Lies Beneath the Surface (Buried Secrets 2)

ene, but you’re her sister, and somebody’s gotta save her.”

“Wh-what do you mean, save her? Save her from what, Luke?”

He drops his head to his hands, pinching the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb. When Luke looks up, a blaze of fury flashes in his eyes; a look I’ve never seen in his baby blues. “The bruises, Carly. Ain’t you seen the bruises?” He asks and his hands begin to tremble with rage.

I chew on my lip nervously and think back to the day I went to her house seeking her advice. Josh was pissed that I had showed up after Savannah had told me on the phone she couldn’t see me, but I went anyway. When she came into the kitchen I noticed a dark, purple bruise staining her cheek. When I asked her about it she told me she tripped into the dresser when she got out of the bed too quickly.

“Carly, are ya in there?” Luke asks waving his hand in front of my face. I hold my hand up letting him know I’m still here, just needing a minute to gather my thoughts.

I think back to our girls’ day. I don’t remember seeing any bruises on her face then. “Luke, when did you see bruises on Savannah?”

“When haven’t I, Carly? It’s not just the bruises either. It’s her composure around men in general. She winces at contact, reacts nervously just by my presence. It worries me. How well do you know her husband?”

I shake my head, trying to wade through my muddled thoughts. Savannah is nervous around Luke, but she has a little crush on him. Is that what he sees? How the hell does Luke see deeper into my sister than I do?

“Luke, I don’t know what you’re seeing. Savannah is nervous around you because she has a little crush on you and I think you’re a bit intimidating to her.”

“So you don’t think her husband would hit her?” He asks, scrubbing his hands up his face frantically. Colton comes into the living room taking a seat in his recliner before motioning for me to join him. I crawl into his lap, gripping my arm around his tightly.

“What the hell’s goin’ on?” Colton asks looking from Luke to me?

“I’m worried ‘bout Savannah. I think her husband may be abusin’ her, man.” Colton shifts beneath me, his body going rigid at the mention of abuse.

“What the hell makes you think that, Ashton?” He barks out loudly.

Luke shakes his head, pinching his eyes shut as he tries to compose his raging emotions. “Man, I can see right through that woman’s heartache. When I look at her, all I see is a woman lost at sea, only a tattered raft holdin’ her afloat. But when I look into her soul, she pleads with me to save her from the wreckage and pull her back to shore.”

Colton cocks an eyebrow up to me in confusion and I shrug because I have no answer to Luke’s madness. The anguish that blurs his piercing blue eyes is heart wrenching. Luke has that Superman x-ray vision that can see past the mask and all the layers that one hides beneath. He is very empathetic and hurts right along with you if you’re hurting. If he thinks something is going on with Savannah, he’s seen enough of her heartache to feel that way.

Panic and grief rattles through me. I’m her sister…shouldn’t I have noticed abuse? My mind flickers to our girls’ day out and the memory of Savannah wincing each time I tried to embrace her clenches me. “How didn’t I see any of this?” I ask through a muttered sob. I bury my face into the nook of Colton’s neck, and cry silently.

How do I identify her pain and suffering?

How do I save her?

Why hasn’t she reached out to me?

What the hell do I do now?

“Carly, I didn’t mean to get you upset, beauts. I’m genuinely worried about Savannah. I don’t know her enough to intervene, which is why I wanted to let you know what I’m seein’. I can’t even sleep at night I’ve been so worried about her.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of it Luke. Carly works so much she doesn’t get to see Savannah as much as she’d like, so she obviously had no idea anything was happenin’. But I promise you, if I find out that bastard is hittin’ her,” Colton pauses, his heart rate thudding harder against his chest as he speaks through gritted teeth, “he’ll never raise his hand to another woman again.”

“Just check in on her, please. Let me know how she is. If there is anything I can do, I’ll do it.” Luke stands to leave and I jump up from Colton’s lap to hug him. Colton grunts in frustration, but Luke is hurting for Savannah. He needs the comfort just as much as I do.

“Thanks, Luke. I’ll go see Savannah this week. I pray that you’re wrong though. I can’t imagine any woman being battered, and she certainly doesn’t deserve it.” Luke nods and mutters thanks before turning on his heels to leave. His shoulders are slumped as he carries the weight of Savannah’s plight on his back. I turn back to Colton, lost and unsure of what to do.

Has Savannah been begging for an anchor all of this time?

“What are you gonna do, darlin’?”

I sigh silently because I just don’t know what to do. Savannah and I aren’t nearly as close as we once were and we both have our own lives to live. She’s a busy momma and I have a company to run. I feel defenseless but I need to know how to protect my sister. “I-I don’t know what to do, Colton.” I climb in his lap, his strong arms wrapping around me tightly is all the comfort that I need right now. “I’ve seen the bruises, but when I asked her about it she said she fell. When we had girls’ day she winced every time I tried to hug her. Her excuse then was that she slept wrong on her shoulder. I’ve been stupid and believed all of her excuses.”

“Have you talked to her about your brother, yet?” He asks, then wrinkles his nose when he quickly realizes his mistake. “Sorry, ergh Drew?”

I shrug, feeling smaller in this moment because I’ve yet to tell her about Drew and I know that by trying to protect her, I’m probably only hurting her worse. “Not yet.” I whisper.

“Darlin’, what the hell you waitin’ on? How did you feel when you found out that Big John hid all of these secrets from your family? It hurt, didn’t it?” I nod, but he’ll never understand the pain I feel knowing Daddy’s life was always a lie. “Lies and secrets hurt, Carly Jo. Don’t keep it from her. She deserves to know the truth.”