Page 67 of Secrets That Bind Us
Her pencil stops, but she doesn’t look at me. “They’re… infinite.”
“Explain.”
She taps at the center of the flower. “The flower’s head is composed of a hundred tiny more,” she says softly. “It’s called a ‘floret.’”
I could listen to her talk all day about whatever she finds interesting. I want to find it interesting, too. So I ask, “What else?”
Her pencil stops sketching and she hums softly. “When there’s no sun, they turn to each other, sharing their energy. Their warmth.”
“Let me do that.”
“Do what?”
“Be your infinite. Your warmth.”
Her brows come together. “You already are…”
I swallow as the memory of the side eye and smirk she flashed at me fades away. “Is that… the gumball necklace I got you?”
Her hand goes up to her neck, and a blush rises on her cheeks. “Yeah, I um… I got it dipped in gold about twelve years back.”
My heart. I clear my throat, doing my best to tamper down my emotions, but can’t stop the smile that spreads on my face. “So, dinner?”
She grins and motions with her head for me to come inside. “C’mon.”
I catch a small twang in the simple word, and my heart soars a bit.
The food is fucking delicious and tastes just like Mama Marie’s. If I think about it hard enough, I can almost feel her sitting across from me, watching me devour her food like I used to. The roast is tender, the carrots and potatoes, too. I hold back a groan, but it ends up coming out anyway, and it makes Verity smile.
“Good?”
“The fucking best, I swear.” Her smile turns into a grin at my reply, and I feel so fucking happy just being here. With her. All that’s missing is our kids, but I know what tonight is about. We gotta clear the air before we can put the past behind us and move on. Move forward. It feels like a thunder cloud over my head, but I know this has to be that painfully awkward talk. It seems we’re both intent on keeping the peace for now, the sound of our forks and knives scraping on the plates the only noise between us.
She takes a sip of her blood red wine, and that’s exactly the kind of woman I knew she’d grow up to be. But then she clears her throat. “I have to ask you something.”
I nod while taking another bite. “Go ahead.”
“Did you know Reverend Bishop was –is– my biological father?”
I almost choke on my potato. “Christ, starting with the hard questions.” I clear my throat and take a sip of water. “Okay. Yeah. I found out about two years ago when your mama was on her deathbed.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Mama told you? Why would she tell you?”
Shit. Tonight’s not gonna be easy.
“Because I washere, Verity. I lived in the guest bedroom while I went to community college, then again when I went into the police academy. Once I moved out, I was still here. For her. Because you weren’t.” She grimaces, but hey, she wanted the truth, and there’s just no sugar-coating this. “I’m the one that made the changes around here when she started getting sick. I made sure she had groceries, essentials. It wasn’t much, but I did what I could with a rookie cop salary. How did you find out?”
“She left me a letter.”
I tell her I’m the one that encouraged Marie to do so. “She was scared to tell you. But she didn’t want to die without you knowing.”
“Have you told anyone?”
I shake my head, a little appalled she could eventhinkI would ever tell her secrets. “Look, Verity, Marie was different in the end. Subtle changes over the years. She was a lot happier, but she had these…momentswhere it was like she was ready to let it all go. So I would let her. Especially once they said the final tests showed no difference. I probably knew her more than the Reverend. Quite possibly even more than you. I respected and loved your Mama more than my own, to be honest. So no. It was not my story to tell. Figured if you ever found out, you should probably seek the answers you’re looking for from the man himself, not me.”
She thumbs the stem of her wine glass, staring at it, her thumb circles the bottom of the glass, swiping through the condensation. Her eyes go up to the ceiling, as though she’s searching for the right words to say, and all that comes out is, “I am so fucking tired of this fucking town and all its goddamn secrets. I am so fucking sick of everyone keeping things from me like I can’t handle them. I just want the truth for once!”
“Okay then, baby, you want the truth? Then let’s dish this out. You weren’t privy to a lot of things because you decided not to reach out. You decided this little town wasn’t good enough for you anymore.Andthe people in it.”
