“It all happened so fast,” she protests, but she’s hugging me back, squeezing tightly.
“That was not fast,” I hear Bennett whisper, and I’m guessing it’s to himself. No wonder she’s not pissed I’ve been MIA on her, but I was also giving her space to have her own life. Clearly, she got one.
I pull back and turn to look at Bennett. He’s still standing in his doorway, shirtless and looking between us like he can’t figure out if he’s in trouble or not.
“You,” I say, pointing at him. “You better be good to her. I know where you sleep.”
“Madeline,” Paislee laughs, swatting my arm.
“What? I’m serious.”
“She is. The first time I met her, she told me to be careful; she bites.” Luke wraps an arm around me from behind, above my breast to pull my back fully to his body.
“But also good for you. Really. You deserve to be happy.”
She bites her lip, her eyes going soft on me. “So do you.” I nod in understanding.
Luke clears his throat behind me. “Never seen you have the look of getting your hand stuck in a cookie jar,” he says, and he’s right. Bennett is always so put together and stone-faced. This is a softer side. Not the dean but simply Bennett, Luke’s brother.
“Because he did,” I say, grinning over my shoulder. “The cookie jar being my sister.”
“Jesus Christ,” Bennett mutters, but there’s no heat in it. He runs a hand through his disheveled hair, and I have never seen the two of them appear more alike.
“How about I make everyone breakfast?” my sister asks. Yeah, we should get out of the hallway. I link my arm with my sister’s and head down the stairs with her. Bennett says he’s getting a shirt.
“Do you know?” my sister asks. Her eyes are growing serious, and I know what she’s talking about.
“Yeah, Luke told me.”
Luke grabs a few things from the fridge as Bennett makes it back down to the kitchen. We all cook together. It’s light and normal. I could really get used to this. I haven’t been real sure about what I want to do with my life, but I do know I want this.
We take everything to the table and sit down together.
“So,” I start. Might as well because no one mentioned it while we were cooking, falling more into small talk.
“Announcement?” Bennett asks, already knowing where I was going. Luke drapes his arm over the back of my chair.
“The homicide,” I say. “It’s official today. Right?” I might try to see what information I can pull out of Bennett. I’m sure Luke knows what I’m up to.
Bennett’s face goes serious. “Yeah. The announcement goes out at noon. An alert should be going out now to students. A mandatory school-wide assembly.”
“Is that normal?” I ask, reaching for my orange juice. “A whole assembly for... this?”
“No, this is the first murdered teacher or student, so I’m not sure what normal would be, but we’re not a normal high school.” I nod in understanding. That’s true. You wouldn’t be able to call an assembly on a Sunday at most other schools.
“There’s more,” Luke says, his hand tightening on my shoulder. “I can tell.” I glance over to Luke to see he’s staring at his brother.
Bennett sets down his fork. “This isn’t the first time,” he says quietly, “that this has happened in Charming.”
I see my sister tense across the table. “What do you mean?” she asks.
“Twenty years ago,” Bennett says, “before my time, before any of us, there was another death. She’d been chopped up too…” He trails off, shaking his head. “There were similarities. Things that didn’t add up.”
“Not to sound ominous, but don’t lots of killers cut up bodies?”
“Are you sure you want to go there while we’re eating?” Bennett asks in warning.
“Yes,” I blurt out.
