Page 19 of Sins or Secrets
“I can tell. At least you still look pretty.My God, look at you. Then again, you always did look after yourself.”
“Thank you. You look the same too.How on earth did you find me?”
“Well, it kind of wasn’t that hard.Someone saw you coming out of here and I heard about it.I know the manager. He and I dated for a bit and I called in a favor.”
I narrow my eyes. Bree’s version of calling in favors could mean anything.
“Called in a favor?”
“You don’t want to know. But hey at least it worked.I found you.”
“Thank you for coming.”
“Well, I felt awful that I didn’t get to speak to you at the funeral." She sighs.
"I was so shaken by the whole day I didn't see you." I barely saw anybody.
"I should have gone over to check on you.It was just an awkward time. I was going to catch up with you after the burial but you’d already left.”
“The grief was too much by then.Bree, I didn’t even know Aunt Lilly was sick.I had no idea.”
“I figured as much, but then y’all seemed to lose contact with each other so I didn’t expect you would know.I would have tried to call or something but trying to get to you was like trying to break into Fort Knox.”
“You tried before?”
“Of course but, I got your father’s office, and I was told you were safe and that’s all I needed to know.It was before I guessed everything must have had something to do with him.”
“You wouldn’t know the half of it.” And I doubt it would be appropriate to talk as freely as I would like.
“What happened to you, Quinn? I’ve been dying to know.”
Can I even tell her what really happened?
There would be a lot I wouldn’t be able to share.Not because any threat exists anymore, but there are just some parts I can’t talk about yet to anyone.
It would also be weird sharing my deepest, darkest secrets with her when we haven’t seen each other in so long.
At the same time, it would be wrong if I didn’t give her some explanation.If the tables were turned, I’d want to know everything that happened to her.
“A lot happened. Too much for my heart to share right now, but it was all to do with my father.He found out some stuff and blamed Lilly.Then punished me. He was so mad that he packed up and left Wilmington, never to return.” That’s the summary.
“My God. I felt it was something crazy like that.”
“Yeah. You’re perhaps the only person who caught glimpses of my father’s true nature.” She was, and she was careful when she visited.
“You must have gone through so much.”
“I did. Maybe I’ll be able to tell you the full story someday.”
I can’t go into the crux of what made Dad mad.That part was all on me. I was careless in more ways than one.My father probably behaved as expected for a man who’d just found out his eighteen-year-old daughter was pregnant by a marine he’d told her to stay away from on many occasions.
I’d go as far as saying his behavior was understandable too since, unknown to me, he’d been grooming me to marry another man for years.
Dad had big plans for me that I very nearly ruined.
“Quinn… I can wait. I don’t expect you to tell all and not during this sensitive time.I just wanted to have some explanation and you’ve told me enough for me to get the gist of what must have gone on.”
“Thanks for understanding.”
