Page 40 of The Lies I've Told
A moment passed before she spoke again, “Do you love him?”
I took a deep breath. “I thought I did.”
“But you don’t anymore?”
I found myself looking down at the hardwood floor as I wrung my hands together. The only sound in the room was the sweet, comforting noise of my newborn niece nursing.
“No,” I answered finally. “Not anymore. Honestly, I’m not even sure I know what love feels like.”
“So, what will you do now?” she asked, placing a gentle hand on top of Ruby’s head as she looked at me with warmth and compassion.
I should have known my sister would be there for me.
“Well, work my way back up, obviously. I have my own contacts, my own resources. I can do it. But, first, I want to find out who sent that email.”
“Why?” she asked.
“What do you mean, why?”
“What difference does it make?”
“Molly, that person ruined my life. That email literally ruined my life.”
She turned her head and looked at me without saying anything, and then she gazed down at Ruby and smiled. “You lost your job, Millie. Not your life. Learn the difference.”
Before I had the chance to offer a rebuttal, the doorbell rang, and the dutiful Jake came running to answer it. From the living room, Molly and I could see Cora enter with a large bouquet of flowers and a gift basket full of baby items.
“Dean sends his love, but he had a fishing tour this afternoon. Weekends are a busy time for them,” she said, handing over the basket to Jake, who took it along with the flowers and headed for the kitchen.
“Yeah, especially this time of year,” Molly said. “Where’s your little one?”
“Oh, Lizzie’s at a friend’s house. I wasn’t sure you wanted kids around the baby yet, but she’s dying to meet her. She’s already told me at least a hundred fun facts about babies since we got the news—and some of them were definitely not PG-13.”
That caused us all to laugh as Cora took a seat on the large couch next to us.
“She looks like she’s doing well, latching,” Cora said, a professional tone to her voice, as the resident nurse in town.
“She is. I think Lizzie might have a run for her money in the smarts department. This one is turning out to be a young Einstein.” Molly laughed, making Cora grin.
“Hey, how is Lizzie doing in school?” I asked. “I remember Molly mentioning in one of our conversations at her wedding about there being some issues?”
She nodded. “There was. Being in such a small area, there were some concerns that the school wouldn’t be able to keep up with her. But Dean and I are working with them. She takes some classes at a school on the mainland, she’s done some work with a tutor, and she’ll be skipping a few grades in the fall.”
“Wow, that’s a lot,” I said.
She shrugged. “You do what you have to. She loves it, so that makes it all worth it.” She gave a short pause before her eyes locked back on mine. “So, tell me about the hot British guy from yesterday. Did I totally embarrass you when I geeked out over his accent?”
“What? No. Why would you worry about embarrassing me?” I asked, feeling like all the attention in the room had suddenly shifted to me.
“Who’s the hot British guy, Millie?” Molly asked before her eyes widened. “You mean, the artist who’s staying in the inn?”
Cora nodded her confirmation, but the way her eyes widened told my sister there was more going on to this juicy story.
“Oh, man, I’m gonna need a couple more details,” Molly said, shifting a very milk-drunk Ruby from one side to the other.
Once she was back in place, both sets of eyes came right back on me, and I swore they blinked in unison.
Creepy.
