“There isn’t much to tell. They live in California. I live here. Occasionally, they write.”
In the entire nine months they had been together, Oliver hadnever seen a letter arrive with that seal. He doubted Felipe had hidden them away the moment they arrived as he usually let the mail languish on the sideboard for days unless Oliver intervened. The letter didn’t seem particularly thick, but if they only wrote infrequently, then it had to be important. A hundred panicked thoughts raced through Oliver’s mind. What if one of Felipe’s parents was sick? Or what if another family member was writing to tell him his mother or father had died, and they had to go to California? Even worse, what if they wanted to visit them? A myriad of disasters lurked inside that envelope.
“Shouldn’t you read it?”
A mirthless laugh escaped Felipe’s lips. “Not if I want to have a good evening.”
“But what if they’re writing because something bad happened?”
“Then, it already happened, and there’s nothing I can do about it, Oliver. Their letters aren’t like Teresa’s; they can wait.” Drawing in a calming breath, Felipe shook his head and gathered his spare hat and gloves. “Can we just let this go for now?”
Oliver gave him a tight nod, though he didn’t fully understand. His experience with families was limited, but any time a note from Teresa or Louisa appeared, Felipe made a point to read them promptly or have Oliver remind him to do so. He wanted to understand why this was different, but if the way Felipe yanked on his gloves was any indication, that conversation wasn’t going to go the way Oliver hoped. When he reached for the tether, spikes of emotions he couldn’t parse out flicked along it like a cat’s tail. No, letting it go for now was the best option. As Oliver started to shake out his hands but caught himself, Felipe’s fingers slowly closed around his shoulder. Oliver turned to find his partner regarding him with a regretful frown. The circles of fatigue were already darkening into bruises beneath Felipe’s eyes, but his gaze was far more gentle than it had been.
“I’m sorry for snapping at you. None of this is about you, and you didn’t do anything wrong.” Resting his hand on Oliver’s cheek, Felipe held his grey eyes, and the knot in Oliver’s chest loosened a fraction. “I need you to know I’m not mad at you. It’s just been a long day, andthe letter didn’t help.”
“Do you still want to go out?” Oliver asked softly, leaning into Felipe’s gloved palm.
“Absolutely. I love you, and there’s nothing that I would rather do than spend time with you.” Felipe kissed him and ran his hands down Oliver’s arms in firm strokes until the lingering tension left his body. When he pulled back, he gave Oliver a half smile and a wink. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I’m eager to see what you’ve planned.”
A smile spread across Oliver’s lips as he grabbed his coat and hat from the stand by the door. “Did you see there was also a letter from Teresa for us? It seems quite thick.”
At that, Felipe’s face brightened, but when Oliver felt along the tether to make certain he was truly all right, there was a strange tightness, as if the tether had caught on a snarl beneath Felipe’s heart.
Chapter Two
Weighing the Heart
Frowning down at the pans of freshly rinsed organs littering the autopsy table, Oliver sighed and plopped the liver onto the scale. He marked down the reading with his clean hand on a piece of scrap paper before moving on to the next. The rhythm of the predictable weights and measures settled his body, but it did little for the thoughts swirling around his mind. As Oliver picked up the dead woman’s heart, he couldn’t help but wonder how one little organ, barely bigger than a fist, could cause so much trouble.No wonder the Ancient Egyptians gave it such gravitas, he thought as he recorded its weight. He was about to move on to the kidneys when the inner laboratory door clicked open and bounced into the wall with a clatter.
“Organs!” Oliver warned as Gwen swept inside.
“Oh, trust me, I already smelled them.”
A laugh escaped Oliver’s lips as he placed the kidneys onto the scale. After ten years of friendship, Gwen was more than accustomed to the sights and smells of his work. Standing at his elbow, she surveyedthe table with a scholar’s eye before retreating with a noise of disgust.
“You better not start squeezing the intestines and stomach while I’m here, Oliver Barlow.”
“I promise I won’t, but while I finish up with Mrs. Ennis, can you start the coffee? I should be done in a few minutes.”
From the corner of his eye, Oliver watched Gwen levitate the cups and coffee grounds down from the cabinet above the bench. Today, her black hair had been artfully braided and pulled back into a chignon, but what drew his eye were the gilt leaf earrings dangling from her ears that matched the pattern on her skirt. He recognized it as it had been repurposed from one of her favorite dresses. Over a shirtwaist, she wore a sharp midnight blue jacket that matched the vines twining across the mustard yellow background of her skirt. She once told him it was one of her favorites because it made her glow, and she was right. Oliver smiled to himself. If she was wearing it, she was probably in a good mood. At least one of them should be.
“Did yourpatientscare Felipe away or is he hiding in your room?” Gwen asked, filling the percolator.
Oliver marked down the weight of Mrs. Ennis’s lungs and pushed away from the table. “He’s upstairs looking for the dead woman’s file, though unless the toxicology tests show something out of the ordinary, she probably died of natural causes. He should be back down by the time the lunch trays show up.”
As Oliver washed his hands with scalding water and soap, he could feel Gwen’s gaze boring into the side of his head. Double-checking that Felipe wasn’t around, Gwen sidled up to him with a wide grin.
“So how did last night go? Did Felipe say yes? I mean, I’m sure he did since he asked you first, but did he love his surprise?”
Keeping his eyes on the steaming water, Oliver swallowed against the knot in his throat. He shouldn’t have told her about his plan to propose to Felipe untilafterhe did it, but he had been so excited at the time. Now, he had to let her down too.
“I didn’t ask,” he forced out.
The hot water tap abruptly shut off, and Oliver flinched as coldwater blasted onto his rapidly reddening hands. His fingers stung, but all he could think about was the weight of the ring hanging over his heart and the box still sitting heavily in his pocket. With that familiar look between sadness and affection, Gwen handed him a towel.
“What happened? You were so excited yesterday.”
“I was, but it was not the right time to propose.”
