“Does that mean I can’t count you in for birthdays, family dinners, and game nights?”
“You know I wouldn’t miss that stuff for the world.” People say family isn’t always blood, even though I had a pretty spectacular one, but I’d always considered Boden my third brother.
“I’ve asked you this before, and you’ve always evaded the question, but seriously, what is it about New Year’s specifically that gets under your skin so much?”
“What’s your fee?”
“My fee?” He eyed me curiously.
“Yeah, if you’re going to be my shrink and analyze me, you should at least be charging me hourly.”
“You can pay me in beer,” he held up his drink for emphasis, “or hard labor on the job site once we break ground this summer on our place.”
Boden and his fiancée were in the early planning stages of designing their forever home, not far from where my still-under-construction place was being built out on the same lake.
“Perfect, I’ll supply the booze next time I’m in the mood to share, though you’ve gotta promise I get dibs on that comfier-than-fuck couch of yours for our session. This body’s running on a lifetime of regret, and you know I don’t half-ass anything, especially not on the job site.”
“Shit, man, I charge extra for regret.”
“So, I should bring pizza and whiskey then?”
“My door is always open for you, my friend, day or night.”
We clapped each other on the shoulder, as there was no more accurate statement or assurance. Boden had my back, and I had his without question, and not just on the police force. We were thick as thieves, bonded in providing a safe space to just be real with each other. I could still feel his pain of losing his parents as if it were my own, and I witnessed firsthand how it altered his life.
While most teenagers would have balked at the responsibility and or fallen apart, Boden refused to do either. He didn’t just take on the role of guardian for his younger sister, Brooke; he carried that responsibility with pride and a selflessness that I found inspiring.
I perched myself on a stool and watched the game of pool going on in front of me, while to the right of the table, my brother stood with his back to me, and his body pinning his wife to the wall, completely oblivious to others around them. From the angle I had, I could see the warmth radiating from Arizona; her delicate features were glowing, while she stared longingly at my better half with a starry-eyed gaze.
My chest tightened with genuine happiness for my twin, who had pined for Arizona from a distance since we were kids. Seeing his dream of starting a life with her come to fruition was gratifying to witness.
I wanted to say it gave me the thinnest thread of hope for my future, but I’d be lying.
That was what happened when you shared yourself with the one person you couldn’t envision living without, only for one day,poof,everything you thought you knew about them came crashing down around you, like a harsh punch to the gut, robbing you of the air to go on.
That was what Lily’s disappearance did to me.
Until that point in my life, I’d been pretty blind to the harsh reality that while everything happened for a reason, it didn’t always make sense. With no rhyme or reason, goodbye phone call, or a note left behind. Hell, not even a breadcrumb to provide any clue as to why, my world was upended.
Over time, I’d learn to live with the endless questions that lingered in my mind, offering no answers, only the uneasy feeling that something far greater had been at play, something that had forced her and her parents to vanish without a trace. It was the one belief I kept coming back to, as the flip side of the coin was too devastating to think about.
When Lily left, it changed the trajectory of my life. I had grown up knowing, like my twin brother, Jameson, that we’d follow in our father’s footsteps and become firefighters, but I no longer felt that deep, soulful calling that my other half did anymore. With my life turned on its head, my overanalyzing brain shifted its focus and followed the path that led me to where I was today, a newly minted detective in our small town.
I hadn’t even told anyone about my promotion, since Chief Bassitt called me into his office and let me know that Detective Edgar was stepping into the Sergeant's role. Those around the station knew I was splitting my duties and saw it as a natural progression in my career. And if I were honest, being a detectivehad always been the goal I’d set for myself when I entered the police academy.
A vibrating sound pulled me from my runaway thoughts and had me looking toward the high-top table, where my brother’s cell phone did a little shimmy with each pulsating ring. I knew it was his because who else had a red phone protector other than him?
I glanced nonchalantly at the lit-up screen with the caller’s ID at the top, before doing a double-take when the name registered like some kind of twisted joke.
Lily.
I stared dumbstruck in a trance, convinced I was imagining her name on his phone.
It made zero sense.
It had to be a coincidence; it couldn’t be her. It was just another girl with the same name, I told myself.
“Fuck it.” Consequences be dammed.