Page 39 of Ugly Truths (The Veiled Truths Trilogy #2)

Elena

S ilas stands beside me on the small front porch of an old craftsman house, the glow from the porch light casting a warm halo around us. Gripping the handles of the tinfoil-covered casserole dish a little too tightly, I glance up at him.

“Thank you,” I say, breaking the silence, “for coming with me.”

His response is a small smile, eyes meeting mine through the reflection on his glasses.

He reaches for the dish again for the third time since we left the car and walked under the streetlights to the front steps.

I angle it away, narrowing my eyes at him.

Silas sighs and presses the doorbell instead before placing a hand on my lower back.

A bicycle hides against the far wall, and three different-sized potted mums crowd one edge of the door. The neighboring homes, which stand only a few feet apart, are also alight with lamps and evening routines.

“There's nothing to thank me for,” Silas finally replies, his fingers sneaking under the edge of my jacket, warm against my shirt.

Before I can respond, the door swings open, flooding us with light. Jeff stands there, casual in jeans and a black t-shirt. He smiles and reaches for the casserole without hesitation. I let him take it.

“Hey guys, come in.”

We walk directly into the living room, and the familiarity is almost eerie, though they've rearranged some of the furniture. The longer, brick-colored couch now sits under the window on the far wall, and the smaller, leather one is closer to the door. They both face the kitty-cornered television .

I’d spent many afternoons in the prone position on that smaller couch, propped up against pillows while Jeff flipped through the channels. He’d always stop on some nature documentary and tell me about his upbringing while it played in the background.

His parents were good but poor, though the “good” didn’t stop him from falling into the wrong crowd.

More than a few of those run-ins ended in bloody noses.

The corners of his lips twitched when he asked me if that reminded me of anyone I knew.

I rolled my eyes so hard I’m not sure how they didn’t get stuck.

He grew up a few blocks from here, and this house had been slowly falling apart for years until it was finally condemned when he was a young adult.

Somehow, he got it in his head he’d buy it and fix it up one day.

All of it was a fantasy, of course, but he liked to daydream about it.

It wasn’t until he started dating Lauren after meeting at martial arts class that he realized it was possible.

To no one’s surprise, she helped him get his act together, especially when she told him she couldn’t marry someone content to coast through life, taking whatever side jobs he could find.

After that, Jeff had his eye on the prize.

Within a year, he somehow talked an investor to helping him get the gym up and running.

Right before the third year, he had paid back the loan and was ring shopping.

By year five, they were married, and this house was in their names.

They renovated it for two years and have lived here ever since.

A small fire crackles in the fireplace, an ambiance Jeff didn’t stop talking about missing in the summer months. It’s no surprise that he’d take advantage of the first truly cool night of the season.

The antique coffee table is laid out with cheese and crackers. Jeff nods towards the couches as he heads towards the hallway on the far side of the staircase. “I’ll be back in a second. Toss your coats over the banister,” he says, then pauses. “Your text said four-twenty for twenty minutes, right?”

Silas chuckles when Jeff departs without an answer and helps me out of my coat. I thank him with a smile and hang our coats as instructed.

On the other side of the room, Lauren emerges from the cased opening that leads into the dining area, her blonde hair pulled up in a messy bun. She wipes her hands against a dish towel that hangs lazily on the shoulder of her light blue sweater, and my heart stops beating.

“I thought we stopped taking in strays,” she calls toward the kitchen, eyes wrinkling on the corners as she tries to contain a smirk.

Just the sound of her voice squeezes my heart so hard that it burns. My laughter is mixed with tears of relief as I rush to her. She wraps around me in a cocoon, and the remaining pieces of myself I’d been trying to force back into place finally settle.

“My girl,” she hums against the side of my head, arms crossed around my shoulders. Her signature floral perfume overwhelms me, and the tears build once again. “Let me get a better look at you.”

She pulls back just enough to hold me at arm's length, her free hand sweeping the hair at my neck to see the scar we discussed at length. I’d told her how worried I was that it wouldn’t fade and had to be convinced multiple times that it would if I treated it properly.

Lauren was right, of course. It’s just a small scar now.

“You look so good.” Her glassy eyes mirror mine as we grin stupidly at one another. “But I’m pissed it took you this long to visit,” she chides.

