Lying Hearts

by Kelli Callahan

  “— he still would have found a way to do what he wanted,” Oliver said. “A guy like that never stops unless he is stopped.”

  “I know, it’s just… maybe they would have had a little more time. Maybe the buildings would just be burned and Kathy and Rocky would still be alive.” It was all I could think about. What I should have done, what I wished I would have said, but I ignored my instincts, and now two people that the town loved are dead. I might not be the reason why they are, but I felt dirty like an accomplice or something.

  “Don’t think like that. You can’t think about what ifs or what could have been. You’d dig yourself into a depression that you can’t get out of,” London said, gripping my other hand. “You didn’t know that man. Kathy and Rocky would not have blamed you. You can’t stop a madman casting madness, Luna.”

  What she said made sense.

  Madness wouldn’t ever stop spreading madness, no matter how it was contained, but once it was free? It harmed people.

  “Moon! Luna?” Easton’s voice shouted as he ran through the door, his eyes wide with panic. I got out of my chair and immediately his eyes found me. “God, baby, Zeke scared the hell out of me when he said he had to see you to take a statement. Are you okay?” He cupped my face and peered into my eyes. A flash of us underneath the oak tree when we were kids filtered through my mind. The eyes shining down on me were the same eyes from back then. I could hardly believe it. I could almost smell the flowers in the air from that day.

  “I’m fine; I just wish I would have spoken up sooner, that’s all. Hey, Zeke,” I greeted him. He wasn’t in uniform, but he had his badge on his hip. He was probably on call. He wore simple blue jeans and a black shirt. He took out his notepad and pen from his breast pocket.

  He patted the notebook in his other hand and gave me a tight, unhappy smile. “Sorry we have to see each other like this again, Luna. I’d rather say good morning while you’re curled up with my brother.”

  “Oh, do tell more,” Oliver purred, and I reached back and slapped him right across the chest. “Okay, okay, I get the picture.”

  Zeke grabbed a seat, his hand going between his legs to grab the edge and yank it toward the table. He sat down, crossed his ankle on his knee, and flipped the notepad open. “Talk about Willard Hopkins, Ms. Nightingale.”

  “Nightingale?” Easton quirked a brow at his brother as he sat down. I pulled up a chair next to him, but Easton put me on his lap instead, curling his good arm around me.

  “Sorry, work mode,” Zeke defended himself. “Luna, are you sure you saw Willard Hopkins?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, it was the day I went to go pick up Easton from the hospital. Willard stopped me, but I didn’t know it was him, I swear,” I blurted. I wanted everyone to know I wouldn’t ever just throw Kathy’s under fire like that. “I hadn’t seen his picture. I promise.” My chin wobbled when another wave of tears threatened. “I promise. I’m so sorry, Zeke. Do you need to arrest me?” I shoved my wrists out for him, and his eyes fell to Easton, a glimmer of humor on his face. “Well? What are you waiting for? Arrest me? I’m an accomplice. I helped Willard!” This time I couldn’t stop the tears, and I buried my face into Easton’s shoulder as I cried.

  “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay,” he shushed me and rubbed his hand up and down my back. I could hear the smile in his voice though.

  “It isn’t funny,” I said, wiping my nose on his shirt.

  “Did you just wipe your nose on my shirt?” he asked with mirth, leaning back to stare at my face.

  “No?” I hid my smile in his shirt and clutched onto his shirt.

  “I love you,” he said, kissing my forehead.

  It was on the tip of my tongue to say it back, but I didn’t. I needed more time to trust him.

  “Willard, the fire? What happened?” Zeke snapped his fingers in front of my face to yank me out of my Easton trance.

  “Sorry,” I muttered and gave Zeke my full attention. It was bad that Easton could enamor me like that; it was a distraction. “Like I was saying, it was the day I picked up Easton. Willard stopped me to ask where Kathy’s was, so I told him. I pointed him in the right direction.” Another tear fell when the guilt hit me again. “It’s my fault that Kathy’s burnt down.”

