Page 41 of Sweet Like a Psycho (Secrets of Suburbi 2)

“You wouldn’t accept my normal one.”

I smiled at him. “Well, normalcy is overrated, right?”

He smiled back. “Exactly.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned against the car to wait for me.

I appreciated the gesture, I did. But I didn’t need it. I could tell that he was sorry. And really, there was only one thing I needed to know in order to forgive him. “Did you find anything incriminating in my house?” I tried to say it lightheartedly, but it came out sounding a lot more like I had something to hide. Which made sense. I had a lot of things to hide.

He hesitated, but only for a moment. “When I carried you to bed, I stepped on a loose floo

rboard. I went to see if I could set it back in place, but it kind of came up in my hands.”

“Okay.” My heart started racing in my chest. Please don’t have picked up that floorboard.

“I should have put it back down, but when I saw the shoebox hidden underneath it, I was just too curious for my own good. I saw some letter from your ex, I guess? Joel?”

“Yeah.” He read my letters? It felt like my throat was constricting. “Joel and I dated in high school.”

He nodded, like he already knew that. “I only read two I think. There wasn’t anything personal in them. One mentioned meeting at the lake. That was it. I realized I shouldn’t be looking at them so I stopped right away.”

“Okay.” I could barely hear anything but my own heartbeat. There was nothing incriminating about the letters. They just made me look pathetic for keeping them so long. But there had been a gun hidden right beneath that box. “And that was all you found?” Again, I sounded guilty. I searched his face for what he had seen, but I couldn’t read him at all.

He shook his head. “I also found a handgun.”

For a few seconds we were both quiet. I was waiting for him to say he checked and I didn’t have a permit for it. He should be arresting me. But…he wasn’t.

“It was my stepfather’s,” I said. “It would be registered under his name, not mine. I didn’t know what to do with it after he died, so I just kept it. I don’t have any bullets. I’ve never even fired a gun before. I don’t know how to use it. But I disposed of it now, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“I wasn’t going to turn you in, Violet.”

“Oh.” I stared at him. Why? “It was illegal for me to have it, wasn’t it?”

“Having an unregistered gun is illegal, yes. But if it was registered under his name then…”

“It was. His name was Henry Johnson if you want to check.”

“Johnson?” He lowered his eyebrows slightly. “His last name wasn’t Clark?”

“No, Clark was my father’s last name. My mother took Henry’s last name when they got married. But I didn’t want it. Besides…he never officially adopted me anyway.” I wasn’t sure why I was telling him all this. “So…you can check the registration now. I didn’t mean to do anything wrong.”

“I told you it didn’t matter. And now that you got rid of it? It really doesn’t matter.”

I nodded. He could have turned me in but he hadn't. When he showed up on my doorstep a few days ago, I felt like he was there to ruin my life. I had heard a clock ticking down in my head, counting down the hours until I wound up behind bars. But all he had done was help me. Again and again. I wanted to be able to trust him. I wanted to be able to rely on someone. I tossed his keys back at him. “I’m glad we cleared that up.”

“Don’t you want free rein in my house?”

“I don’t need to look around to know what kind of stuff you have hidden in your drawers.”

He laughed. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re a bachelor. It’s all tissues, lotion, and dirty magazines.” I climbed in the car and closed the door to the sound of his laughter.

In a few seconds he was sitting down in the driver’s seat. “I really am sorry that I lied to you, Violet. Maybe we can just start over?”

There was no need to start over. I was getting used to him being around. I was getting used to him. Besides, rewinding time was impossible no matter how badly I wished I could. I knew that better than anyone. “I kind of like where we are right now.”

“So you’re not mad at me anymore?” He put the car back into drive and started heading in the appropriate direction this time.

“I was never mad at you. I understood that it was your job. I was just…disappointed.”

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