into the room. “It’s not a lifestyle that promotes stability.”
“He’s not wrong,” I mumbled into my food.
“I will not be traveling to Oregon in the morning,” Wilson said as he grabbed a plate of food. “I assume you all can make it without me.”
“What’s up?” Forrest asked him.
“I believe that I’ve found Richard Campbell’s daughter, Kaley,” Wilson replied. “I’ll continue trying to make contact and follow up on leads from here.”
“Sounds good,” Eli said.
“So glad you approve,” Wilson replied emotionlessly.
I wolfed down the rest of my food and went searching for Cecilia. When I found her, she was sitting on the edge of the bed, her phone in her hand.
“Whatcha doin’?” I asked, closing the door behind me.
“I was trying to work up the courage to call Lily,” she said with a self-conscious huff. She flicked at the charger connecting the phone to the wall. “My phone was dead, so I plugged it in, but then I chickened out.”
“I bet she’d be glad to hear from you,” I said, sitting next to her.
“No, she wouldn’t,” she said simply. “Did you know she’s with Leo now?”
“No shit?” Cecilia and Leo had been a thing when we were kids. He’d been the one to look the other way while Cecilia ran around with me.
“No shit,” she confirmed. “I always kind of saw it coming.”
“Really?” Lily was around five years younger than us, and had been just a kid when I’d left.
“Not when she was little. Gross.” She wrinkled her nose at me. “But later, yeah. They just always had a connection.”
“Huh,” I said, trying to wrap my head around it. “Still, you’re her sister. She’d want to know you’re thinking about her.”
“She was always closer with Rose,” Cecilia argued with no heat. She set the phone on the bedside table. “She’s probably really freaked out. I’m not going to bother her.”
She twisted on the bed and laid down with her back to me, pulling the covers up to her shoulder.
“You want me to take Olive so you can get some rest?” I asked, glancing at the squirming baby. Olive was busy kicking her legs and waving her arms in front of her face.
“If you don’t mind, yeah,” Cecilia said from beneath the covers.
I stared at Cecilia’s back for a while, wondering if I should crawl in behind her. Cecilia and Lily’s relationship was complicated, and I knew that was mostly because of the woman curled into a ball in front of me—but I also knew that she didn’t want it to be that way. Sometimes, people just fell into patterns that were nearly impossible to get out of. I hated that she didn’t even feel welcome to call Lily when her family was going through something so terrifying.
Olive started to fuss and when Cecilia didn’t even reach for her, I made my decision. I picked up the baby and left the room, closing the door behind me so her mother could rest.
“You want a tour?” I asked Olive quietly as I strode toward the stairs. Her little body felt good against my chest, and for the first time in a couple days, it felt like I could exhale.
Later, I’d be grateful for that little piece of calm before the storm.
Chapter 9
Cecilia
I stared at a small drip of paint on the windowsill, millimeters away from where it met the wall. It was almost perfectly formed, like it had been caught mid-roll and was now stuck in that same position forever, marring the nearly pristine paintwork. A mistake that was now permanently part of the room.
How fitting.
It had always been amazing to me how a word of praise can be forgotten in an instant, but a harsh word is remembered forever. I’m not sure if it’s a defense mechanism protecting someone from being hurt again, or if we as humans just choose to remember the