Chapter 4 - The Red Dress
Ava’s fingers shook as she opened her clutch.
“I didn’t know Lily was dying.”
Maya said nothing.
“I knew you were calling,” Ava continued. “I knew there were messages. But Evan told me the two of you had been living separate lives for months.”
Maya looked at Evan.
He could not meet her eyes.
Ava pulled out a folded hotel receipt.
“He said the trip was supposed to be the first weekend of our real life.”
Maya stared at the receipt.
Two guests.
Four nights.
Luxury vineyard suite.
Evan finally spoke. “Ava, stop.”
“No.” She looked at him now. “You lied to me too.”
“That does not make you innocent.”
“I know.”
Maya’s voice stayed controlled. “What does this have to do with Lily’s envelope?”
Ava swallowed.
“On the second morning, a hotel employee brought up an overnight package. It was addressed to Evan Hale. The return label said St. Matthew’s Medical Center.”
Evan’s head snapped toward her.
“What?”
“You were in the shower.”
“What did you do with it?”
Ava’s eyes filled.
“I put it on the desk.”
“Then where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
Evan stepped closer. “Ava.”
She backed away.
“That afternoon, after you got angry about Maya’s messages, you swept everything off the desk into your suitcase. Papers, chargers, receipts. You said you were done letting your family control your life.”
Evan stared down at the vintage brown suitcase lying near the door.
The room went silent.
He dropped to his knees.
The brass clasps popped open.
Shirts.
A toiletry bag.
A bottle of wine.
Conference brochures he had never attended.
Ava’s earrings.
Maya watched without blinking.
Evan dug deeper.
At the bottom was a white envelope, bent along one edge.
ST. MATTHEW’S MEDICAL CENTER.
ATTN: EVAN HALE.
His name was written beneath it in purple marker.
In Lily’s handwriting.
Evan stopped moving.
Maya inhaled sharply.
He lifted the envelope as though it might break.
It was already open.
Maya’s gaze rose to his face.
“You opened it?”
“No.”
Ava looked horrified.
“I didn’t.”
Evan turned the envelope over.
A hotel key sleeve was stuck inside the flap.
Room 614.
Then he pulled out the paper.
It was not Lily’s letter.
It was a blank hotel notepad page.
Someone had removed the original.
May you like
And on the back, in black ink, someone had written five words:
SHE CAN’T FIX THIS NOW.
