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She gave me a strange, confused look. "Yes."
“But..."
"You seriously don't know?" There was genuine surprise in her tone.
“No. I don’t.” I looked around the room, as if it would give me clues to what she was talking about. The room was neat. Nothing out of place. Two nightstands on either side of the bed, with one lamp each. My purse had somehow made it here, and was leaning up against the lamp.
Cords to plug in electronics.
A bench at the end of the bed.
The sofa chair where Lux sat.
The door to the closet was open. From here, I could see a neat line of suits, black button-up shirts. There were probably a million black or silver ties in there.
Even the bed where Rook had been sleeping was made up. A pillow placed delicately on its side—a very familiar looking pillow. It didn’t match the rest of the light gray and white decor.
It was red and yellow, looked like it had come from some other place…
Exactly like… like the pillows that reminded me of my home. They’d been burned up in the fire.
"Did my dad know Rook?" I stared at that damn pillow.
He couldn’t have gotten it in some local store—my mom had brought them home from Indonesia.
“Look, I don’t usually do this,” she answered.
“Do what?”
“Get involved in Magnolia business. But I’m doing this as a favor to Rook, and to you, because of your…” she looked away, not finishing, “anyhow, Rook told me to tell you that he’s looking after your sister.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” I stood, meeting her eyes. “How does Rook know my dad? Why is he so invested in me?”
“Rook transferred money to Callie’s account. Enough to take care of her. To buy her a car, even.”
“Lux. Answer my question.”
She straightened. “He also wanted me to give this to you,” she nodded towards a slim, white box on the dressers.
A new MacBook.
“Why won’t you answer me?” I asked her.
“Because.” She shook her head. “Because you don’t fuck with the Magnolia, that’s what. They will do anything to get what they want.” She looked at her phone. “I need to go.” She began to leave.
“Why, Lux. Tell me. For my father.” I raced down the hall and down the stairs after her.
“Rook wants you to go to school. He suggested Europe somewhere.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line. “He’s always trying to get me to leave.”
“Baby, don’t you understand why?” She suddenly stopped, gestured towards the house. We were standing in the inner foyer—a place unfamiliar to me because I’d been unconscious when I was brought here, “After everything? Now that you know the truth.”
“You haven’t told me everything.”
“And I never will,” she replied firmly. “You will have to find answers for yourself. Ask Rook if you want to know.” She paused, the light from the mid-day streaming in through the doorway. “You going to be okay?"
I barely knew how to answer that. My whole world had been a lie, and every day I was growing closer to knowing what an idiot I’d been.
