Page 6 of Secrets That Bind Us
On Sundays after church, that’s when Daddy loves us most. On Mondays, he’s a good husband and father. On Tuesdays, the shakes start, and he gets short. On Wednesdays, even shorter. By Thursday afternoon, he’s riding to the next town over – where all the bars are. On Fridays, he wakes up drunk, and on Saturdays… It's best to be at the Farmers Market all day in town, from sunup till sundown – not buying anything, just praying that one of the sisters from church invites us over for dinner, so we don’t come home before he’s belligerent or passed out. Otherwise…
“That’s fine, Daddy. I’ll let him know when I see him at school tomorrow. He can come here after practice or even after church.”
Daddy eyes me up and down again. I play with the hem of my camisole. “Alright, then.”
I climb into bed, worry flaring – thoughts of being close to Dean Carson, of having his scent in my nose, his voice in my head, his lips… Would he do it right? That kiss thing, I mean.
Suddenly I sit up in bed.
This is probably the worst idea I’ve ever had.
But I kinda hope it’s the best.
Chapter Four
Verity
Present Day
“This place is a fuh-freakingdump.” Savannah quickly corrects herself, saying what we’re all thinking. As always, leave it to kids to be honest as fuck.
We eye the way my mother lived out the last years of her life as a recluse– not exactly hoarding, but not exactly pristine the way it was when my daddy was here. It was like once he disappeared, she finally let herself rest while she was still alive– not worried about whether the floor was clean enough to eat off of in case Daddy made her do that.Again.
From what I’ve been told by Zo, Mama hadpeacebefore she died, and that was more than I could ever ask for her.
I catch Zoey’s smirk, hazel eyes as bright as her hair. Evan is also biting back a laugh, but instead, he says, “It ain’t so bad, Savvy. We just gotta get a cleaning crew in here, throw out the furniture, rip out the carpet, the walls, the fixtures-“
“In that case, why not just tear down the house and build a new one? You know,one with Wi-Fi?”She asks, peering at everything in annoyance. Yeah. She’s inthatstage – the one where she just can’t possibly be bothered by anyone or anything that isn’t virtual. But she’s also frustrated with me.
A year after their father died, I packed them up. I decided to come home. I rented out our house to some college kids and drove us almost two thousand miles away from everything and everyone they’ve ever known. Well, except for Zoey and Evan, that is. I’d fly them up every few months or catch up with them when I had book tours that brought me back. But they didn’t technically bring me back – just the major cities surrounding this little hick town. I’ve also stayed in slight touch with Evelyn, just not as much.
I look at my daughter, and when she catches me, she looks even more pissed off. Always. She’salwaysangry with me. Raven hair, freckles across the bridge of her nose, cerulean eyes so blue they made my heart stumble the first time I ever held her.
My biggest secret.
Never a regret.
“Besides-” Zoey grabs a sledgehammer left behind by the construction crew she hired for me during their walk-through and balances it on her shoulder. “I think you'll have a lot of fun helping us tear some of these walls down.” She winks in my direction, lightening the mood. “C’mon. Let’s check out the rest of the place.”
Except the rest of the place isn’t as bad as where Mama lived the last year of her life. The appliances aren’t too old– as though they were purchased only a few years ago. There are no holes in the walls, and the paint on the inside looks… well, it doesn’t look old. The kitchen, the rest of the house, the two guest rooms upstairs – excluding my old bedroom and the primary bedroom downstairs – all look slightly already renovated. Like someone had been slowly making changes, working around my mother and her illness.
I quirk an eyebrow at Zoey, but she only glances at Evan, who’s tight-lipped and looksseverelyuncomfortable – like they know a secret I don’t.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I ask.
“You know I haven’t had much time to come back here and visit with her once I opened up Twisted Ink.”
I nod.
She inhales. “I knew Mama Marie was getting help towards the end with simple things like plumbing issues and stuff when I was dropping off groceries for her. But when she died and you had her cremated, I thought they stopped coming by, too.” She shrugs. “Guess I was wrong.”
“Who was coming?”
“Town folk. Me. Evan… just people that genuinely cared about her. Mad when you didn’t give her a proper funeral.”
“I had to be in Paris. There was a launch.”
“Weknow.Weunderstand that Ver, but these people…”
