Page 45 of The Lies You Love
“Silent Night. It’s the one where you can’t make noise when you come.”
I guffaw as I wrap myself in a fluffy towel. “Good one.”
“Oh, there will be plenty of good ones,” Beck says, licking his lips. My stomach curls into itself. The anticipation might bring me to my knees.
“There’s only one more towel for you. Where can I grab another for my hair?”
“Hallway closet,” Beck says. “No one should be upstairs. It’s to the left as you leave my room.”
I pick up his phone from the bed and see that Griffin did text, but it was just some stupid meme, so I toss it back where I found it and quietly open the door to slip into the hallway. The closet is where he said it would be and it’s filled with towels. I grab one and am startled when a man clears his voice. A small scream echoes off the tall ceilings. “I’m sorry, you scared me,” I get out. I breathe out. “You must be Stefan. I’m Auden.” As awkward as this should be wearing a towel wrapped around myself, I’m just glad it’s not some killer. I saw photos of Stefan and Maisey in her room earlier.
“It’s nice to meet you. I didn’t mean to frighten you. Cocktail hour started and they sent me up to tell you Moscow Mules are ready. I should have known better. I remember what it’s like.”
Okay, now uneasiness slips into the equation. “What what’s like?” I ask.
“Being in love,” Stefan says, exhaling in one big gust.
I can’t refute or deny it. He’s being honest. “I’m so sorry, Stefan.”
“Right, I’m sure they’ve told you everything.”
I nod meekly, looking down and readjusting the towel the best I can. When I look up something has changed. He’s staring at me—at my transplant scar that’s peeking out just above where my towel covers. The red scar angry from the hot water and unmistakable if you’re familiar with it. It can only mean one thing. He swallows hard and meets my eyes. “Is that from a transplant?”
There’s no sense in lying. “It is. Heart,” I say, a chill hitting my dewy skin when the A/C kicks on.
“What hospital was the surgery done at?”
I tell him.
“Anonymous donor?” he asks.
I nod, and as if on cue, my heart races.
Stefan pales, steadying himself on the wall next to us. “I’m so sorry, they need me downstairs. It was good to meet you, Auden. What did you say your last name was?”
I didn’t say it, but I tell him anyway.
Beck pokes his head out the door. “Oh, there you are.” He sees Stefan. “Hey Stef. Everything okay? Looks like you saw a ghost.” He’s wearing a towel around his waist and hugs his brother-in-law.
Stefan looks between Beck and me then says, “Guess I kind of did. Cocktails are ready. Good to see you, buddy. Can we talk later?”
He turns to leave, and I’m left with an eerie premonition. One that will keep me up all night.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Beck
“What the fuck do you mean Maisey was an organ donor?” I roar, draining my fifth glass of whiskey as I pace the library.
After we ate dinner, one that was fraught with tension and awkward silences, Auden said she needed to do some work on her laptop. I knew it was lie, we all did. After they shut the door behind her, I knew shit would be tense and was grateful for her exit.
“We didn’t tell you at the time because we didn’t think it mattered,” Mom says, trying to ease the tension. Stefan saw Auden’s scar and told my parents his theory. “She was on life support and everything was working except her brain. Stefan told us Maisey had signed up to be an organ donor, checked the box on her driver’s license, you know? She had talked about saving lives if the time ever came or something like this happened. It was a specific conversation she had with him and we honored it. That’s all we did. Maisey was gone, Beckett. She was gone. What happened after wasn’t a big deal because our girl was gone forever.”
“You never once thought to tell me my sister was walking around among us? In pieces? That wasn’t an important detail you thought to share?”
Mom shakes her head, and Dad steals away to a small study attached to the library. He closes the door behind him. “It was painful enough as it was. Why bring in another detail that didn’t seem to matter? You were going through Charge Man training and you were finally pulling yourself out of the grief and we didn’t want to ruin it. After you quit everything related to becoming a vet we worried about you. We’d lost one child and day by day it seemed we were losing the other in a different way. Beck, this was hard on us all, but you seemed to be losing the most from the fallout.”
My blood is boiling, I’m seething, and worse, I can’t fault their decision because it was a logical one. I’m drunk, and I’m mad. This is a horrible combination on a weekend that was supposed to be joyful and relaxing. I’ve finally found someone, and now I’m being told there’s a fucking fated reason she was found. “I need to calm down.”
