35. Chapter 35
Erik
“Is everything okay?” Caleb asks with a worried frown and slides my coffee over the counter.
I blink. Caleb? The guy who hates speaking in sentences longer than a word is asking a question? What’s next, flying pigs?
“Yeah, sure. Everything's great.” And it is. Better than great, actually. But I'm overwhelmed.
“Really?” Henry asks, and takes a seat on one of the bar stools by the counter. “No offense, but you’re really out of it.”
“I'm okay, I promise. I just got some news I keep wrecking my brain over.” I take a sip of my coffee, ignoring how it burns my lips.
“Well, I know that feeling,” Caleb mumbles and flips a kitchen towel over his shoulder.
“I somehow doubt it.” Then again, not much is known about Wayward Hollow’s coffee shop owner apart from the fact he's a fantastic baker.
They're not wrong, though. I'm so scatterbrained even Jodie sent me home for the day, because I kept staring at the wall.
“I called in one of your many favors from when you picked up shifts for others,” she declared, not exactly giving me a choice.
Knowing her, she knew more about what’s going on than I ever told her.
“Go home, Erik.” As tough of a lady as she usually is, her edges softened.
“You need a break. Go. I'll see you tomorrow.”
Then she basically kicked me out of the station.
And now I'm here at Caleb's, still trying wrap my head around this day. The mystery of the bones is solved. And so is the disappearance of my sister.
“You know you can talk to us? We're your friends, Erik. You know that, right?”
My friends? I blink at him, surprised. “Yeah, of course I know.” I drink another sip of my coffee, then turn the cup in my hands.
Do I know, though?
We might be friendly when we see each other around town, but is ‘friend’ the word I would have picked?
The more I think about it, the more I realize it is. At least since I started hanging out with Kylie and as a result, Nic and Lauren. The campfire definitely catapulted us out of acquaintances territory.
“I found my sister. A few hours ago.”
“What?” Henry shouts excitedly as he jumps up. I quickly put my index finger in front of my lips and pull him back into his seat.
“Shut the fuck up. I haven't told anyone about it yet. Only Kylie.” The two shoot each other a knowing look.
“Come to think of it,” suddenly Henry bursts into a chuckle and points from Caleb to me, “it's exactly the opposite for you two.”
“What do you mean?”
“You've been searching for your sister the whole time, and this guy here didn't even know he had one.”
“Yep.” Caleb sets a cinnamon roll down in front of me. “I didn't. Trust me. Eat. You need brain food.”
“You didn't know you had a sister?” I’m so confused.
“Yeah.” He glances around, making sure his other patrons are out of earshot. “Caught me by surprise when she told me, and I'm embarrassed to say I didn't have the best reaction.”
My face pulls into a grimace. “I guess that's one way meeting her might go.” I rub the back of my neck. “Like, how do I even approach this? Do I just drive over and tell her, ‘Hi, I'm your brother. You were kidnapped as a child; in case you didn't know. Oh and our dad is in jail, just fyi.’?”
“Yeah, trust me. Not the best approach.” Caleb shakes his head. I take a bite of his cinnamon roll and let out a deep sigh.
He's right. I needed brain food.
“Can you give me one more to go? I'm going to Kylie’s after this and she loves these.”
“Sure thing, boss man”
“But you will tell Molly about your sister, right? And your dad?” Henry’s expression turns worried.
“That's what I'm struggling with,” I admit and pinch the bridge of my nose. “What if she doesn't want anything to do with any of us? I think I'll pay her a visit first and see how it goes.”
“Sounds like a solid plan.” Caleb sets the to-go box on the counter.
“Anyway, I think I'll head out.” I pick up my to-go cup and the cinnamon roll, pushing the last bite of mine into my mouth.
“The cinnamon rolls are the bomb, Caleb. You're a genius.”
“I know. Say hi to Kylie for me.”
“Will do.”
I give them a wave over my shoulder and head out. Surprisingly, telling them actually helped. Saying it out loud to them opened the curtain, broke the barrier to accepting the reality. Even if it gives me no clue what to do.
When I arrive at Kylie’s home, she's already waiting for me on her porch. Abby is running around the front yard, chasing after leaves.
My emotions are balancing on the edge to the surface and I can’t hold them at bay much longer. And I don’t want to.
I jump out of the car, and my first tentative steps toward her turn into a run within seconds.
As soon as I climb the steps she’s already there and I throw my arms around her middle and bury my face in the crook of her neck.
Everything is hitting me at once, and I don't even fucking know what to say.