  “Did you light the fire?” Zeke asked.

  “No,” I gasped, “I’d never do such a thing.”

  “Then it isn’t your fault. You were helping someone because you are kind; there is no harm in that. What else was said? What did he look like now? Anything like his picture the press released?”

  “He said he would see me around, whatever that means.”

  “He said that?” Easton growled, tightening his arm around me. “I’ll kill him.”

  “Anyway,” I began again, “he had shaggy black hair and piercing green eyes. They were creepy. He wore all black, ragged clothes, and he had a severe burn on the side of his face, just like the picture.”

  “He said he would see you again?” Zeke repeated my earlier statement. “He might have his eye on you.” He tapped the pen against the notepad.

  “You really think that?” Easton asked, leaning forward while keeping his hand on my hip. “You think she’s in danger?”

  “She might be. Psychopaths are like that, Easton. They like to fixate on something and run with it.”

  I gulped, tightening my hand around Easton’s shoulder. I had the worst fear. And all I could think about was burning to death.

  Lit up by a flame, the psycho put in my path. I could almost smell my burnt flesh. And it didn’t smell good.

  Chapter Twenty

  Easton

  I wasn’t going to let her out of my sight. Ever. Never. Knowing that this psycho might want something to do with her had my protective instincts on overload. I was afraid— no— I was terrified to let her out of my sight.

  We were in her room right now, and I was throwing everything in a trash bag. “The room is nice, you did a good job,” I said, emptying the middle drawer in the bag, noticing the new grey color on the walls. The pink was gone. I kind of missed it. “We can paint whatever you want, baby.”

  “Easton, I think you’re overreacting.”

  “When it comes to you, I’ll never overreact.”

  “Calm down, Easton.” She laid her hands on my chest and rubbed. “Please, it will be okay. Zeke said might, which means there might be a chance he won’t have his attention on me.”

  I cupped her gentle, fragile face in my hands, rubbing her cheekbones with my thumbs. Everything about her was so small, so delicate, and I was afraid to press too hard, or she’d shatter. “Might. Did you hear yourself? There’s a chance he set his attention on you, and I won’t take that chance. Do you understand?”

  “He’s right, Star,” her dad said from the doorway. He had oxygen on this time, and his skin had lost its color. He looked exhausted. I stopped putting the clothes in the bag and knew that Luna wouldn’t want to leave her father. I didn’t know what to do. I could stay here, but it would be awkward because I’d want her and fucking under her parent’s roof was weird. Her mom used to kiss my boo-boos and sprinkle magical fairy dust on them to take the pain away.

  “I can’t leave you,” she said. “You need me.”

  “You’re home. You’re in town. I can’t protect you like he can. Please, go with him.”

  “Dad,” she sounded heartbroken. “I came here for you.”

  That hurt more than I expected, but I couldn’t fault her on it. She came here for her family. The last thing she wanted to do was to get involved with me again. A part of me wanted to believe that she came here for me. It was too much to hope for because she used to hate me, but still, a man could dream.

  “I know, but you’re back home,” he said, wheezing after every word. He put the mask back over his face and breathed in. “It’s more than I wanted. I’m glad you’re home, but you don’t have to be here. To be honest, I’m going to be spending more time in the hospital.”

  “Don
’t say that,” she said. The wispy tone of her voice told me she was about to lose it. “You’re going to be fine.”

  “Oh, Star,” he wheezed. “You need to realize that I might not be. That’s okay. I want you to be happy. If Easton makes you happy, then that’s all I care about, even if I still don’t like him.”

  Luckily, he winked at me. Now that Luna and I were together, his hate for me seemed to lessen. He was protective, understandably, but he trusted me with her now, and that was more than I could have hoped for a few weeks ago.

  “He does, but dad—”

  “—Go with him, Star. I won’t let you see me die.”

  She fell to the bed, holding her stomach, and gasped as she watched him walk out of the room. Each step up the creaking steps was slow like he couldn’t make it.

