He opens his mouth to say something, but I hear Aunt Agatha’s telltale steps on the stone stairs. My eyes widen, and I whisper-shout, “Hide!”
Ryder hasn’t caught on, though. “What?”
“Hide!” I hiss. “Quietly!” I glance around the room, settling on my closet. I rush over to Ryder and try to push him in that direction, but he’s like a wall of muscle. “Move, move!”
He looks down at me with mirth in his eyes, but he finally responds to my prodding. “Where am I going?”
I point at the closet. “In there. Agatha’s coming!”
His face lights up. “Oh, Agatha! I haven’t seen her yet. She loves me.”
“She won’t love you anymore if she sees you in here. Now HIDE!”
Ryder just chuckles. I don’t think he understands that his life is literally hanging in the balance right now. If Agatha finds him, she’ll tell my dad and brothers, and he will be dead. It doesn’t matter that he’s Peter’s best friend. Adam will personally see to his demise.
I slide open the mirrored closet door, push my clothes to the side, and shove Ryder’s shoulder toward the floor, next to the plastic keyboard that mocks me every time I look at it. “Go!”
He looks down at me again. “Seriously? You expect me to fold up in there?”
“Stop questioning me! Just do it!”
He sighs and shakes his head, like I’m SO ridiculous, but he obeys.
And not a moment too soon. Because in waltzes Aunt Agatha, dressed as a cowgirl.
CHAPTER 5
Ryder
FRANZ LISZT — GRANDE ÉTUDE DE PAGANINI NO. 3 (“LA CAMPANELLA”)
“Howdy, Lily!” Agatha’s British accent is at odds with her words, and it’s all I can do not to burst into laughter, hiding in this tiny closet. Lily was so determined, I had to follow along with her plan to keep me hidden. But I’m sure she’s overreacting.
Right?
“Howdy, Aunt,” Lily replies. “I thought you’d be gone all morning. What are you doing back already?”
Oh, Lily. Play it cool!
But I’m not sure she knows what that means.Cooldoesn’t seem to be a word in Lily’s vocabulary, considering the way she panicked at seeing me, gave me a weird rundown of everything she’s done while “hiding out,” and let’s not forget her playing the paper piano.
She seems…quirky.
And for some reason…I like it.
I didn’t recognize her at first, especially out of context, but once I realized she’s Peter’s sister, I remembered her from the video chat Peter did with his family a few months back. She was cute on the screen, but in person, she’s mesmerizing.
Is she the type of girl who normally catches my eye? Absolutely not. I’m usually into the smooth, cool, collected woman. Like the mermaid actresses at the resort when I stayed with Peter. They were exactly what I usually look for. Tall, graceful, with smiles that make men weak in the knees.
And yet, something about Lily has me completely enraptured. She’s so…full of life.
“I was at the market,” Agatha replies, “and realized I forgot my wallet! Can you believe it?”
“Nope. I cannot believe it.” Now Lily sounds like a robot. I half-cringe, half-chuckle.
“Ah, I see you took my suggestion to make a paper piano.”
“Yeah. That was…”
