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26

CHARLOTTE

A rich, warm scent curled through the quiet kitchen as the dark roast dripped into the pot.

Most of the house still slept. Charlotte snuck downstairs after extricating herself from the cocoon of blankets Ali had wrapped around them, replacing herself with a pillow.

Ali murmured on and off all night, not her usual whimsical gibberish, but a fully detailed recipe for Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls. It sounded suspiciously legitimate, so Charlotte typed it into her phone on the off chance one of her mother’s long lost recipes resurfaced from the depths of her subconscious. She would ask Diana to test them and see if they were edible.

A soft squeak of hinges made her peer over her shoulder. The back door eased open, and Lilah slinked through, closing it with a smooth motion designed to silence the whining of the hinges.

“Where have you been, little bit?” Charlotte called.

Delilah squawked, full-body jolting as though electrocuted, clapping a hand over her mouth to stifle her mounting shriek.

“Jesus Christ, Charlotte!”

A dewy mist settled over Lilah’s eyes. One hand flew to her sternum, the other to her temples, classic signs of one hell of a night catching up with her. A cocktail of sea-air mixed with stale alcohol drifted off her. Her blonde hair was stiff with salt wind.

Charlotte winced in sympathy and held out her arms. “Oh bug, I didn’t mean to scare you. Come here.”

Lilah shuffled forward and folded herself into Charlotte’s embrace.

“Still so easily spooked,” Charlotte teased, rubbing a soothing circle between her shoulder blades. “Lizzie did always have a wonderful time tormenting you.”

“And you were always my protector,” Lilah whispered, snuggling deeper into Charlotte’s embrace. “I feel like I never see you anymore. I miss you.”

Taken aback, Charlotte tried to remember when she and Lilah last spent one on one time together. Too long. Ever since she fell into an Ali shaped hole and everything else shifted around it.

She sighed and hugged Lilah a little tighter. “I miss you too. Maybe we can plan a weekend trip after the wedding, just the two of us?”

“Really?” Lilah’s voice lifted, fragile with hope.

“Of course. We should reestablish our tea times. Throw in a couple shopping sprees. It’s been a while since you told me what’s going on in your life.”

Lilah pulled back, offering a smile, though it barely reached her eyes. “So much and nothing all at the same time. And guess what? I still have no idea what I’m doing with my life… other than making a mess of things.”

Charlotte studied her. Shadows hung beneath dull hazel eyes, salt-tangled hair, rumpled clothes, and sand clinging to everything. She didn’t look at all like herself.

“What’s going on?”

Lilah shrugged, posture wilting the longer she stood. She dragged a hand over her hair, sand fell like rain from her tousled locks as she wobbled her way around the island.

“Just me being silly, as always,” she murmured, the words brittle in an obvious attempt to deflect.

“Where were you last night?” Charlotte pressed, struggling to keep her tone even, casual.

“I went to a bar. Drank a whole line of shots. And then…” Lilah trailed off as she slid onto the barstool and folded over the counter, her cheek pressed to her arms.

“And then?”

“Well, I don’t really remember what happened,” came Lilah’s muffled reply, words echoing oddly off the granite. “I woke up on the beach a little bit ago feeling like death.”

“Delilah!” Charlotte half-shrieked.

A burst of panic detonated in her chest, her stomach plummeted, swimming with worry.

“Were you by yourself? Did you tell anyone where you were? Foolish⁠—”