Page 163 of Perfect Liar
“You’ll wear this when you’re ready,” he said.
And then he walked away, leaving me alone in our new bedroom suite.
I had hurt him.
I leaned against the door, listening as his footsteps faded. When they were all gone, my gut wrenched, and emotion hurled out of it.
The painful memory of finding my gran and Isabel lying on the floor came back to me. But the pain I suffered now was different…worse, if that was possible.
My heart writhed in my chest and ripped itself to pieces to punish me for hurting Will, and I wound my arms around myself to keep the pieces inside me.
Lissie’s voice startled me as she called out to me from the other side of the door.
“Aunt Ellie? Thomas told me to come here. Can I come in?”
How could I let her in? I had promised to never let her see me broken again.
“Uncle Will is punching the bags so hard. Is he mad at us?”
Damn it, she’d been in the gym when he got down there.
I opened the door, and Lissie rushed in, hugging my waist. I pushed my fingers through her long brown hair.
“He just has so much adult stuff on his mind, that’s all. He’s not mad…he could never be mad at you. Everything is fine, Lissie.”
She nailed me with her perceptive Hastings eyes.
“Then why were you crying?”
Caught in my own web of lies, I wiped at my face roughly with my sleeve. I reached for her hand.
“Come on, girl. Let’s go find something fun to do in this big old castle of yours.”
She took my hand and stared over her shoulder at the room.
“I’ll show you everything later. First, why don’t we find Mrs. Bates and ask her about pizza for dinner?”
As we went hand in hand along the corridor, she skipped along beside me.
“Yeah! We can make it a party with Chelsea and Uncle John and everyone!” she squealed.
Then she went on about how she knew Mrs. Bates would definitely say yes, and I released one long ragged exhale.
Mrs. Bates created an amazing table in the dining room for the kids, set with handmade pizzas and wine chillers filled with flavored sodas.
Colorful balloons floated around the room.
Housekeeper or not, Mrs. Bates was part of the family, and she always knew how to make everyone happy. She truly loved the kids. I motioned for her to come sit with Mary and me, and the three of us chatted while watching Lissie and John help Chelsea “properly” enjoy pizza.
The girls’ laughter floated on the air like a beautiful melody.
Will had avoided me all afternoon, keeping to the gym or his war room while I stayed around the kitchen, playing board games with Lissie and helping with the pizzas.
But his voice now resonated in the hall, coming closer and closer to the dining room. He appeared outside the arched opening with Ben and Thomas, all three with hard expressions on their faces.
I knew that look on Will’s face.
We were running out of time.