Page 52 of Lost
Family photos littered her dresser — mostly of Lysander and Dakota at various ages, though a couple showing Samantha, too. There was an old black and white wedding photo of people whom Zack guessed to be her own parents, or her grandparents. Three books sat on her bedside table — two of them medical textbooks, the last a romance novel. The clothes hanging in her closet were conservatively styled; she owned only four pairs of shoes.
He wanted to know what she had been like. Whether or not they would have gotten along. He didn’t hold any fantasies about what might have happened if she had still been alive. He knew they would not have met and simply fallen back in love. He loved his wife and had no intention of ever leaving her, but it would have been nice to make peace with this woman, to tell her that it had not been necessary to keep the existence of his children from him. He would have been there.
And overall, to thank her for bringing them into his life in the first place.
He had only known Lysander for a short time, but he could no longer imagine life without the boy. It was almost like there had been something missing before, though Zack had not known the feeling until that gap had been filled. So this was what Brendan and Natalia had felt; this was what Pat and Vicky were looking for.
And this was what Georgia craved.
He had never understood her feelings before. Had never been able to understand why she was so desperate to have children of her own. But he was starting to get it now. He was starting to see. And it made him feel terrible for all the time that he had made her wait. For all the times that he had told her no, he wasn’t ready yet.
She would have to wait just a little longer. Until Lysander was better. Until the boy was mentally and emotionally well again. But then Zack would not deny her any longer. Who was he to stop her from starting a family if that was what she wanted? Who was he to put a stop to her dreams when she had always supported his?
He left the room, making sure to shut the door properly behind him. He would always remember Samantha Maverick’s name, and her face, but she was in his past now. Georgia was his future.
And what a future it would be.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Lysander hated having to leave Columbus again, but Kieran was right — it was for the best. There were too many memories and nowhere for him to hide. California provided the perfect escape. He could go anywhere he wanted, talk to anybody, and not have to worry about being bombarded with questions or memories. Neither Zack nor any of his band had yet told the fans that Dakota had been found, or that she was dead. So even on the off chance that he ran into a fan, he was safe.
But it was Sunday now, the day before he was due to go back to school, and he knew that he needed to tell Jack and Eliza Beth. They were going to want to know why he had vanished, without explanation, for more than a week. They would see his moods had taken a turn for the worst. And he did not want for there to be secrets between any of them.
He needed to tell them everything.
Jack arrived first, his mother dropping him off and sharing a friendly wave with Zack when he’d opened the door to let the boy in. He hadn’t bombarded Lysander with questions. Hadn’t demanded to know where he’d been or what had happened. He’d greeted his friend with a smile and a hug that said he knew something was up and he wasn’t going to push. Lysander hoped Jack knew how grateful he was. He needed that kind of understanding.
It was just after noon when Eliza Beth arrived at the house. She was frowning when he greeted her, and he could see the anger in her eyes before she’d said a word. Not that he could blame her. He hadn’t bothered to call her while he’d been in Columbus. Truth be told, she had hardly even crossed his mind.
“I was starting to think you’d died or something,” she said as he shut the door behind her. She barely even acknowledged Jack as her eyes examined the entry hall. “What’s so important that you have to disappear for two damn weeks and not tell anybody where you were going? You get abducted by aliens or something?”
He shared a grimace with Jack. His friend had said she was pissed, but Lysander hadn’t expected this. Her tone was positively cold, her body language stiff and uninviting. He was going to have to do more than just apologise if he wanted her to forgive him. Still, an apology was the first thing he owed both of them. Silently, he beckoned for them to follow him up the stairs to his room. He didn’t need Zack and Georgia interrupting their conversation.
Jack and Eliza Beth followed him without question, though the latter wasn’t happy about it. She didn’t bother to look around when she entered his room, simply sat on the bed with her arms crossed and waited. He fell into place beside her, knowing that he was going to need to be seated for this. Jack opted to sit by the window, in the chair Lysander usually reserved for his school supplies and dirty clothes. The chair was clear today.
He took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry,” he began. “I know this looks bad, and I have a very good excuse for it. But I need to start the story from the beginning, so you’re going to have to bear with me for a while.”
Jack crossed his legs and made himself comfortable. Eliza Beth seemed to consider Lysander a moment longer before she nodded.
“I’m listening.”
“Okay...” Where to start? He took another deep breath.You can do this, Ly. “You know that I moved here from Columbus, but what you don’t know is why.” He took Eliza Beth’s hand, squeezing it gently. More for his own comfort than hers. “Back in March, my mother was murdered.”
Jack nodded once. He already knew this. Eliza Beth’s lips parted ever so slightly; her eyes widened in genuine surprise. For a moment, the anger was gone and she was looking at him with nothing but pity, which was almost worse. He went on with his story before she could say anything.
“But that’s not all. I had a twin sister, too. Dakota. She was kidnapped by the same guy that killed my mom. Her crazy ex-boyfriend. But I was the only one who knew it.” There was no stopping the story now; it was spilling out of him. “I spent days trying to convince the police that my sister had been kidnapped, but they wouldn’t listen to me. They kept insisting that my mom had had an accident and that my sister had run off when she’d seen the body lying on the floor. Out of panic or something. But I knew that wasn’t true, so I decided I needed to get more help.
“My father is a rockstar.” He had expected some sort of reaction here, maybe a gasp or another widening of the eyes, but he got nothing. “He had no idea that I even existed. So when I finally told the cops that he was my father, they had to go through his lawyer to get in touch with him. It took another week, but I finally ended up here. I was able to get to Zack and beg for his help, and I got lucky. He agreed to help. He made sure that there were people out there looking for her, and then he got his fans looking for her, too.
“Nothing happened for a while, but then he got a call two weeks ago saying that my sister had been found. That she was in a hospital back in Columbus. So that’s where I disappeared to that day. I went to see my sister in the hospital. We caught the first plane out and I was kind of in shock, so I didn’t have time to contact anybody.”
“Okaaaay.” Eliza Beth didn’t look convinced. “I can forgive you for that first day. But what about after that? I get that maybe you were distracted with the reunion for a day or two, but it’s been two weeks, Ly.Two weeks. I’m supposed to be your girlfriend. Why wouldn’t you call me? Why haven’t yo—”
“My sister died.”
The words tasted foreign. It was the first time he had said them out loud, and he was desperately hoping that he wouldn’t need to make a habit of it. Jack’s face fell, shock flashing in his hazel eyes. The statement stopped Eliza Beth in her tracks. She looked stunned, all traces of anger gone from her expression. He could see the apology on the tip of her tongue. He could see the sympathy coming from them both.