“You’ve always been welcome to join us for training,” Jeff butts in, returning to the room with two glasses of amber liquid and handing one to Silas. Lauren rolls her eyes at her husband.

“Because that’s how I want to spend time with Elena,” she retorts, tossing the green dish towel in her hand over her shoulder. Almost as if she forgot he was in the room, her eyes shift over to Silas standing in front of one of the couches, a hand in the front pocket of his fitted slacks.

Without hesitation, he sets his glass on a coaster placed on the coffee table and moves toward us. Lauren raises her eyebrows, hands falling from my shoulders.

“So,” she starts, giving him a once-over, “this is the guy.”

The corner of Silas’s mouth twitches. “The guy? ”

My cheeks heat. “Lauren,” I mutter, but she’s not interested in my pleas.

“She spent three weeks recovering from second-degree burns in this house, only worried about some guy she wouldn’t tell us about.” Her arms fold across her chest as she appraises him anew. “Unless I’m confusing you with someone else.”

When I stayed here in June, I was determined not to tell Lauren or Jeff anything beyond my real name.

I didn’t want to risk involving them more than they already were, but I should have known Lauren would hear the tail ends of my sleepless nights and the phone calls I’d take with Lu as I cried over the life I lost.

My face burns even hotter as Silas nods, acknowledging Lauren's words with a quiet glance my way, though I can't bring myself to meet his eyes. He extends his hand to Lauren.

“Thank you for taking care of Elena when I couldn't.”

The words are woven with so much sincerity that it sucks all the humor from the room.

Lauren looks at his hand and back up at him, her eyes softening on the edges as she takes it. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

A beep from the kitchen breaks the brief silence, and Lauren calls Jeff to come help her. He sets down his glass and follows her without a word, leaving us to obey Lauren's instructions to sit down. As she turns to leave, she promises to bring me a glass of wine.

Desperate for any type of escape, I move toward the coffee table, but Silas catches my elbow, drawing me back to his chest.

With a teasing smile, he whispers, “The guy, huh?”

I bite the inside of my mouth and roll my eyes. “I didn’t realize Lauren was such a narc.”

A laugh bursts out of Silas, the sound bright in the quiet room. “I’m glad you had someone to look after you,” he says earnestly. “And I’m glad it was them.” He pauses, eyes searching mine. “They live close to the warehouses. ”

My throat tightens.

I also hadn’t realized how close Jeff lived to the warehouses until I decided I was going to ask him to hold onto my belongings the night I left.

Almost exactly two and a half miles away.

I convinced myself that the distance was a sign that my plan would work.

I could grab my things and disappear without looking back.

I nod. There’s another small pause before Silas speaks again, “Did you walk the whole way here?”

Unease prickles over every inch of my skin. It’s not something we talk about much, and it's certainly not something I want to relive. I rehashed every detail of my conversation with Peter that night, but very little about what happened immediately after it.

The details are blurred and distant, but somehow, the phantom pain is as sharp as ever. “I don’t remember most of it, so it wasn’t so bad,” I murmur. Though his response is just a quiet release of breath, I know he doesn’t like that answer.

He kisses my temple, lips lingering for a long moment before guiding me down to the couch next to him. We settle into the cushions and allow his remaining questions to die on his tongue.

Not that we get the chance to say much else because Lauren and Jeff reenter the room, Jeff announcing that food will be ready in thirty minutes. Lauren hands me a glass of white wine, and they settle into the opposite couch.

Silas shifts the focus with practiced ease as he reaches for his abandoned drink. “So, Lauren, what’s it like leading the cardiac nurses at Insight?”

My friend’s face lights up. Jeff smiles, and his free hand falls against her back. The constellation of tattoos near his wrist moves side to side as he encourages her to speak. She doesn’t need much convincing, though, and quickly starts in on her job.

It only feels like a few moments have passed when the oven timer dings.

—

“All jokes aside, he seems really great,” Lauren murmurs as she scrubs at the stubborn burnt bits at the bottom of my casserole dish.

My lips curl as I dry the stainless steel pan she handed me, wipe away the last beads of water, and set it on the drying mat.

Bumping my hip against hers playfully, I reply, “I warned you he’s annoyingly charming.”