Undeniable (Haven Falls 5)

Noah takes in the girl who openly gawks at him. “This her?” he questions.

“Yeah,” Tully says.

“What the fuck is this about?” he asks, staring the girl down. “How the hell did you know my baby sister?”

Fear takes over Lacey’s expression but she swallows it down, determined to get this out. She quickly glances around the VIP area. “Is there somewhere quiet we can go?”

A beat passes where Noah silently studies her before letting out a sigh. “Yeah, follow me.” He turns his back and starts walking away with Tully and Lacey following along. He stops and looks back over his shoulder, taking me in. “Are you coming?”

I shake my head, desperately wishing I could. “No. This seems private. Tell me afterward if you want to.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he tells me. “Hurry up.”

With that, he turns back around and continues forward. I race up to them, quickly catching up. Noah takes my hand as he pushes through a door into a small room that looks over the whole racetrack, only it’s quiet and we can actually hear ourselves think.

“Would you like to sit?” Noah asks, turning to face Lacey.

She gives him a tight smile and drops down into a chair as we all crowd around and do the same. Noah keeps his hand in mine and something tells me it’s there for support rather than just liking me close. “Where to start?” she says. “Gosh, this is nerve wracking.”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?”

Lacey looks down as tears begin to fill her eyes. “Your sister is the best person I’ve ever known. She saved my life,” she tells us. “I’m a Leukemia survivor and if it wasn’t for Lily, I wouldn’t have had the strength to go on.”

“What?” Tully breathes, watching Lacey with tears in her eyes as I squeeze Noah’s hand.

Lacey nods. “It was long ago. I was only ten years old at the time, and Lily was so young. She would have only been about five or around that age, I’m not too sure, but she was my rock. On those long days where I was in the hospital, I was usually alone and without anyone there to help me through it, I was quickly going down.”

Lacey takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out before continuing. “Sorry,” she says. “I’ve never really talked about this before.”

“It’s ok,” I say, seeing that both Noah and Tully aren’t really in a position to say anything, probably both being transported back to those days sitting in the hospital watching their baby sister getting worse and worse.

Lacey swallows and looks to Tully. “Her room was across the hall from mine and whenever you guys had gone home, she’d sneak out and come and join me. I never told her but those were the best parts of my days. Despite her condition, she was so lively and made me feel as though I had a friend, someone to talk to while things were so bad. I don’t…have a supportive family, not like yours, or at least, the one she told me of, and I remember thinking how damn lucky she was to have you guys. I’d have killed for a family like yours at the time.”

“Lily always had a smile, no matter how bad things were getting and I’ll never forget it. Her vibrancy and pure joy are what gave me the strength to keep fighting. I was done, I was letting the Leukemia win, but Lily forced me to keep trying and promised me that at the end it would all be so much better.”

Lacey chuckles to herself. “She used to tell me that I had to think of it like a rainstorm-”

Noah cuts her off. “You have to get through all the scary stuff, but once it’s over and all the water has soaked into the ground, you’ll be left with a garden full of blooming flowers,” he murmurs proudly. “I told her that.”

“She used to love that saying,” Tully laughs. “Every time I would complain about having a bad day she’d say ‘Life is like a storm, Tully.’ It drove me insane,” she looks up at her brother. “I wanted to wring your neck for teaching her that, but it’s what she needed at the time.”

Noah smiles fondly at his sister before turning to Lacey. “Would it be alright if I introduced you to my mom and dad? I know they’d really appreciate sitting down with you and hearing your stories of our sister.”

“Are you sure?” she questions cautiously. “I wouldn’t want to intrude. My cousin goes to your school and he always tells me to just leave you guys alone and let you move on. I guess, that’s why I’ve waited so long to say anything, but it was just eating me up inside. I had to share that.”