Page 43 of Art of Love

“It was that easy?” She frowned.

“Easy?” He shook his head. “The bruises I got this last week are proof I worked for it.” He laughed.

She opened the first box. “I hope you like meat lover’s.”

“Love it.” He pulled out two plates. “Beer?”

She nodded and he walked over to the fridge as she plated a few slices of pizza.

“We can take this out on the back deck to watch the sunset,” he suggested.

“Lead the way.” She took the plates and followed him down the hallway.

“This is Max and Juliette’s room?” she asked as they passed through.

“Yeah.” He glanced over at her. “I’d give you a tour but…”

She chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve already been through here. Still, it was pretty dark.” She stopped and looked at the painting of the lighthouse hanging over the bed. “Nice. Looks like one of Allison Jordan’s pieces.” She squinted and nodded. “Yup, very nice.”

“There are a couple others throughout the place.” He slid open the back glass door and waited until she stepped out.

As she sat down, he watched the sunlight slide over her hair and wished desperately to touch her again.

“You have questions?” he asked, settling into the chair across from her as he took a bite of pizza.

Dylan tucked her legs beneath her and angled towards him, eyes searching his face. The sunset bathed her in gold, softening the edges of her sharp focus, but he felt the shift in her. She wasn’t here to flirt or make small talk. She was here for the truth.

“I do,” she admitted after taking a sip of beer to wash down the bite of pizza. “Are you ready?”

He nodded, bracing himself as he took another sip of beer.

“What was Kara like, growing up? Who were her friends?” she asked.

He exhaled slowly, gaze drifting to the horizon. “She had a small circle. Reba was her best friend in college. She had a few others friends from before, but Kara wasn’t the kind of person who needed a crowd. She was more… one-on-one. Quiet, but fierce once you knew her.”

Dylan nodded slowly. “And her family?”

“Complicated,” he said. “Her mom was strict, judgmental. Never approved of me or much else that Kara did. Her dad was passive. Sweet, but checked out. Kevin was… well, he was everything to her. Older. Protective to a fault. They’d argue sometimes, usually about me, or her life choices. But she loved him.”

Dylan’s expression tightened. “Did you and Kevin get along?”

Abe gave a short, humorless laugh. “At first, yes. It was one of the reasons I allowed him to stay with me for a few months. Then, after Kara and I started dating, not really. He didn’t trust me after that. After I got the record deal, he thought that the spotlight I was about to enter would change our relationship. I think he already thought that I had changed her when we started dating.”

“Had you?” she asked softly.

He glanced at her. “No. If anything, she changed me.” He held back how much he’d been willing to give up for Kara. If she had asked him, he would have ripped up the contract and never recorded his first album.

A pause settled between them. The waves filled the silence for a moment before Dylan spoke again.

“That night… the night she died,” she said carefully. “Tell me about it again.”

“We went out that evening. We ate dinner at a local burger place, and we talked for a while about my music career. She was questioning if she should continue going to school. She had started nursing classes that fall to be an RN. It felt like… a reset for us. Like we’d finally stopped spinning in circles and had settled on what our future together would look like.” He shifted slightly. “We did have a stupid argument about something.” He shook his head, trying to remember. “I think it was my career. I wanted to hold off on going on tour until after…” He stopped and swallowed as he looked up at Dylan. “I wanted marriage. She didn’t.”

She nodded slightly. “Did you… make love that night?” Her voice was quieter now.

He shook his head slowly. “No. After dinner, she dropped me back off at my place. I’d had a couple beers and left my car at the restaurant.” He set his fork down and met her eyes. “She said that she was tired and had class in the morning and didn’t come in. Besides, my roommate was there. She kissed me and told me that she was proud of me for making a choice, for sticking it out. That’s the last time I saw her.”

Dylan studied him for a long moment, her eyes narrowing slightly. Her expression shifted, harder now, more clinical. Measured.

“The police report,” she said carefully, “it said that there were signs that Kara had had sex shortly before her death.”

Abe blinked and time stopped. He felt his heart sink into his gut.