Unspeakable Truths (31 page)

“No, seriously it’s true. I went through a really horrible time when I lost Tyler and I pushed everyone away. My family didn’t give up on me because they couldn’t, I’m their daughter. But out of all of my friends, all of the people I considered to be close to me, you were the only one who stuck around, you were the only one to try consistently to get through to me. I shouldn’t have shut you out like that.” Pushing her away is one of the things that I regret most about the last few years. If I could change it I would.

“I’ll never give up on you Ev, you’re my best friend. You’re the sister I never had.”

“Oh shit, you’re going to make me cry.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t want to make you cry and I know that you don’t want to hear this babe but I hate to see you so sad.”

“What are you talking about?” I play the dumb card and take a drink of wine.

“I’m talking about how unhappy you’ve been these last few weeks, and that doesn’t mean that you aren’t doing great, you are. You’ve accomplished so much and all on your own, and I think that’s important. I’m so proud of you, but the sadness is there, it’s unmistakable.”

“What do you expect me to say, I’m not going to deny that I’m sad, or that it hurts that Luca isn’t around, but I made my choice and if I’ve learned anything it’s that you shouldn’t let sadness drag you down. You have to fight for pieces of happiness and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

“You shouldn’t have to fight for pieces of happiness, you should just be happy.”

There’s that happy word again. Happiness is an ideal that I’ve never really managed to master. “How do you suggest I get happy?”

“Talk to him, tell him the truth, that you’re an idiot and you thought you were doing the right thing but you regret it.”

“Don’t sugarcoat it or anything.”

“You don’t need anyone to sugarcoat crap for you, you need someone who can be honest with you, and that’s me.”

“It’s too late Morgan. I can’t go back now and tell him that I made a mistake, besides I’m not so sure that it was a mistake.”

“You know it was mistake,” she says with a scowl. “If it was a great choice you wouldn’t be miserable now. You can’t take matters into your own hands and play god with people’s future.”

“I’ll think about it okay?”

“Okay.”

It’s not a lie, I will think about it—I’ve been thinking about it since it happened. I’m just not sure thinking on it will change my mind, the damage is already done. I sit here and continue drinking my wine, my eyes fixed on the TV screen but my mind on Luca and all the reasons why I should just leave him alone, the only problem is that I don’t believe any of them.

~Morgan~

I heard Everly crying a few nights ago. She probably thought I was sleeping but I’m sort of an insomniac, it takes me forever to fall asleep. I’ve heard her cry herself to sleep most nights since she went through with her stupid idea about leaving Luca. Now that she’s all moved into her new apartment, I can’t be there to make sure that she’s alright. I’m not around to keep her company, and I’m terrified that she’s going to fall into that old familiar pattern of retreating into herself and shutting people out. She’s come so far in the last few months, she’s become the old Everly again, and I don’t want to lose her.

I’m a firm believer in everything happening for a reason, that our lives will eventually lead us where we’re meant to be but I’m not naïve enough not to realize that sometimes we have to give fate a shove in the right direction. Everly is so screwed up that she needs more of a tow. I’m about to make shit happen for her, I only hope she doesn’t hate me for it, and if she does well then… at least I tried.

I sit across the street sipping a latte and wait for the car to pull out of the driveway. I watch it disappear down the street before getting out of my car, jogging across the street, and ringing the doorbell. The door opens just a few seconds later and I’m greeted by a woman. She looks exactly as I remember her, Stella West, Tyler’s mother.

“Hello, may I help you?” she questions cautiously yet politely.

“Hi Mrs. West, you may not remember me. I’m Morgan, Everly’s best friend.”

“Oh My. Of course Morgan, it’s been a long time. Won’t you come in? Is everything alright with Everly?”

“Yes Everly is fine,” I answer quickly in order to reassure her. I walk into her massive home, every bit as grand as I thought it would be. “I’m so sorry to interrupt you but I was hoping that you would be able to help me with something.”

“Well I’m not sure I’d be the most suited but I’ll certainly try.”

“That’s all I ask, thank you.”

“Can I get you something to drink?”

I smile but shake my head, trying to remain polite and hide my anxiety. “No, I can’t stay, I just… Mrs. West, I know you know that Everly is trying to move on with her life, and part of that is falling in love again, and she’s done that with Luca Jensen.”

She nods her head, giving me a soft smile as well. “I know this dear, I saw them together not so long ago. It came as a shock at first, but I realize that the heart wants what it wants and I would never stand in the way of her happiness. I believe she’s suffered enough.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that, because there are people that don’t want to let her be happy. There are people who would rather see her miserable and alone than end up with someone like Luca.”

She tilts her head, a look of concern in her eyes. “To which people are you referring?”

“I’m referring to your husband Mrs. West.”

Her voice gets tight and I pray that this doesn’t all go downhill from here. “I’m sure you must be mistaken.”

“I’m not. Your husband went to see Luca, he warned him that if he didn’t stay away from Everly he would destroy his career, and he would make it so that he would never be able to practice law here again. Luca said no but Everly overheard the conversation and took matters into her own hands. She broke up with Luca and now she’s brokenhearted. I didn’t know how else to help her, so I came to you, hoping that maybe you could have a word with your husband, tell him that it really isn’t his place to interfere in other people’s lives.”

