Chapter 67 - Life goes on ...

Lilith

I DIDN’T WANT TO sound like a jealous girlfriend or something, but staying away from the phone was becoming impossible! I hadn’t heard from Ezra in a couple of days and, finally, I did the one thing I promised myself I wouldn’t do. I called Blanca.

“Hi, honey, how are you?” She sounded so happy to hear from me, and when I thought about it, I realized that she hadn’t called me either. Were people trying to avoid me or something?

“Hey, babe.” I sighed, knowing I was being paranoid but unable to stop it. “Tell me something, do I stink?” I sighed. Making a joke was the only way I could think of broaching the subject of her ex not calling me.

“What? NO! Why?” She burst out laughing on the other side of the line and I fell backward onto my bed.

“I don’t know. I hadn’t heard from Ezra for a couple of days and I know I was probably being an idiot, but I actually wanted to see him again.” She was my best friend and although Ezra was her ex, it just felt natural and normal to talk to her about my boy problems.

“Aaahh. Well, you don’t stink and you are not being an idiot. Ezra’s just been incredibly busy with … Family stuff.” She hesitated … Why did she hesitate?! I sat up feeling nausea creeping up.

“Blanca, what are you hiding from me? Ezra told me he didn’t have any family. What family stuff could he have?” Silence fell as my heart started to thud loudly in my ears.

“He doesn’t have direct family, but he has distant family. Look, Lil, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but his uncle died recently. He was pretty rich and he left Ezra the family business and everything else he owned. Ezra grew up on the streets, as you probably already know. He never really knew his uncle, so it’s been a pretty big adjustment to find out he has family and money.” I breathed a huge sigh of relief. First off, I wasn’t insane … My best friend just confirmed it. Secondly, Ezra was really busy.

It must have been a shock for him to find out he had other family and that he had money. The puzzle pieces started to fall into place while I talked a little more with Blanca. We arranged to meet up for lunch and I was feeling loads better by the time I left my house to meet up with her. I now understood why Ezra took me to Paris for our first date. He wasn’t being a pompous ass. He was actually trying to show me something he never had before.

Ezra

It felt incredible to be able to buy what we needed and then to physically work on building our new home. Lilith was never very far from my thoughts while I worked and although I would have loved to have her there helping, I didn’t want to place the burden of our work on her shoulders. Not yet, at least. She would soon be the Luna of this bunch of outcasts and then she would have more than enough to deal with.

We had just packed our tools away for the day when the phone rang. I was surprised to hear Blanca’s voice. She sounded a little worried and as soon as she explained why she called, I was worried. I had waited too long to call Lilith and she had questions. Blanca handled it beautifully and her call was just to inform me about what she said so that our stories matched up, but my time was running out fast.

I needed to tell Lilith what I was. I needed to tell her what all of us were … I sighed and searched for Lilith’s number on my phone. It rang only once, then her sweet voice floated over the phone line.

“HI! Did Blanca tell you to call me?” She laughed on the other side of the line, but I could hear the nervousness in her voice.

“Hey. Yeah, she might have mentioned something, but only because I called Carlo.” I laughed. I hated lying to Lilith, but for now we had to play the game until I was ready to tell her. “I’m sorry I’ve been so scarce. It’s just been a mad house over here.” It literally was. There were piles of wood all over the square and it looked like some kind of lumber yard. The old pack house was in a bad state of disrepair and we were going to have to replace a lot before it could be a home again.

“Listen, I know it’s short notice and we won’t be able to fly across the country, but would you like to have dinner with me tonight? We can go to a diner or something. If that’s okay with you?” I just needed to see her and from what Blanca had told me, Lilith needed to see me as well.

“I would love that!” I could imagine her sitting there smiling on the other side of the line.

“Great! I’ll pick you up at six, okay?” I felt my heart skip a beat at the thought that I was going to see her in a couple of hours.

“I’ll be ready.” She laughed and we hung up. I never imagined the day I stole Blanca’s bracelet that my life would change so much. If I had known, would I have taken her bracelet or would I have kept running? I sighed. I will probably never know. I did tell Blanca not to choose me. I was really stupid back then, but at least everything worked out for the better in the end.

I took a quick shower before heading out. I was going on a date with my mate. Life was good. The car roared to life and I pulled out of the driveway. Things were looking up for once and I wished my mother could have been there to see it.