Mated in the Shadow of My Sister novel Chapter 54

Chapter 0054

(James POV)

Have you ever watched an explosion occur in slow-motion? It can be quite interesting. Contrary to popular belief, most explosions do not occur at one time or in a single blast. Rather, most explosions are a series of smaller blasts that trigger other smaller blasts that in turn trigger larger and larger blasts.

Because they are connected and occur close in time to one another, the combination of blasts are

perceived as being one large and overwhelming occurrence.

Firework displays are perhaps the most visual and beautiful version of this. Firework shows usually start with the lighting of a single fuse or set of fuses, which trigger a coordinating series of explosions. Small

explosions will start the show, sometimes fizzling out and creating the impression that nothing more will

come. But then, as more fuses are lit and the show really gets going, the fireworks will become bigger,

brighter, faster, and more jaw-dropping. 2

This, for lack of a better description, is essentially what happened when I began looking at Lily’s pack file.

This, for a lack of a better description, is how it felt when the life and world I thought I knew imploded.

Indeed, once my personal fireworks show began, all of the questions and memories that I had not been

willing or ready to confront suddenly attacked me all at once. They were vicious and unrelenting,

unwilling to let me take time to process or breathe. It was almost as though they were playing a childish

game of hide-and-seek and wanted to taunt me: “Ready or not, here we come!”

I

The firework display began even before I opened Lily’s pack file, with my mother’s story about Tyler. In retrospect, I should have known that Tyler’s story was merely a warm-up for what was to come. However, surviving the past 26 years has required that I master the skill of denial, so perhaps I should not fault.

myself too much for missing it.

Either way, the second round of fireworks had a much slower start than the first round, but its resulting show was much, much grander. My mother lit the fuse for this second round unintentionally, when her eyes expressed relief that Nick could not remember Lily’s birthday. My mother probably thought I missed the look in her eyes, but I did not.

tl