Charlotte got up from where she’d been sitting on the deck—where she had more room to spread things out—and ran after her, catching her just before she could go in. “Lilly, I’m so sorry for what happened. Is there any way we could talk about it?”
Tears gathered in Lilly’s eyes, but she shook her head adamantly.
“Did he ever... touch you?” Charlotte hated to ask, but she doubted she’d have another chance and felt she needed to know so she could get the appropriate help for her sister.
Lilly’s scowl darkened. “No!”
“It was just... just the camera?” Charlotte clarified.
Lilly said nothing.Justprobably hadn’t been the right word. What he’d done was bad enough, but Charlotte was trying to determine the scope of the problem. “If you don’t want to talk to me, can I get you someone to talk to? A therapist or a counselor?”
“I have nothing to tell them,” she mumbled. “He never touched me. I didn’t even know about the camera until... until my mom found it. Then we left.”
Thank GodSabrina had done that much. “That camera was such a betrayal, especially from someone posing as a... a father figure.”
Tears fell over Lilly’s lashes and ran down her cheeks. “I don’t like thinking about it.” She swiped at her cheeks, obviously angry at the tears.
“I can understand why. He’s a terrible person, a pervert. But nothing like that is ever going to happen to you again, so you don’t have to worry. You’re going to be safe from here on out. And I won’t bring up the past again. I just... I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything—or ask for help—whenever you’re ready, okay?”
“I don’t need help.” She stared at her feet as tears splashed on top of them. “Just... don’t tell Sloane or Julian, okay?” Finally, she looked up. “Don’t tell anyone!”
She found it humiliating, as any girl would. “I won’t,” Charlotte agreed. “You have my word. Except...”
Fear registered in Lilly’s eyes—and doubt. She was probably thinking that yet another adult was going to let her down. But that was the very reason Charlotte felt the need to be completely honest and transparent.
“I feel like... Well, what happens next depends on you,” she continued.
“How?” Lilly asked.
“Sloane and Ben have invited you to live with them after we get back from Italy.”
Her mouth fell open, and she dropped back. “Until when?”
“Until you’re grown, Lilly. They’d like to raise you.”
Her eyes widened.
“If you choose to do that, they might need to know about Walter. It would help them support you in the best way. But only if you agree. You control that story.”
She blinked several times. “You want me to go live with Sloane and Ben?”
“That isn’t whatIwant, no. It’s whattheywant. They asked me, but I think you should be the one to decide.” Charlotte caught her breath as she waited. When she’d first arrived in Italy, she’d never dreamed that Lilly would come to mean so much to her, not in such a short period of time.
“I need to decide between the farm and Ben and Sloane?” she asked.
Charlotte inhaled deeply. “Between the farm, Ben and Sloane and... me.”
“You?” she said hopefully and sniffed as she wiped her face. “Where would we live?”
“That’s just it. I can’t offer you everything they can. Not yet. First, I have to get back on my feet. And I know you’ve lived with too much uncertainty as it is. Part of me believes you’d be better off with Sloane—”
“And not Steve?” she broke in.
“Steve seems very nice. And the farm sounds great, too. But I don’t really know him. That worries me, especially whenIlove you and would do my best to take care of you.”
She seemed even more taken aback. “But if I stay with you... What about Cliff? He’d never want me to live with you.”
“No.”
