Page 40 of Sins or Secrets
“Lilly gave you that top for your birthday.”
I look down at the camisole top my aunt gave me and the memory of that day floods my mind.It was my eighteenth birthday.
“I’m surprised you remember it.”
“I’m surprised you still have it.Then again, I’d never seen anybody get so excited over an item of clothing.”
“It was the surprise of getting it.I saw it in the shop window of a little boutique by the marina when we’d gone shopping one Sunday afternoon.The shop had just closed and Lilly and I were walking by eating ice cream.I fell for it straight away. When I went back to get it, the next day it was gone.Then weeks later Lilly surprised me with it for my birthday.”
“Well, that explains it.”
“It’s probably too small for me.” Looking down at it, I’m undoubtedly right from the way my breasts bunch up making my cleavage look deeper than it really is.
At eighteen I was much thinner with just the right amount of boob to still carry off my dancer’s physique without looking top heavy.
That had changed once I left Juilliard and started teaching.With the need to be less strict with food to fit in my costumes the curves came and the boobs followed.The stress of the last few months have placed me on the thinner side but my ass and boobs are still very much there.
“Looks just right to me,” he states, trying to bite back a cocky smile as he returns his gaze back to the road ahead of us.
My cheeks heat and I look ahead too in an attempt to steady my thoughts.
Calm yourself, Quinn. I tell myself.Don’t go swooning over the ex-marine.
Although it seems like we’re on better footing today.
He’s not looking at me like he hates me.That has to be a good thing.
If we can be amicable during this time things will go smoother and maybe I can heal while I’m here.
As we turn down that road I took the other day I think of Lilly and I still can’t believe I never got to see her one last time.
I glance back at Logan who has his gaze trained ahead of him.He looks deep in thought. I almost feel bad to disturb him but there are a few things I want to know and the only person I can ask is him.
“How long was she sick for?” My voice cuts into the silence.
He looks at me, and a solemn expression dulls his skin.
“A long time, but she didn’t say.I didn’t find out until eight months ago.At that time she’d been having treatment for years.I got a call letting me know she’d collapsed in the park.Within a week she was moved from the hospital to the hospice.”
Tears sting the backs of my eyes.“I can’t believe I wasn’t with her during such a hard time.”
“I’m sure she understood.”
I wonder if she did.
If the hospital called Logan, I'm convinced now that they would have called Dad too.Now I know it was eight months ago that he would have known how sick Lilly was.Unless she made contact prior to that and told him.Either way, he knew and didn't care.I hate him even more for not telling me and for truly robbing me of the last precious moments I could have had with a woman who meant so much to me.I know it’s bad to think ill or speak it against the dead but my father was a nasty piece of work.
“Maybe she did. Maybe she didn’t,” I mutter, mindlessly.
“When did you find out she was sick?”
“When she died. That was when Mr. Mulligan contacted me to let me know.”
He seems surprised to hear this.At the funeral, I told him I didn’t know Lilly was sick, but I didn't get the chance to tell him when it was I found out.
“I thought your father would have told you.There’s no way he didn’t know.”
“He didn’t tell me anything. When Mr. Mulligan called that was the first I heard of it and of course it was too late.”
