Chapter Four Lily
CHAPTER FOUR
Lily
T here aren’t many people inside the police station, but my face heats from the ones looking over in our direction as Julian slowly turns his body away from the front desk and faces Dahlia and me. “Since when does Lorenzo care about your car?”
“He saw me struggling with it and came over to help,” I answer.
My sister rubs her forehead in confusion. “Which led to him sending it to the mechanic without you knowing?”
“Yes. It’s a sweet thought, right?”
Her mouth presses into a flat line, as if to say No .
“What was he doing at Rose & Thorn anyway?” She switches up her interrogation, and I scramble to keep up.
“He comes by every week to pick up his flowers.”
“What flowers?”
I look down at my shoes. “The two bouquets he orders.”
“Oh my God.” Her eyes bulge. “He’s still doing that?”
“Yes?” It comes out like a question rather than a fact.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are they for another woman?”
“They’d better not be.” My tone is a hint too icy, and my sister frowns.
Julian scowls at the visible sign of her unhappiness. “I didn’t know he was bothering you, but I’ll talk to him.”
“He’s not bothering me, and no, don’t you dare make a big deal out of nothing.” My cheeks feel hot.
The sheriff and the secretary working the front desk pretend to be busy, but I catch them stealing glances.
“Why is your face turning pink?” Dahlia asks me point-blank.
“Because you’re asking me a bunch of questions.”
She grabs my arm and pulls me toward the front door while Julian says, “I’ll get back to you on filing the report.”
“No, he won’t,” I call out before I’m dragged outside.
Dahlia’s nails dig into the flesh of my arm until we’re standing by Julian’s truck. “Okay. Spill. What’s going on between you and Lorenzo?”
I look at her with raised brows. “There’s nothing to spill.”
“You’re hiding something.” She crosses her arms.
I do the same. “I’m not.” Outside of keeping our situationship a secret, that is.
“Then why can’t I say Lorenzo’s name without you turning two shades pinker?”
“It’s nerves.”
“Since when do you get nervous?”
I shrug.
“Do you like him?” she asks without any prelude.
“ No .” I sound genuine, but my incriminating face doesn’t help matters.
“Hm,” she says unconvincingly. “Does he like you ?”
I can’t help laughing at the absurd question. “Isn’t that the million-dollar question.”
Her brows hike toward her hairline. “What if that’s why he wanted to fix your car?”
I shake my head, not trusting my voice. I never told my sister about Lorenzo and the dating app, and I don’t intend to share our story now, especially not when she is this concerned about him liking me.
Imagine how she’d react if she learned I like him back.
Liked. You liked him back.
I bite down on my tongue.
Julian steps out of the station with a scowl directed straight at me. He stays rooted in place, giving Dahlia and me space to finish our conversation.
I look back at my sister. “Can you go calm your boyfriend down before he strains a neck muscle or something?”
She doesn’t move from her spot. “He can wait.”
Great .
“If you’re interested in Lorenzo, you can tell me. I won’t judge you.”
Consider me surprised. “Really?”
“Of course. I want you to be happy.”
“Even if I’m happy with Lorenzo?”
She doesn’t look too excited when she nods, but maybe her strained expression has more to do with Julian drilling a hole into the sides of our faces.
“Don’t worry.” I spare her from answering my question. “I don’t want anything to do with him.”
She exhales. “Thank God. That would’ve been complicated.” Tell me about it. “You know how Julian feels about him.”
I force a laugh. “Isn’t it kind of silly for Julian to still be upset with Lorenzo? All he wanted to do was buy a few properties your boyfriend was interested in.”
“I think Lorenzo also beat him in an elementary school spelling bee once.” She chuckles to herself.
“They weren’t even in the same grade, so it wasn’t a fair fight.”
“Okay, you’re right. That one is ridiculous.”
“Thank you.”
“But what about Lorenzo being involved in the mafia?”
“That’s a dumb rumor the Ludlow family made up because they want to scare people into voting for Trevor instead of him.”
My sister’s mouth falls open.
“What?” I ask.
“For someone who claims they aren’t interested, you are quick to defend Lorenzo.”
“I dislike the Ludlows for lying. That’s all.”
“Fair enough.”
“Are you done interrogating me now?”
She clears her throat. “Perhaps I came off a bit…strong before—”
I cut her off with a sharp look.
She laughs. “Okay, I gave you the third degree. But I was taken aback. Lorenzo isn’t known for being sweet, so I was worried he had some ulterior motive or something.”
