Page 19 of Keeping Our Secrets

At that, I left.

So much for a night out to avoid the distraction at home.

All the lights in the house were off when I pulled into the driveway. I turned off the car and made my way inside as quietly as possible. Dad never cared when I was out late, even in high school, but I needed to be concerned about disrupting the ladies of the house.

Mainly one in particular that I couldn’t seem to get my mind off of.

I made it through the house, had a shower and crawled into bed. My head had just hit the pillow when I heard Mairi call out another guy’s name.

Did she already meet someone else?

Is he in there with her right now?

CHAPTER 9

Mairi

Bright lights blinded me.

Glass shattered and rained all around me. The world started tilting and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I was just along for the ride. No wait, that was the car.

I reached for Michael’s arm, but he was too far away. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get to him. Something or someone was taking him away from me.

“Michael,” I screamed into the darkness. “Don’t leave me!”

Then the car was rocking, and I struggled against hands as they grabbed for me. “Wake up,” whispered a male voice. “It’s just a dream.”

“Michael,” I sobbed. “I need to get to him.”

I felt myself coming to the surface.

“Who’s Michael?” the familiar voice asked as I opened my eyes. “There you are.”

“What are you doing in my room?” Liam was perched at the foot of my bed, half naked and watching me. I sat up and pulled the covers over my chest.

“Who’s Michael?” Liam repeated.

“My brother.”

“You have a brother?”

“Had.” I wiped at my eyes, trying to hide the tears.

I missed him.

My twin.

Inseparable since conception.

“What do you mean had?” he asked, shocked.

It wasn’t surprising that he reacted to the news. My mom and I had all but removed any visual memory of Michael from our lives. I still had my box of memories in the top of the closet, but it still hurt to talk about him.

“Michael died last year.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why? It’s not like you killed him.”

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