  She stood, but I held her shoulder down to make her stay on the bed. “Don’t, the last things he wants is help.”

  “How do you know?” she asked.

  “Because he is a man, and he is feeling weak. The last thing he wants is to feel weaker.”

  “He’s my dad, Easton.”

  “I know, Moon. He’ll be okay.”

  She stood abruptly and wiped her cheeks. Luna hated dealing with sadness. I guess anyone did, but with her, it was different. It was like she was sad about the sadness. She was so kind and empathetic. It was one of the many things I loved about her. “Come on, let’s go,” she said.

  “You sure?” I asked, tossing the bag over my shoulder. “We can go talk to your dad.”

  “No. He has made up his mind. He won’t talk to me right now, no matter how much I want him too.”

  I knew just what she needed. I flipped my phone open and texted my brothers. We had a group message and I kicked myself because it sent to Ethan.

  Who hadn’t woken up yet.

  And now he had a message on his phone that he wouldn’t check for who knows how long. Evan, Zeke, and Ezra messaged back and said they would meet me there with all of the equipment at the camping site near the cliff.

  I wanted her to be able to have a night where she didn’t have to worry about anything except staring at the sky and watching the sea. Ever since she had moved back, it had been a constant whirlwind, and it was time to give her a break. A chance to relax and breathe. Tomorrow was another day, and as long as I knew she was safe in my arms tonight, I’d worry about tomorrow— well— tomorrow.

  “Come on, let’s go. Tomorrow we will come to see your dad after he relaxes, okay?” I kissed the top of her head as we walked out of her bedroom. It was incomplete. Only the walls were painted, and the mattress was on the floor. Everything else was still shoved in the basement living room. A part of me was kind of glad she didn’t get too comfortable because she belonged with me, in my home, and after the Hampton Mansion was restored, we’d build a life.

  The life we always deserved.

  “Yeah, okay,” she said, withdrawn and distant. I hated to see her like that. I wanted to fix it, but I knew this was something I couldn’t do anything about. I could be there for her. That was it. It wasn’t enough, but it was all I could offer until her dad got better.

  And he would get better. He had to.

  If anything happened to him, I’d lose Luna to sadness.

  I knew a lot of things about Luna Nightingale, but I wouldn’t know where to begin to pull her out of the darkness. She might be my Moon, but some nights, the moon just didn’t shine as bright, if at all.

  I opened up the basement door for Luna, and when she walked out, a thin layer of snow had built up on the ground, covering the green grass evenly. She wore a black beanie on top of her head and the snow that fell stuck to the material.

  She was so beautiful, even in her sadness, I couldn’t look away. Her eyes were a bright neon green, big and round, and her lashes were wet from the tears. I knew finding her eyes enchanting in that moment was wrong, but I didn’t want to be a liar anymore, and her eyes were my undoing. In every moment I got to look at her, I fell harder.

  We climbed into the truck and turned on the windshield wipers. The ride was silent. Luna didn’t have much to say, which was fine; she never needed to say anything with me because I understood her. She reached over and placed her left hand on my leg, and it was a way for her to seek comfort. I was her comfort.

  After so many years of hating me, I evolved.

  I was who she came to now.

  “Where are we going?” she asked as I passed my apartment complex. I knew she’d figure it out once she saw my parents’ house. My parents lived on the outskirts of town, where the rolling hills and the smell of the ocean were constant.

  “You’ll see.” I started to wonder if I made the right choice by bringing her out here. Not because I didn’t want to camp, I did, but the weather out this way was getting worse, and she was going to get cold. If she got cold, it meant she could get sick.

  I was starting to have second thoughts.

  But a text from Evan told me it was a little too late. They had set everything up and had coffee, hot chocolate, food, smores, and a big fire going. Tonight, we weren’t going to be people that were afraid of what was happening in town. We were going to be people that lived their lives. After all, in the end, that was all that we could really do.

