Page 105 of Lethal Weakness

She jumps up from her chair with more agility than she’s had in the last twenty minutes and starts scurrying across the room. “I have fresh linens in this closet, but the whole upstairs is yours for as long as you need it. I moved my room down here a few years ago because I couldn’t stand going up and down stairs all day.”

She grabs a rag from the kitchen and hurries back past us. “Come on, come on, I’ll show you.” She summons us and doesn’t check to see if we’re following, but of course we do.

Despite not liking stairs, she ascends the tall flight easily with a pep in her step. Much quicker than us because I’m keeping at Linden’s hobbled pace.

“I kept all the old furniture. It’s exactly the way it used to be, even your room,” she says, and Linden looks at me.

“My parents and I lived here when I was a kid. She’s my dad’s aunt through marriage.”

“I kept my nephew in the divorce,” Aunt Kay quips, digging through another closet in the upstairs hallway.

“This is your childhood home?” She asks in surprise.

“Yeah.”

“And that’s how you got away with the no next of kin thing?” She whispers, leaning in, making our shoulders bump.

“It’s kind of hard to tell you all of my secrets if you’re determined to figure them out on your own.”

“I think you have plenty more stored in the bank.” She raises an eyebrow at me, and I fight the urge to reach for her hand.

Fuck it. I wrap my arm around her waist, lifting her the final five steps to the top.

“Was I going too slow?” She asks breathlessly, leaning into my chest when I don’t let her go.

“No.” Her gaze drops to my lips, and my arm tightens around her.

“Just neighbors, huh?” Aunt Kay says from the other end of the hall, raising her eyebrow dramatically.

“Mr. Jack is a ghost,” Avery says, and Linden and I both stiffen. She must’ve been picking up on more of our conversations than we thought.

“I’ll say. I was startin’ to think so too when he didn’t bother to come visit me for all these years,” Aunt Kay scoffs humorously, none the wiser to Avery’s admission.

“I’m never going to live that down,” I mutter under my breath.

“I’m just glad I’m not the only one who has you on their shit list,” Linden smirks, limping away from me.

I’m starting to feel like I’m in a firefight without a gun.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Linden

“This is Jack’s room, though I think he’s outgrown the bed,” Kay says, opening a bedroom door. Inside is a navy blue painted room with sailboat wallpaper bordering the ceiling, and a twin bed sitting in a wooden bed frame shaped like the helm of a ship.

There’s a toy trunk that looks like a pirate treasure chest, and a globe on the dresser. Avery goes straight to the telescope sitting next to the window.

“I see the moon?” Avery asks.

“Well, it’s not dark enough yet, but I might be able to show you later,” Jack says, kneeling next to her to look through it himself as he adjusts the sights.

“I always hoped he’d come home eventually,” Kay whispers next to me. She’s looking at him so tenderly it stirs emotion in my gut.

Here he has someone who loves him, but he’s been all alone for so long. “He said it’s been a long time.”

She motions for me to follow her to the other bedroom. “I only saw him once or twice after they moved to South Dakota, but then when John and Hope passed, I stayed with him for a few weeks while we got their affairs in order. He was so broken at the funeral, I knew it would change him forever. That was the last time I saw him.”

“When he was 17?”