Free Yours at Midnight by Robin Bielman Page B

had? Probably. In the days after Oliver’s death, Quinn’s defense mechanisms had gone up, while Julia had opened her heart even wider.
    “They are.” He didn’t want to get into the whole passing in mid-air thing, so he said, “Do you come here often?”
    “Once a year, always on the thirtieth. I’m just too heartbroken on the thirty-first, and never wanted to visit Oliver feeling so sad . This is the last time, though.”
    “How come?”
    “I’m getting married next week.”
    He smiled, but his stomach knotted for reasons he couldn’t quite identify. “Congratulations.”
    “Thanks. You married?”
    “Not yet.” Tie another one in his gut. What the hell was wrong with him? Yet? When had he ever thought about marriage?
    Julia looked around the cemetery before her serious eyes settled back on him. “You staying at your parents’ place?”
    “Yes.”
    “Have you seen Lyric?”
    He rocked back and forth. Why did her question surprise and baffle him? “I have. Why do you ask?”
    “You’ve kept in touch with her?” She watched him for a few seconds, her head canted to the side.
    Julia had this way of making those around her drop their defenses and talk . She’d always genuinely cared, and had some truth serum vibe going on.
    “No. I haven’t kept in touch with anyone, but now that I’m here I’m fixing that.”
    She pulled her wool jacket tighter as a cloud blocked the sun. “That’s good. Your brother would be happy to hear that.”
    A chill moved down the back of his arms. “He would?”
    “Definitely. He worried about you keeping to yourself so much.”
    Oliver had worried about him? His brother had never let on he cared about Quinn’s social life.
    “You should tell Lyric,” Julia said.
    “Huh?” His forehead wrinkled. He pulled his hands from his pockets and rubbed them together to get rid of the gooseflesh.
    “That you’ve always had a thing for her.”
    His mouth went dry, and he couldn’t swallow. It took him a minute to respond. He thought he’d done a pretty good job of keeping his feelings for Lyric hidden. “How did you know that?”
    “Oliver told me. That’s why he never let her infatuation with him go anywhere. He knew you loved her, and hoped that eventually you two would find a way to get together.”
    His legs almost gave out. “Mind if we sit?” He motioned to the concrete bench a short distance away.
    “Sure.”
    Somehow he made it to the bench without tripping over his own feet. Hearing that Oliver knew how he felt about Lyric put a whole new spin on his feelings for his brother. He’d never shared his jealousy or desires, not with anyone, but he should have known his twin could figure it out.
    “I didn’t know he knew.”
    “He said he always did, even back in high school. But you know Oliver. He thrived on attention—so while he didn’t have those kinds of feelings for Lyric, he didn’t discourage her affection, either.”
    “He treated her like shit and she never saw it.”
    “So did you, and it’s all she saw.”
    Every muscle in his body clenched. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Why do you think that is?”
    “Ask her.”
    …
    After leaving the cemetery, Quinn headed straight to Lyric’s. He couldn’t wait until the evening. He needed to see her now.
    He parked the car in the driveway and hightailed it next door. A crash, followed by “shit” sounded inside the guesthouse. He rushed in—and ice ran through his veins when he saw her.
    She sat in the middle of the room, white gauze around her head, a container full of medical supplies spilled all over her lap, Teddy licking her chin. A natural disaster that tugged his thoughts in all sorts of directions—protector, partner, lover.
    “Are you okay? Tell me you’re okay.”
    She looked up, her eyes wet with tears. She wiped her palms across her cheeks before dropping her gaze to the mess.
    Finally his feet moved. “Lyric, answer me. Are you hurt?” He got down on his knees