Page 82 of Truth

When we arrived at Dr. Cooper and Diane’s house, Jimmy was there but Samantha wasn’t. Jimmy mumbled something about his wife not feeling well. I didn’t hear the entire conversation, because Diane asked for my help in the kitchen. Whatever the reason, I was glad Samantha wasn’t there.

Dinner was good. I only caught Dr. Cooper giving Stephan a disapproving look once, after he leaned over and placed an intimate kiss on my neck. I giggled, which probably drew the attention of everyone at the table, but I couldn’t help it. Diane had a knowing smile on her face, a direct contrast to the look on Dr. Cooper’s. Then there was Jimmy. He seemed lost in his own thoughts and didn’t contribute all that much to the conversation.

Jimmy excused himself right after dinner, saying he wanted to get back home and check on Samantha. Once he left, Dr. Cooper and Stephan went to his study. I helped Diane clear off the table and put the food away.

“Have you thought about what you’d like to do for your birthday, Brianna?” While the subject of my birthday had come up over dinner, Diane’s question caught me off guard.

“Cal is taking me to a concert.” We were in the kitchen now, putting the leftovers into containers.

“Cal? Is he a friend of yours?”

I stopped what I was doing. She had paused as well, and was watching me closely. Had I said something wrong? “Yes.”

“I see,” she said, going back to rinsing off the plates before placing them in the dishwasher. “Does Stephan know you’re going?”

“Yes. He’s... we’re all going together.”

“So it’s just going to be the three of you?”

I didn’t understand. It felt like I was missing something. “No. Jade is coming, too. And I think some of his other friends as well. I don’t know them, though.” Then I realized there was something in the way she was standing that made me think she was upset. “Are you... did I do something wrong?”

She smiled at me, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Not at all, dear.”

A few minutes later, Stephan walked into the room. He didn’t look overly happy until he saw me. Smiling, he walked behind me and pulled me back against him. “Almost done, sweetheart?”

“Um...”

“I can finish up here if you two need to go.”

“We’ll be back. I want to take her down by the creek.” Stephan was already guiding me toward the back door.

“You two have fun,” I heard her say through the open kitchen window.

We held hands as we walked down a winding path through several herb gardens. Being June, everything was in bloom. It was beautiful.

As we went farther, the path straightened out and we entered a canopy of trees. It was a warm day but overcast. The shading from the trees as we walked farther into the woods made it seem later in the day than what it actually was.

Soon I began to hear the sound of water. Mom and I had lived in the city, so it was rare for me to be near water unless it was a pool. In Two Harbors, however, there was water everywhere. Sometimes, when John had been at work, I had snuck down to the stream that ran not far from his house. It hadn’t been much, but it got me out for a little while. There had been something about the water running freely that made me envious. I could have sat there watching it for hours had I not been afraid John would come home and realize I was gone.

“A penny for your thoughts?”

I’d been staring at the ground. When I looked up, we were standing on the banks of the creek he’d mentioned, although to me it appeared too wide for that title. There were at least twenty feet between where we stood and the other side.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, forcing me to face him.

“There was a small stream behind John’s house.”

“Did you used to go there?”

I nodded. “I liked the water.”

“Come here. I want to show you something.”

Very carefully, we walked along the rocky shore. He helped me jump over a few of the wetter areas, never releasing his hold on me for more than a second. Eventually we came to a small cliff-like structure made up of large rocks. It jutted out toward the water.

He helped me climb up, and we sat with our feet dangling over the edge. I could see the water flowing on both sides as well as beneath me.

“This is where I used to come when it got too much for me to handle.” There was a note of melancholy in his voice, and I knew he was talking about missing his parents.

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