let’s see the damage.”
Sage shot another wide-eyed look to Lilah, but slowly uncurled her fist and let the paper towel fall into the sink.
Rita let off a screech and jumped away, dropping Sage’s arm. She rubbed her hands on her thighs like they were dirty just from touching the other woman. She took a step back, then jammed a furious finger at Sage while speaking to Lilah. “You bring one of them into our home?”
Her father, too, shoved out of his seat. “Get away from her, Rita. You don’t know what those freaks are capable of.”
Sage’s face fell, and Lilah hurried to step between her and her parents. “Don’t you dare talk that way about her!”
Her father’s face twisted into something afraid and revolted. “I thought you learned your lesson about getting involved with their kind when you were just a girl.”
Lilah stared for a long second as the words worked through her head. “You knew?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from breaking. “You knew about Lorne and the others? The ones that attacked me?”
“Of course we didn’t know, but we heard the rumors. They’ve been swirling since the family settled here back in my granddaddy’s day.” Merle scowled. “Those Bennetts were always up to no good.”
Lilah took a step back. The betrayal cut deep. Deeper than any other hurt she’d suffered. Breakups, friendships ending, none of those came close to the pain that drove straight into her heart. They were supposed to love her and keep her safe, but they’d done the opposite.
“You told me I was crazy. Everyone told me I was crazy,” she muttered, blinking back tears.
Her mother reached for her. “Lilah—”
“Don’t touch me,” she snapped and added another step. She wanted to retch. “My own parents made a fool out of me.”
“We just wanted the best for you, sweetheart. You were always such a stickler for what was good and right, we knew you wouldn’t be able to let it go.”
“Yes, because how dare I want the people who attacked me brought to justice,” she shot back. Fire built in her stomach as she bounced her eyes between them. Such good, upstanding people, and they were as tied up in her pain as the ones who made her suffer. “All I wanted was some apology from you, but I’m never getting that, am I? You knew all along I wasn’t imagining things, but you let me doubt myself for years.”
“We were trying to protect you!”
Lilah turned her eyes to the ceiling and let off a sharp sigh. “I’m so sick of hearing that.”
Lorne removed himself partly because he didn’t want to bring more hurt on her, but he’d broken her ability to trust. Seth promised to keep her safe, but he upended her world and broke her heart. The latest wound only underscored the lessons given to her by the others.
The path to hell was paved with good intentions.
She dropped her eyes and glared. “You won’t need to worry about protecting me anymore. Or coming by ever again. You wouldn’t want one of them darkening your doorstep, would you?”
Her mother covered her gasp with her hand. Her father didn’t say a word.
Lilah shifted her look to Sage, then jerked her chin toward the door. “Let’s go. We’re done here.”
Sage let off a long whistle once they were outside. “I thought my family was bad, but yours takes the cake. At least I know what I’m getting with Roland. Your people hide the rotten bits behind smiles and politeness.”
“Yeah,” Lilah agreed dejectedly. “The rot just goes deeper than I thought.” After a moment, she added, “There’s one more place I’d like to visit if that’s okay with you.”
Chapter 23
Lilah turned her head slowly to take in the collection of trailers. Four of them stood in a half-circle, though ‘stood’ was probably too good of a description. One leaned heavily to one end while the others bulged and sagged with none of the old, but well-tended care of her childhood home. They were simply abandoned, just like Lorne had said.
She opened the car door and took a cautious step into the little clearing. Lorne had lived in one of the middle ones, though she didn’t know which. She wouldn’t have been a welcome sight if she’d dared to step foot on the Bennett family plot. She remembered him complaining about the noise from his cousin Ian’s room and sometimes needing to go next door to Ryan’s if his family used up all the hot water for