Page 22 of An Endless Memory

I was getting married.

I stepped into Lily’s room and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. The smell of old perfume faded, and the scent of baby powder and sunshine filled the air. Lily’s soft breaths were barely audible. A bassinet was by her side of the bed.

I laid Kellan down. He made a little squeak and I froze. Did I wake him?

I played statue until his breathing returned to being even. Lily didn’t move. She was exhausted. I’d seen it when I first met her.

No wonder she was so worn out. She was worried about her job, her home, and her kids. Life was stressful enough with just one of those issues. She’d have all three if I didn’t help her.

Before I left, I looked at her small form in the bed. The comforter was almost exactly the same as the one in Cali’s room. A shitload of flowers. I took one last inhale before I left her room. The rest of the house had a scent that reminded me of my house when Barns was alive. A little stale.

I shook my head, grabbed the baby monitor, and left the bedroom before she woke and caught me watching her. The last thing that woman needed was some dude leering at her while she slept.

My stomach rumbled as I went to the kitchen. I hadn’t had time to eat at the party.

In the fridge, I found milk, eggs, and Lunchables. I closed the door and checked the counter. Bread and apples. The sink held the clean bottles Cali had told me were for daycare. I looked in the freezer. Bags of frozen milk lined one side and TV dinners for kids and adults filled the rest.

Was that all the woman ate?

My stomach was fussing up a storm, but I didn’t want to dig into her ready-to-eat staples, none of which were appetizing anyway, so I went in search of a deep freeze. I doubted there was one on the upper level, so I found the door to the basement. A musty scent got stronger the lower I went. The basement was furnished, and it was like stepping down into a time capsule. Upstairs had a mixture of styles. Downstairs? Welcome to the ’70s.

The orange shag carpet crunched under my feet. I found a laundry room. I checked the washer. There was a load inside that was damp. I switched that to the dryer.

Next, I checked the freezer. All I needed was a steak or a pound of hamburger. Anything but the boxes of disappointment she had in her fridge freezer upstairs. I opened the lid and groaned.

White packages were piled on each other enough to cover the bottom, but the amount of frost lining the outside wasn’t promising. Even the freezer burn would have freezer burn.

I picked up one that looked newer. When I made out what was inside, I jolted and dropped the baggie. “Jesus.”

Why would Lily have dead mice in her freezer?

I closed the lid. Dead, frozen mice. What the hell had I gotten myself into?

A shadow moved next to me and I jolted. The cat blinked at me as she marched by.

I took my hat off and stuffed it back on. Goddammit, I wasn’t usually this jumpy. Scared by a cat that looked as old as this house.

I shook my head and gave up on my foraging efforts. I wasn’t eating mice. Pausing, I glanced at the cat. She didn’t look like she had the energy to eat mice. I doubted Lily and the kids were munching on them. What was in the house that ate mice?

Whatever it was had food.

Was Lily always this short on decent eats? The freezers weren’t full. She had no crib set up. She said she had left with what could fit into her car and her parents’ pickup. All of the furnishings were her grandma’s.

Rage boiled inside of me. Good thing her shitty ex was in Kansas.

The anger made me hungrier. I couldn’t run to the gas station or the grocery store if it was open this late.

I went upstairs and paced around. I could go one night without food. Or I could call in a favor from a brother. One who’d keep his mouth shut when I explained why I was at the house of one of Sutton’s employees. Would he believe I wasn’t here to take advantage of the tired but sexy mom?

I called Austen.

He answered with a muffled, “Yeah?”

“Can you get off your wife and run a couple errands for me?”

“One, jackass, we’re done. For now. Two, what the hell do you need me to do for you that you can’t do yourself?”

“It’s a long story that I can’t tell you right now. I’m helping out Lily from Sutton’s clinic, and her kids are asleep and she’s asleep and there’s no food in the house.”

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