Page 58 of A Violet Obsession

The words hit me like a bullet to the chest. Hearing my sister say it out loud, in a voice full of love and genuine concern for her friend, hollows out something inside me.

“You see him that way,” Lily says quietly. “But I never did. I love you, and I love your parents, but sometimes when I was with your family, it was like watching a competition to see who could be the loudest and be the center of attention for the day.”

I stop breathing. She’s right. She’s exactly right. I’d never known how to put it into words, but Lily just summed up my life in a second. I was never going to win, so I stopped trying to compete.

Lily is still speaking in that sultry voice. “Finn is quieter than the rest of you, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care as much. He’s been a good brother to you. The way he helped you with your homework, even when you were being impossible about it. The way he hugged your mom when she was crying, even when it was obvious that it made him uncomfortable. For God’s sake, he joined the military to help other people.”

My sister stays quiet, which is a miracle in itself.

“I never told you this,” Lily continues, her voice soft. My pulse slows, and I lean forward, determined not to miss a word. “But there was one time—I was twelve. Do you remember when Mr. Doodles died?”

“Of course, I remember Mr. Doodles.” Emma’s voice is thick. “Best cat ever.”

Hera chirps irritably, and Emma strokes her head.

“I was so sad,” Lily continues. “I wasn’t allowed to have pets because my dad was allergic, so I loved that cat. But he was yours, and it seemed wrong when you were so upset to be sad about it, too. I wanted to be there for you, not make it about me.” A pause. “But Finn saw me sitting on the deck steps. And he just… sat next to me. Put his arm around my shoulders and let me cry. He didn’t make a joke or make me feel weird for sitting on your family’s deck crying by myself. And you know how Finn hated when people tried to hug him.

“He just sat there with me, and when I was done, he never mentioned it again. Never teased me or jabbed at me for being so upset about a cat. He was wonderful.”

My chin touches my chest. I don’t remember any of this, and for some reason, it makes me sad.

“Your brother has an incredible heart, Emma. He just doesn’t show it the way you do. But then again, neither do I.”

“You really see him like that?”

“I always have.”

My jaw locks, and I blink against the burn behind my eyes.

She saw me. She’s always seen me. I didn’t know how much I needed someone to say that before now.

I clear my throat and push the door open.

“Lily.” Both of them look up—Emma with red eyes and a fierce expression, Lily with tear tracks down her bruised cheeks. “It’s time to go.”

20

LILY

The drive north is quiet.

We don’t talk about the kiss. We don’t talk about much of anything as the miles pass. Hera sleeps in my lap, occasionally twitching a paw in her dreams, and I watch as the landscape gradually changes as we push into the foothills of the mountains.

A couple of hours later, Finn turns off the two-lane county highway onto a narrow road I wouldn’t have noticed. Thirty minutes after that, he slows, pulling onto a dirt track that is barely a road at all, and the SUV winds up a steep incline.

“Isn’t Luke’s wife a movie star?” I ask as we bounce and rock on the uneven path, trees leaning in closely on either side.

“Apparently, this place has sentimental value. He bought it from a client a few years ago.”

Hera chirps unhappily, giving me a look of pure betrayal when I put a hand on her back to keep her from jolting off my lap. The trees thin as we crest the ridge, and a small cabin appears through the windshield.

My first thought is Luke Bloom’s definition of “rustic” and mine are wildly different. The building in front of us looks like it should be condemned. Flat pine siding, painted a dull brown, blends with the trees, and the sloped roof looks like it belongs on a movie set, not real life.

“This is it?” I ask, dubiously eyeing the structure.

“This is it.”

I set Hera down on the thick pine straw covering the ground. She tentatively steps forward before looking up at me with an irritated expression of really.