“Oh, I’m sure he did.” Lorenzo wouldn’t help me unless it benefited him somehow.
“I only ask that you be careful. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt by someone like him.”
“It’s sweet of you to care, but your worries are unwarranted. I’ve got it all covered.”
Lorenzo might’ve hurt me once, but I’ll never give him an opportunity to do it twice.
I’m sure of it.
Julian drops me off at home before taking Dahlia out for dinner, so I switch into my PJs and heat up some leftovers. While the food is in the microwave, I finally work up the courage to text Lorenzo.
ME
Why did you take my car to the shop?
He doesn’t answer me, so I distract myself with eating dinner. My mom isn’t back from her Bible study group yet, so I keep myself occupied with my phone while I wait for his reply.
When he still doesn’t reply after twenty minutes, I follow up with another message.
ME
I was in the middle of filing a stolen car report when they found it.
I hit Send and instantly regret not adding more, so I type up another text.
ME
The sheriff, his deputies, and Julian and Dahlia know what you did, so if people start assuming you like me or something, it’s all your fault.
Despite him not showing any signs of answering me, I end up falling asleep to thoughts of him.
When I wake up the next morning, my phone is bombarded with new photos Rafa shared of him, Nico, and Ellie enjoying a sunset in Hawaii.
My mom and Josefina, who raised Rafa like her own son, Julian, are losing their minds in the Lopez-Munoz group chat over how cute Nico and Rafa look in their matching swim trunks, so I add a comment of my own.
ME
You’re practically unrecognizable with a smile on your face.
Rafa answers with an eye-roll emoji.
JULIAN
Wait. That’s Rafa?
DAHLIA
I forgot what he looked like without the beard.
Rafa sends a single middle-finger emoji to our Kids’ Table group chat, most likely because my mom would pass out at the vulgar gesture.
I exit our chat and check my thread with Lorenzo, wondering if he answered, only to be disappointed when I find out he never replied.
Are you really surprised after he ghosted you?
No, but it still sucks.
I carry on with my morning routine, only for it to be derailed when my mom asks me about my car, which she saw outside. I’m shocked to find it parked in our driveway with a note tucked under the brand-new windshield wiper.
Keys are hidden by your favorite place.
PS: Like your car, it’s in need of some repairs.
With how much he ignores me and our shared past, I’m surprised he referenced a conversation we had on the Eros app where I told him about my three favorite places in Lake Wisteria—one of which is in my own backyard.
At the time, I thought I was so unbelievably clever, dropping a clue about my house in hopes of Lorenzo searching for me like some Dreamland prince.
Once upon a time, I wished our story would end with a happily-ever-after, only to realize Lorenzo is the villain in mine.
The handwritten note crumples underneath my fingers, and I toss it into the trash before walking over to the small fountain my dad installed. My mom has had it fixed a few times over the years, but she gave up on it a while back, so I took over the responsibility.
The fountain located in a corner of our yard was my dad’s labor of love because it broke down more often than it worked. So much so, it became a running joke between our parents, with my mom threatening to get rid of it and my dad convincing her not to.
It was his happy place, and when he passed, it became mine—up until last fall when I ran out of the gold coins he gave me when I was little.
After spending years preserving the fountain and the garden surrounding it, I started neglecting the area. Spring came and went, and the rose bushes my father loved withered away until they stopped blooming altogether.
A chill spreads across my arms as I head down the winding path leading to my dad’s garden.
Dried leaves and pebbles crunch underneath my shoes as I walk below the trellis that once was covered with blooming bougainvillea.
While the flowers are long gone, the hedge surrounding the entire garden has the opposite issue, growing wilder by the week.
I follow the winding path toward the fountain. The mostly dry basin is full of stagnant rainwater, disgusting muck, and an endless number of leaves. A few quarters sit at the bottom of the bowl too, but it’s the gold coins that catch my attention.
“Make a wish.” My dad offered me a golden coin from his satin drawstring bag after tossing his into the fountain.
I crossed my arms and raised my brows. “Those never come true.”
He cracked a smile. “I used to think that way too.”
“Really?” I asked, surprised.
“Yes.” He nodded. “Then one day, I made a wish and then I met your mom, and I never stopped wishing ever since.”
“Like what?”
“I can tell you now, but only because they came true.” He knelt down so we could be eye level. “I wished for you.” He bopped my nose. “I wished for Dahlia. I’ve wished for so many different things in my life because to wish is to hope, and that’s the one thing no one can take away from you.”