Page 137 of The Lair

Johnny and Cindy.

My siblings are here.

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asks, noticing how both of us have stopped paying attention to him.

My eyes lock with Johnny’s, and I don’t answer. I give Travis’s forearm a squeeze. “Stay here.”

“Allie—”

Swirling around, I get on my tiptoes and peck his lips. “I’ve got this.”

In his eyes, I see a mixture of worry—Travis is the biggest mother hen I know—and the softness he can’t hide every time I kiss him. “All right. I’m here if you need me.”

I give him a small smile. “I know. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Charlie turns around in his stool, and I don’t think I’m imagining him muttering, “Shit.”

The last time I saw Johnny, he came to the bar with our parents a year ago. His disgust for me was evident then, and a part of me is scared he’s back to tell me what he didn’t get the chance to last time—that he hates my guts, that he wishes we weren’t related, that I’ve ruined our family for good.

My chest constricts when I look at my little sister. I haven’t seen her in seven years. It shouldn’t surprise me that she isn’t a baby anymore, yet I can’t stop staring at her, wondering if she’s real. She’s fifteen now, a full teenager, and I…

I missed all of it.

Will she even recognize me?

When I stop in front of them by the front door, I don’t know what to say. I must look different to them too—I’ve let my hair grow a little longer, and I’m slowly getting rid of my bangs. I think the brown dye will stay because I’m fond of it, but I no longer feel the need to look like a different person. To hide in plain sight.

“Hi,” Johnny starts. Did his voice sound so gravelly the last time we saw each other?

My throat feels too dry. “Hi.”

He not-so-discreetly squeezes Cindy’s arm, who quickly lets out a meek, “Hi.”

I have to blink several times to avoid crying. I’d completely forgotten my own sister’s voice.

“Can we talk?” Johnny asks.

We’re nearing closing time, but a few tables are still occupied, so I usher them to the nearest booth, far from everyone else’s ears. My siblings sit together in front of me, and then… nothing.

For what feels like hours, we don’t speak. My gaze shifts between them. Johnny alternates between looking around and at me. Cindy keeps her eyes glued to her lap, her long hair partially hiding her expression. I don’t know why they’re here, but I can’t imagine they’ve come all the way to a small town in Maine to see me and say nothing. So, I let them take their time until my brother finally speaks up.

And says the last thing I expected him to.

“I’m sorry, Allie.”

Is that my heart stopping?

“Why?” I ask, my voice abnormally calm. A part of me is happy to see them, but another part—a bigger one—doesn’t trust Johnny. Not after what he did and said.

He glances at Cindy for a brief moment, then back at me. “Because you were right about everything, and I didn’t listen.”

I’m starting to think my brain is playing tricks on me. There’s no waythis, this moment I’ve dreamed of for longer than I’d like to admit, is happening right now.

“Johnny…” I start, unsure of what to say to that.

“I’m not finished,” he chimes in, but his voice is soft. Not demanding, not aggressive.

---