Page 41 of Call Off the Dark

“Oh.” Helen was stunned. She hadn’t expected that. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. He deserved it.”

She thought of Tyler’s younger brother, Leo, and felt the sudden pang of missing his silly jokes and shaggy hair. She couldn’t imagine Tyler ever whipping Leo.

“Still, I’m sure it was upsetting,” Helen said. “How old were you?”

“Too young.” Wade fell silent then, as if this was the end of the story. Two brothers with bad blood, but she knew there had to be more to it. He’d said she wouldn’t believe him, and while the story was troubling, it wasn’t exactly unbelievable.

“There’s something else you aren’t telling me.”

Wade hesitated only briefly before he said, “Yeah. There is.”

“Go on. I’m listening.”

“When you and I met, you were in a bad place.” He exhaled wearily. “But so was I.”

This was news to Helen. Of all the things Wade could have said, this was one of the more shocking things he could have revealed. Never would she have guessed that he was struggling with anything beyond his general weariness and irritation with the modern world. He made a show of being fine, being in control, being Wade of the woods, Wade of the right of way. She said nothing though, not wanting her response to sway him from sharing more. She simply waited for him to continue.

“When I met you, I’d just left Capichon.”

This, Helen knew. She nodded.

“In a hurry,” Wade added.

That, she did not know. She waited.

“Something happened.” He paused, swallowed hard. “With my brother.” He looked down, gathered himself. “God, it happened so fast.”

“What?”

Wade wandered to the bed and sat down heavily on the edge of it. “It was the worst day of my life.”

She moved in to comfort him, sitting next to him on the bed, pressing her lips to the back of his neck. “It’s okay, Wade. Whatever it is.”

But even as she said the words, she didn’t feel so sure.

For a long time, Helen sat beside Wade, holding him in an embrace, believing she was soothing away the pain of the past. But as the silence expanded, she began to feel more and more uneasy.

“Wade, you need to tell me what happened. Just say it. It’s okay.”

“No, Helen,” Wade said. “It wasn’t okay.”

Wade raised his head, and Helen sensed they were on the edge of everything he’d been working toward telling her.

“Wade?”

“It’s the reason I went to Seattle.” He looked at her with eyes that were lost and wild, and then he said words that seemed impossible. “I left Capichon because my brother died. Isaac is dead.”

Chapter Sixteen

Eight years, two months, fifteen days ago

When Helen planned her wedding to Tyler, she never thought they would lose someone they loved on their special day.

She was alone in her wedding dress when the earthquake hit.

Moments before the mounted lamps on the wall started to quiver, Helen spun around in her heels in front of the full-length mirror in the hotel suite. She’d chosen a timeless design for her forever dress: a corset-style bodice with a sweetheart neckline, fitted waist, and a full tulle skirt of lace-embroidered floral motifs. She felt like a princess, and in less than an hour, she’d be a queen. Or, more accurately, a Mrs.