Page 30 of Faithful

That was before.

Before what?

Before I started to care about what happens to you, dickwad.

“Are you hungry? Do you want something?” Amelia continues to squash me with her affection as we move to the leather couch in front of the massive floor-to-ceiling window. Now that she’s no longer fawning over me like she used to when I was a child, I’m finally able to see her. Unlike my mother, the years haven’t done much damage to Amelia. Perhaps it’s the contrary. She’s an exquisite combination of everything Pickett women should be–beautiful, classy, and charismatic. Looking at her for too long reminds me that Ava’s death left my own mother a wreck, and she’ll never be this radiant again.

I suppose part of it has something to do with her marriage to Gavin, but I have no idea how to make that end, how to persuade her to leave him for good. Maybe her sister does.

“I ate before I came here,” I say, diverting my attention to the window.

Behind the glass, there’s the landscape of the city stretching for miles and miles this way and that, peppered with tiny lights. Up ahead, there’s the bustling Pike Place Market, the Great Wheel rising above the waterfront, and Heller shipping containers lining the harbor not far from Pier 59. The view is stunning–all contrary, all Seattle–and I allow myself to enjoy it for a few seconds.

“How are you really doing, sweetie?” Amelia squeezes my upper arm gently and motions for me to sit down.

I choose one of the chairs and she settles on the couch.

“I’m alright. I live with Leigh now.”

“Ah.” Her face screws up in concentration. “Farley’s girl.”

I nod.

“I’ve met her parents. Nice family. I can’t believe you two are still friends.”

“Yeah.”

“Or is it something more now?” she asks carefully. “You living together?”

I could just let my aunt think that Leigh and I are an item. It’d be a great cover. But in the end, I don’t. Because it feels wrong. Because there’s Kai. So instead I shut down the idea before it grows into gossip. “No, it’s not like that.”

“I see… Well… I’m glad you’re okay. You should have moved out a long time ago.”

“And leave Mom alone?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Julie’s still with you, isn’t she?”

“She is.”

“And I’m here now. So we’re going to get through this.”

There’s an uncomfortable pause because I’m not certain what to say. Things never worked in my favor or happened the way I wanted and now Amelia is in Seattle after I asked her to come. It shocks me for a second.

My aunt breaks the silence first. “I’ll go see Eleonor tomorrow morning, so stop worrying.”

“Thanks… Gavin is out of town,” I tell her just in case. “He flew back to D.C.” Julie told me that the other day when I called her to check on my mother.

“Good.”

“Why did you two have a falling out?”

Amelia’s entire body tenses.

“Was it because of Ava?” Now that I’ve asked the first question on the list of questions I have for my aunt, I don’t plan on stopping. I simply can’t. “Or was it because of something else?”

“Dylan.” She releases a heavy sigh and smiles weakly. “Ava is gone. It’s been years. You should let sleeping dogs lie.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

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