“Hey, it's okay,” she whispers, snaking her arms around my shoulders, running her fingers through my hair. “Everything will be fine.”
I tighten my hold, sink to my knees and pull her with me. I can’t breathe.
“Fuck,” I mumble against her neck. Kylie’s hands draw slow circles over my back, fingers running over my scalp, and her soft voice mumbles reassurances into my ear as I greedily suck in air and try not to fall completely apart.
“You're okay. Everything is okay. Today was a lot. Let it all out.”
“Thank you.” I keep mumbling it over and over, and for once she accepts it without objection. Hot tears overflow and disappear into her sweatshirt, and she hugs me as tight as she can.
“I got you, babe.”
I can't help the shaky laugh that turns into a sob. Fuck. All the years of searching and false hope break over me like a wave and pull me under.
“Breathe with me,” she mumbles and takes a deep breath, the same way I did before. I follow suit. “That's it, baby. Come on, another one.” Before I know it, she's pulled me back to the surface and I can breathe again.
Abby appears beside us, her nose worriedly nudging my shoulder.
“It’s okay. I'm okay,” I mumble and draw back, wiping my face.
“No, you're not,” she says softly and replaces my hands with hers, wiping hot tears away with her thumb. “And that's okay. Nobody would be. Come on, let's get you inside.” Reluctantly, I loosen my grip around her so she can get up. She offers me her hand and I let her pull me to a stand.
“Did you come up with a plan?” she asks me as I nudge my shoes aside with my foot.
“No.” I run my hand over my face and through my hair. “I'm still grappling with the fact that we found her at all.”
“You haven't told your aunt yet?”
“No.” I shake my head, and gulp heart heavy. “I want to meet her first. Hell, I don't even know if she knows she's got a whole-ass family out here looking for her. Or how she'll react when I tell her our dad is in jail. If she reacts badly, at least the two of them don't have to experience it.”
“Sometimes you're too noble for your own good.” She motions for me to sit down on her couch.
“Maybe.” I pull off my jacket, then remember the paper bag in its pocket. “I brought you a cinnamon roll from Caleb’s.”
It’s a little smashed, but still, her face lights up. “You are the best.” She kisses my cheek, then heads to the kitchen to make herself a coffee.
“Do you want one too?”
“No, just had one of Caleb's.”
“I figured, but thought I’d ask.” Once it’s finished, she sits down next to me, her thigh pressing into mine. I lift my arm she scoots closer, leaning her head against my shoulder.
“Why do you have to go through the pain of rejection alone? Potentially. To spare your aunt and dad. I guess your dad can't exactly go and visit her, but your aunt…”
“I'm pretty sure aunt Molly would ask me the same thing.” I chuckle and close my eyes. “Maybe it's a little deeper than that. She's my sister. We used to have a pretty tight bond, I think. Maybe I just want to approach her alone so I can lick my wounds in peace should she inflict any.”
Comfortable silence settles, as we watch nature through her living room window. It’s peaceful to stare at such an open space. The lake. The mountains in the distance.
There’s a question burning on the tip of my tongue and I can’t hold it back anymore. “Did you snoop?”
She puts her lip between her teeth and glances away. Oh, she so did. “Maybe,” she mumbles, then lifts her hand, thumb and index finger showing a small gap. “Only a little, I swear.”
“I changed my mind. Tell me. Please.” She stares at me, apprehensiveness written all over her face. Then her lips pull into a gentle smile.
“She graduated high school, went to university, got a master’s in literature, and runs a bookstore.”
Something tugs at my heart.
Aunt Molly said Lilith used to love reading, even back then. Granted, it was mostly picture books. However, I barely have a picture of her without her nose buried in one of them.
“She has a fat tabby cat named Garfield, and every Wednesday she goes out with her friends. She's currently single, though I think there might have been a situationship a few months back.”
“And you got all this from her social media profiles?”
She shrugs as if that's the easiest thing in the world, even though it's information even Frank didn't even have on her.
“And her friends' social media profiles,” she adds sheepishly. “Allegedly.”
“What about her family?”
“That's where it gets interesting.” She taps her fingertips against the tabletop. “I scrolled down her socials until, like, 2015. No mention of her parents. No pictures with them. Nothing. Maybe I have to look further back. Or maybe they’re incredibly private people.”
“You don't have to look further. Thank you,” I mumble and pull her into a kiss.
The butterflies in my stomach are staging a riot. Happiness is slowly but surely pushing all other emotions aside, and I smile against her lips.
Then I pull her into my lap.