Chapter 30
Dean
I eyed every shadow in the street as we walked towards Lily’s parents’ place, passing the manicured lawn with her travel bag in hand.
The windows of the two-story home were glowing gold with light, and unlike most of the other houses in the street, the Whitmores’ had gone without Halloween decorations.
Which put my nerves at ease. Those decorations made it hard to decipher at first glance what was a ghostly prop and what was someone standing in the shadows.
As we reached the porch, the front door of the suburban home was pulled inward, revealing Kate and Mark on the other side.
Kate was less than pleased to see me, but pulled Lily into a hug and into the house. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re home.”
I stepped over the threshold as Lily looked at me from over her mother’s shoulders, widening her eyes. “It’s only temporary, Mom.”
At the same time, Mark and I barely acknowledged each other apart from a curt nod. Kate had no clue we were working together, and Mark wanted it to stay that way, so we played the parts of a protective, conservative father and an unwelcome boyfriend.
Pretending we hadn’t talked on the phone during the drive over, when I filled him in with what was going on, came easy.
Jane popped her head around the corner at the end of the hallway with a proud grin. “Salve, Dean.”
I half smiled. “Come stanno andando le lezioni?”
The younger Whitmore paused in thought and cringed with apprehension. “Bene? I think? Or is it Buono? No, Buono is the greeting—”
“Jane. I think we’ve heard enough Italian for one night,” Kate said, hiding her disdain with a smile as she kept an arm around Lily.
Jane rolled her eyes and walked away.
“So,” Kate started, leading us all down the hallway as she kept that arm around Lily. “I suppose I am making up the guest room for him?”
“Mom.” Lily stepped out from under Kate’s arm as we moved into the back of the home, where the large, warm kitchen and dining room overlooked the yard. “He can stay in my room.”
Mark cleared his throat. “We have rules here, Lily.”
I pushed my hands into my pockets. “Actually, I won’t be stayin’.”
Lily’s attention snapped to me with a small frown and a question on her lips, but she didn’t say anything. Meanwhile, Jane, sitting at the kitchen counter on her phone, huffed in disappointment.
Kate looked ready to pop a bottle of champagne. “Oh. What a shame… Anyway, Lily—”
“I need to get my bag upstairs,” Lily stated. She turned to me, forcing a smile and an unspoken request; Can we talk?
“Yep,” I said tightly.
She headed for the stairs, and I followed.
The last time I visited her old bedroom was at her family’s BBQ so many months ago, but I hadn’t paid attention to the photos on the wall.
I was too busy wondering about my feelings towards Lily to notice them.
This time, however, as we neared her room, a small picture on a wall table caught my eye.
Lily looked about twelve or thirteen in it. She wore round glasses and held the neck of a violin as she smiled for the camera.
Lily hadn’t noticed my pause by the photo as she went into her room at the end of the hall.
I kept moving, bringing her bag with me as I entered the room, and she stopped in the middle of it.
I placed the bag on the bed. “You gonna be okay?”
“Not really.” She smiled, but it wavered. “At least I’ll save money on public transport while I carpool to work with Mom…”
The situation wasn’t ideal, but knowing she was safe here put my mind at ease.
Until I remembered what day it was.
“Holy shit. It’s Monday.”
“Yes?”
“How was your appointment with the psych?” I raised my eyebrows expectantly as my hands left her face.
“Maybe I should share my calendar with you and Kira— It’s next Monday.”
“My bad—”
Lily took my hand and spoke quietly. “Please stay.”
“They know my car, Lily.”
“Okay, but…would they really search the suburbs?” She half smiled, trying to convince me things weren’t so serious. Her eyes flicked across my face with a sort of desperation before her feigned happiness dropped. “I’m serious, Dean. You can’t leave me here—”
There was a light but abrupt slew of knocks on the doorframe, and Lily suddenly pulled back. Clasping her hands in front of herself, she put on a pleasant, unbothered mask.
I looked over my shoulder to find Kate standing in the doorway.
Her lips were pursed, as if the words she wanted to say tasted sour. “I came to ask if Dean is staying for dinner…”
Lily and I looked at each other briefly. Her gaze reiterated the plea from seconds ago.
When I gave her a small nod, she let out the faintest of sighs and relaxed her shoulders.
“He is,” Lily said to her mother. “If that’s okay with you?”
Kate painted on another of her fake smiles. I swear I saw her eye twitch too, as the polite response left her mouth. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
The tension in the room was minimal, but there. We ate in near silence save for the sound of knives and forks scraping on plates, or the soft thunk of a wine glass being set on the table.
Mark was at one end of the table, and Kate the other, while Jane sat opposite Lily and me, my seat being between Lily and her dad’s.
After another sip of her wine, Kate set the glass down and turned her attention to Lily. She reached across to her daughter’s hair, briefly playing with the ends as she scrutinized the golden-brown waves. “You’re growing out your hair?”
I chewed my sirloin steak a little slower and cast my gaze side-on to her end of the table, and then to Lily beside me too, to gauge how she felt about the question.
Lily smiled politely at her mother. “I don’t think I want to cut it yet…”
“Oh dear… We should organise a day at the salon to get our hair styled together. Sometime after the open house this Wednesday. Just us girls,” Kate beamed.
“What a good idea,” Mark threw in.
“Please, god, no,” Jane muttered.
Lily brushed her hair behind her ears. “I kind of like it longer—”
“Shorter hair is much tidier,” Kate said matter-of-factly, lifting her glass and swirling the white wine within it.
“And easier to keep. It also looks more professional. Especially since you are one of the first faces our clients see when they come to the office. I think you should get at least a trim—”
“No!” Lily blurted.
Everyone stopped eating.
Beneath the table, I placed my hand on her thigh to comfort her, despite the fact my jaw ticked with irritation.
Lily took a breath, lowering her tone. “I want to grow it out. It’s my hair.”
“Well.” Kate bristled. “I was only making a suggestion. There was no need to snap…”
“Was it a suggestion, though?” My question flipped everyone’s attention to me.
Except for Kate’s as she sipped her wine.
“I asked you a question, Kate,” I said, keeping the tone in my voice as civil as possible. I doubted my expression matched it.
Lily stayed silent. There was no indication she wanted me to stop — one look from her and I would.
“That’s enough,” Mark warned.
Kate fiddled with the napkin in her lap, but she still couldn’t look at me. “That was a discussion between my daughter and I.”
“Seemed more like an ambush.”
“The conversation is over.” Her eyes were full of loathing when she brought them to me. “If you plan to stay the night, you will respect that.”
I smirked, unable to help myself when I gave Kate my full attention, resting my forearm on the table. “Why don’t you tell me how you really feel about me being here?”
“How dare you—”
“I said that’s enough,” Mark repeated.
Lily’s hand came to rest on top of mine on her thigh, and I settled back in my seat.
Across the table, Jane promptly stabbed her fork into multiple vegetables until she had a small stack. “If I’m still going to the salon, can I get my hair dyed blue?”
The corner of Lily’s mouth twitched before she covered it. At the same time, I looked down and shook my head in amusement.
“No,” Kate and Mark stated in unison.