  I turned on my blinker and took a right down a dirt path that disappeared into the woods. On either side of us, tall trees with thick canopies blocked out the snow from falling onto the road. It was peaceful out here, quiet, and dark. There was the occasional bear or mountain lion, which was why we carried tranquilizer guns. We never wanted to hurt the animal, but we did want to have the upper hand just in case we found ourselves in a situation where they thought we were food.

  “Oh my god, I know exactly where we are. I haven’t been here since senior year,” she said, and the nostalgia she felt was exactly what I wanted to get her mind off things. “It’s more beautiful than I remembered.”

  Probably because she was too busy hating me. I wasn’t about to bring that up. I’d be okay if she and I never spoke about the past again. It still gave me an uneasy feeling, what I did to her. I’d never forgive myself for it and the fact that she did, well, it spoke volumes about the kind of person she was.

  She was way more than I deserved.

  A few minutes later, the truck burst into the clearing near the cliff, and she gasped when she saw the huge roaring bonfire and a few tents set up. An ache in my chest bloomed when I knew Ethan wasn’t going to be here, but he would be, and soon. I had to have faith in that.

  I slammed the truck in park and turned to her, taking her hand in mine. “We don’t have to be here. I know a lot is going on and there are a million places you could be right now. I just thought, for one night, we could do something we enjoyed before going back out in the real world. A little break from the chaos.”

  Luna placed her elbow on the middle console and leaned across it, a stress-free expression on her face. Her eyes darted over me as if she didn’t know what to make of me or what I did. It made me a little uncomfortable being on the spot like that.

  “What?” I asked, feeling a bit self-conscious.

  “You’re a very sweet man, Easton.” Luna lifted her palm to my cheek and sighed, “And very handsome.”

  Her compliment made me blush, an actual blush. I knew I wasn’t a bad looking guy. Women called me and my brothers hot all the time, but no one had looked me dead in the eye and called me handsome before. I gave compliments to her, but I didn’t know what to do with the compliments she gave to me.

  “You’re blushing? Please, you know how attractive you are,” she giggled, rubbing her fingers down my face until she poked the dimple in my chin. An attribute all of the Moore brothers had.

  I grabbed her wrist and pressed my lips to the smooth skin and inhaled, smelling those strawberries again. It was my favorite scent in the world and also my favorite fruit, so it only made sense that my favorite girl adhered to all of my senses.

  “As long as you thin
k I’m attractive, that’s all I care about, baby. Your opinion is the only one that matters.”

  She groaned and reached for the door handle. “How can you be so perfect? It isn’t fair.” It sounded like a moan of frustration, but I knew she liked it. She jumped out of the truck, and I followed suit, my boots crunching on the fresh snow covering the ground.

  “Hey Luna,” Zeke greeted and then picked her up and swung her around.

  “Well, hi to you too,” I teased my brother since he acted like I wasn’t even here.

  “Oh yeah, hey to you too.” He jabbed my good shoulder with his fist.

  “Asshole,” I grumbled lightheartedly and walked over to Ezra and Evan. They stood around the bonfire, drinking a few beers, and talking about the Hampton place.

  Our place.

  I was so excited about that. I couldn’t believe my brothers would do something so kind for me. I actually wanted to go explore the house when all this happening in town was over. I couldn’t wait to start building. I wanted the house to be renovated to what it originally looked like. It was too monumental to tear down and be forgotten.

  “Any news on Ethan?”

  Evan shook his head as Ezra took another swallow of beer. “No, mom and dad are with him, though. Doctors say he should wake up soon. I just want him home.”

  I wrapped my good arm around Evan’s shoulder and squeezed. “Me too, guys. Me too.”

  A snowball hitting me right in the face broke the moment. I was shocked. My face was freezing, and when I looked to see who the culprit was, Zeke and Luna pointed toward each other.

  “Oh, it is so on,” I said, dropping to a low crouch and doing my best to roll a snowball. Another snowball flew through the air, nearly hitting me in the shoulder. There wasn’t that much snow to work with yet. One swipe and the ground could be seen.