Page 88 of Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places
“Should’ve known. I’ll take her up.” Maverick’s youngest sister, Silvia, walked into the dining room and headed straight for Lucky. She exuded a bored, sleepy energy. Even her voice sounded relaxed, slightly muffled and unaffected. She had naturally downturned eyes with dark circles but otherwise was very much identifiable as a Phillips.
“Don’t worry about a thing, sweetheart. You’re in good hands now,” Mrs. Phillips said.
Lucky rolled with it like he asked her to, following Silvia upstairs to a good-sized bedroom with a walk-in closet. The bed had been neatly made with decorative pillows and a throwblanket at the bottom. Nothing seemed out of place or dusty. There were even vacuum pattern lines in the carpet.
“What size are you?” Silvia asked.
Lucky told her. “Do I really have to change?”
“You don’t have to, no, but it would make my mom happy. What do you want to do?”
“I…don’t know.”
Normally, Lucky would’ve thrown herself into the role, being the best and brightest girlfriend, winning over his entire family one observant joke and practiced dizzying smile at a time. But communing with Hennessee’s specters to gain access to the house itself had been sucking the life out of her. She’d built herself up to be charming, and now passing for pleasant felt brutal.
This was a big deal for Maverick. She wanted his family to like her, but she only had the capacity to be herself. And her real self was…sad.
Sad because it’d only been fifteen minutes and she could imagine the road ahead. Spending time with a loving family, who enjoyed being together, used endearing nicknames, threw parties, and took color-coordinated pictures. Maverick invited her into his world, and she didn’t have a single equivalent thing to share in return.
Just sad and sorry and obsessively thinking about her estranged family.
Lucky took off her glasses.
Silvia was filled with an authentic kindness that ran so deep the sheer power of her compassion overwhelmed her. She cried easily. Her feelings bruised regularly. Profoundly sensitive and loving, she protected herself with a cloak of ambivalence.
Silvia smirked. “You’re not supposed to do that.”
“Do what?”
“Take your glasses off. Maverick made us swear to not ask you about them because you were going to wear them all day.”
She nodded. “That’s usually true. Did he tell you why I wear them?”
“No. He said you’d tell us when you were ready but that wouldn’t be today.”
Meaning Maverick expected Lucky to see them again. His invitation hadn’t been a rash, last-minute decision. He’d not only told them about her, but he also made sure they’d respect the accommodations she needed. How could one person be so thoughtful all the time?
“I feel like you’re overthinking this,” Silvia continued. “It’s not awear the shirt or we kick you outtype mess, all right? Maverick said he wants you in the picture so you’re in it either way.” She returned to the closet, rummaging around. “My brother is extremely fucking private. My mom started crying when he asked to invite you and the fact that you’re here at all is a miracle. This should work.” She held up a cream-and-blue cardigan.
The hem stopped near Lucky’s thighs and the sleeves extended past her hands if she didn’t push them up. It swallowed her whole, but somehow still managed to look good. Slouchy but fashionable.
“I’m not gonna tell you his business because I don’t know what he’s told you and it’s not my place, but like”—Silvia grasped at the air for the words—“I know we look like one big happy family and it’s kind of intimidating to outsiders, but we have issues too. For me. My experience”—she paused again—“I’m the youngest. I didn’t see my brother for long stretches of time because he didn’t want to be around our parents. All I want is for him to be happy. If you can do that, I’ll take a bullet for you, honestly.”
“I don’t think anyone plans to shoot me. You should be safe,” she said. “I have a type of ESP. That’s why I wear the glasses. They help block my ability.”
“Okay. No idea what that means.”
“It means thank you for being kind to me.”
Maverick pictured having Lucky in his life long-term. If that’s what he wanted, she’d do her best to make it happen because she wanted it too. She’d approach his family one person at a time, getting to know them at her own pace. Exactly as she had with theCaretakerproduction team. She did it once, and she could do it again.
Lucky focused on Silvia’s eyes. “Your empathy makes you soft in a way you hate because it hurts so much, but it’s one of the best things about you. Without knowing I needed help, you knew I needed help. That’s why you volunteered to bring me up here before anyone else could. You feel like it’s your job to keep the peace in the family, so you do this often. You’re very good at it, but don’t forget to tell others what you need too. Be careful to not hold your feelings too tightly to your chest because they’ll only turn inward.”
“I—what?”
Lucky slipped her glasses back on. “Also, you’re Maverick’s favorite sibling.”
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