Page 59 of Home Tears

It wasn’t what her mother meant.

“My mother wasn’t bad.”

Mrs. Bendsfield swung back around and gazed at her, blinking a few times, like she’d forgotten Dani was there.

Dani added, “You talk like my mother was awful, but she wasn’t. She was a good mother.”

“Child.” Mrs. Bendsfield’s eyes were hollow. “I don’t care if your mother was good or not. All I know is that the pain wrecked my family, and that’ll stick with me till my dying day. My Oscar’s gone, and it’s because of your mother.”

“What happened? Tell me what happened.” She insisted, “Tell me what you’re not telling me.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Mrs. Bendsfield looked at her as her white hair slipped out of her bun. The strands framed her aged features, and her old eyes seemed to sigh on their own.

She murmured, “It ain’t my secret to tell.”

“It’s not my mother’s. She’s gone. She’s dead.”

“Your mother ain’t the only one in this secret. There are others involved, even though they don’t know it or not. It’s more their secret than mine.” She nodded. “You get it from them. Not me.”

“But—”

“I’ve had enough of your family. I don’t want anything more from anyone with the name of O’Hara.” Mrs. Bendsfield harrumphed, and she took a faltering step toward the door.

“Wait.”

She looked back, right in the doorway. “I know who your daddy is, and he comes around every now and then. He checks in on you three. He was at your little sister’s funeral.”

The milking door, white and rickety, shut behind her.

“He checks in on you three.”

Mrs. Bendsfield was outside, GoldenEye was eating grain out of her hand. Their eyes caught and held, and Dani knew she’d never come back. Whatever secrets were still there would remain there. She’d find out from someone else.

She just had to find out whom that someone else was.

She headed for the cave, knowing she would find Jonah there.

Trenton spotted her first as he popped up from a dive. He flashed a blinding smile, even more striking against the backdrop of his black wet suit. “Hey, Dani, you come to help us dive?”

“Maybe,” she murmured and sat on the edge with her toes dipped into the water. She rolled up the ends of her pant legs and waited as Trenton dove back down, and a second later, Jonah popped up in his stead.

“Hey.” Jonah grinned as he hoisted himself up beside her. “What are you doing here?” He moved his bucket between them and rubbed off the dirt and grime from the mussels. He dunked them in the river to further clean them.

“Jake stopped by yesterday.” He knew about Boone, but they hadn’t talked about her other visitors.

Jonah paused in his washing.

“He said you have a fight brewing. It’s with Boone’s brother, isn’t it?”

“It is.” He nodded, the teasing left in a flash. “But I can’t talk about it. I can talk about how this mussel is going to save our town’s economy. I can talk about how we don’t need to keep exploiting the river, but about that—I can’t. I’m sorry, Dani.”

Dani nodded. She understood.

Jonah frowned. “How’d Jake know about that anyway?”

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