Her face changes, for a moment she looks angry but not necessarily surprised.

“My husband is a good man Morgan. I know that’s hard to believe, especially when he does things like this, but he is also misguided at times. He thinks that he can control those around him and that he’s doing the right thing by them. I don’t know where that comes from.”

“I understand.”

“It’s what went wrong with Tyler,” she says catching me off guard. “He was a good boy, don’t get me wrong, but when he wanted something he would move heaven and earth to get it. It was that drive that ended up getting him killed.”

“Mrs. West.” I’m sure she can hear the astonishment in my voice. I don’t even know why I’ve said her name at all.

“They all think I don’t know the truth, the real reason my son is dead, the issues he had, the trouble he got in, and my husband’s part in all of that. Not helping him soon enough and then covering the truth up. I may be a quiet woman Morgan, but I am not a stupid woman. In fact I’m very observant, and I can see how much Everly loves Luca, so much that she’d be willing to sacrifice her own happiness for his.”

“Yes.”

“Well it’s stupid isn’t it? Why should she have to sacrifice anymore because she got herself involved with this family?” she questions, turning to look out the window. It’s like she can’t look at me, like she’s afraid I may judge her for the actions of her son and husband.

“She would never regret that, she loved Tyler too.”

“Tell her I’ll take care of this Morgan. Tell her not to let go of Luca, no harm will come to either of them, I give you my word.” Her attention is still focused on what lies outside the window, but her words are sincere. I believe that she’ll take care of Mr. West.

“Yes ma’am.”

She turns back to me and gives me a smile before she shows me to the door. There’s something that I’ve been wondering and before I leave, I turn and ask her.

“Why didn’t you ever tell your husband that you know the truth?”

“He lives in a special kind of hell all his own Morgan, a hell of his own creation. Why make that any worse for him? He thinks he’s protecting me so I let him have that. There’s nothing I can do or say that could make him feel any worse about Tyler’s death than he already does. Me blaming him doesn’t bring him back, it doesn’t erase any of the things Tyler did to get himself where he ended up. As a mother it kills me, I’ll never be the same again. I’ll never be okay, but neither will Michael, so I chose not to make that any worse and at the end of the day he was all I had left.”

“I get that. I really do. Thank you for hearing me out.”

“Thank you for dropping by Morgan, it was lovely to see you again.”

I contemplate my next move, even though I’m a hundred percent sure that Stella will take care of our little problem with Michael, I’m not sure going to Everly with this is the best idea. I don’t have complete confidence in the fact that she’ll actually use this information to go back to Luca, she’d be too afraid that he’d turn his back on her even though that’s ridiculous. No. Everly is the wrong person to go to with this, there’s only one logical person in this whole scenario, and it’s time that he hears the whole truth.

~Luca~

I spent the majority of my morning in court, God only knows I didn’t want to be there today, but truth be told I don’t have the desire to be most places lately. I get in my car just as I turn on my phone and begin to check messages. I almost drop the phone when I see a text from Morgan. I haven’t heard from her in a long time and when I do it’s usually related to Everly.

I have to talk to you, are you free for lunch?

Gotta love the cryptic fucking messages. Do I really want to hear about anything going on with Everly right now? No. I don’t, but I will anyway because that’s just the kind of sucker I am.

Just got out of court, free now.

I type out a quick response and hit the send button. Not surprisingly she responds immediately.

Meet me at Laura’s café. I’ll b there in 10 mins.

I start my car and point it in the direction of Laura’s café; I’m only about a fifteen minute drive away myself. The whole ride there I’m wondering what exactly Morgan is going to say to me. What could she possibly tell me that she thinks I need to know? I haven’t heard from Everly since the night she left me. I know that she sold the house, that was easy enough to track, but I drew the line there. I don’t need to get myself in stalker territory. I’d like to believe that even I’m not that desperate. Fuck I miss her though, I’ve cared about her for so long, it’s hard not to at least try to get through to her but this was her choice and I need to respect it.

I pull into the restaurant parking lot, do a quick scan for Morgan’s car, and spot it a few rows over. I shut off the ignition and angle out of the car, spotting Morgan as soon as I walk in the door. I give her a quick nod, and she waves me over to her booth.

“Hey,” she greets as I take the seat across from her. The waitress is there almost immediately taking our orders which works for me because I really need to get back to the office soon.

“What’s up?” I question once the waitress is out of earshot.

She takes a deep breath, looks me square in the eye, and spits it out. “You need to go get Everly.”

“Where is she?” I ask, unable to hide the confusion in my voice.

“No,” she says, drawing out the o longer than necessary. “I mean get her back.”

This gets an eye roll from me, and to think I actually drove out of my way for this shit. “Oh God Morgan I don’t want to deal with this right now. Everly made her choice. If she wants to speak to me, she knows where to find me.”

“Luca.” She says my name with an unmistakable tone of sadness and pleading in her voice. “I think she’s scared that you’re going to reject her.”

This gets my attention, but I play it cool. “Why would she think that?”

“Because deep down she knows she screwed up.”

“Damn right, she screwed up, but if she thinks I’m going to come back and fix it for her, she has another thing coming to her. She needs to fix it not me.”

“I understand why you feel that way but you don’t know the whole story, I think that once you’ve heard it you might feel a little differently.”