BENEATH THE SCARS

~Richard Henshaw ~

Chapter Five: Ashes Between Us

(Eli’s POV)

The meeting dissolved into chaos after Betty dropped her little marriage bomb, but I barely registered the noise. I just needed air. Space. Distance from the walls that seemed to close in and from Lily’s eyes that wouldn’t leave me even when I wasn’t looking at her.

I shoved past people I’d known my whole life, ignoring their questions, their hands brushing my arm like I was supposed to reassure them. What could I say? “Don’t worry, folks, I’ll marry the woman who hates me for the sake of your grant”?

No.

Outside, the late-summer air was hot, heavy with the memory of smoke. I sucked it in like it might put out the fire in my chest.

But footsteps followed. Sharp, quick, determined.

“Don’t you walk away from me, Elias Ward.”

Her voice froze me mid-step.

I turned slowly, because I wasn’t ready. I’d never be ready for Lily Quinn up close again.

The First Confrontation

She stormed out onto the steps, shoulders squared, jaw tight. God, she was furious—and heartbreak made fury look sharp on her.

“You knew about this, didn’t you?” she demanded.

I blinked. “What?”

“Betty. This circus. The—” her voice faltered on the word, “—marriage. You were in on it.”

My chest burned. “If you think I’d agree to that—”

“Then what?” She cut me off, eyes blazing. “You’d rather humiliate me in front of the whole damn town? You laughed, Eli. Like this was some kind of joke.”

“I wasn’t laughing at you.”

“The hell you weren’t.”

Her voice cracked, just a little, but she swallowed it down fast.

I scrubbed a hand over my face, fighting for words that didn’t make everything worse. “I was laughing at the idea that this town thinks I’m capable of saving anything. That Betty thinks parading us around like puppets will fix what’s broken.”

Lily stepped closer, each word sharp as broken glass. “You’re right about one thing—you can’t save anything. You couldn’t save him.”

Luke Between Us

The air left my lungs like she’d hit me square in the chest.

Luke. His name wasn’t spoken, but it was there, hanging in the silence, heavy as ash.

I staggered back a step, but there was nowhere to go. Her eyes pinned me in place.

“You think I don’t know?” she said, voice low now, trembling with rage. “You think I haven’t played it over and over, every damn night? The orders you gave. The call you made. You lived, Eli. He didn’t.”

My throat closed.

It was the truth. No excuse, no explanation would ever erase it.

“I would’ve traded places with him,” I said, the words raw. “Every day since, I’ve wished it was me.”

“Don’t you dare say that.” Her voice broke, and it cut deeper than any accusation. “Don’t you dare put that on me, too.”

Her hands shook at her sides. I wanted to reach for her, stop the tremor, but I stayed rooted. She wouldn’t want my touch. She’d want my distance.

“Lily…” I forced her name out, but the rest crumbled.

The Raw Edge

She looked at me like I was a wound she couldn’t stop reopening.

“You think you’re the only one carrying guilt?” she hissed. “I left. I couldn’t even bury him here. I ran because I couldn’t stand to breathe the same air as you.”

Her confession hit harder than her accusations. I clenched my fists. “And now Betty dragged you back.”

“No, Eli. You dragged me back. Because she needed a veteran, and you fit the bill. And I—” her voice shook, “—I was the only archaeologist dumb enough to still care about this town.”

Every word was a lash. And yet, underneath all the fury, I heard it—pain. The same hollow ache that lived inside me.

But neither of us knew how to touch it without burning.

The Breaking Point

I closed the distance without thinking, stopping just a breath away. Her chin lifted, defiant, even though her eyes glistened.

“We can’t do this,” I said.

“Then walk away,” she shot back.

The thing was—I couldn’t. Not with the entire town’s survival balanced on this twisted arrangement. Not with her standing here, fire in her eyes, daring me to try.

I dragged in a breath that felt like broken glass. “You think I want this? You think I want to play house with you while the whole damn town watches?”

Her lip trembled. Just once. Then it was gone, replaced by steel. “I think you want to atone. And maybe this is your penance. But don’t you mistake it for forgiveness.”

Her words gutted me. Because she was right.

The wooden doors creaked open behind us. Betty’s voice, calm and smug, drifted out.

“Well,” she said, stepping into the sunlight, “I see you two are getting along famously.”

Neither of us moved.

Betty’s smile was razor sharp. “Good. Because the paperwork arrives tomorrow. And like it or not—you’ll be husband and wife before the week is out.”

Lily’s gasp was sharp. My fists clenched until my knuckles ached.

And all I could think was: I survived war. I survived fire. But I might not survive this.