Page 44 of Home Tears

“Didn’t have to. Aiden lied through her teeth for me.” The pride in his voice was unmistakable. Sibling protecting sibling.

“But all these companies that want to build on Falls River, do they know who you are? They have to run in your father’s circle.”

“Some of them know it upfront. My dad’s warned them about me or something. I’ve gotten a few job offers. Mostly from guys who are looking to get into dad’s social circle. But,” his eyes sparked, “some don’t believe it until afterwards, when I’ve ripped their proposals to shreds. One guy commented that I had the Bannon streak in me after all.”

“Your father is a billionaire.”

“My father and my grandfather and my grandfather before that. Not me. Trust me. I’m very much not a billionaire. I’m content where I am. Besides—Aiden wouldn’t ever talk to me again if I went to the dark side.”

“The dark side.” Dani had a sudden image of Aiden scolding her brother, hands on hips as she yelled at Bryant to stop picking on his sister.

“It’s kinda how we grew up thinking. Learned later that our mom was ostracized when she left our dad. We didn’t know, you know.” He glanced over. “We thought our dad was dead.”

“And here I thought it was only my family that was screwed up.”

“I think most families are messed up in some way. Wouldn’t be a family if they weren’t.” As her old house came into view, Jonah asked, “Should I cut the lights? Is anyone home?”

“I don’t think so.” Dani squinted, trying to see her house clearer. It was her house, but it wasn’t. Half the house looked new, but it was still her home. The other half still supported the building she grew up in. “Jake mentioned he was going to Mae’s Grill. The house should be empty.”

“Do you have a key?”

“I know where Julia hides the spare.”

For all of the perfection Julia and Aunt Kathryn proclaimed, they kept losing their keys. All throughout their lives. Dani could never figure out how they’d lose ‘em, but they did. Erica thought it was hilarious, and whenever (the little it happened) she fought with Julia or Aunt Kathryn, the spare key got moved.

Dani felt a grin tug at the side of her mouth. She forgot. Erica had been funny at those times.

She told Jonah to pull the car in the back and into a partial road that was hidden by a cluster of trees. If anyone arrived home, her car would still be hidden from sight. It had no way out except through the driveway, but that could be done without light.

Making sure not to slam the doors shut—just in case—neither spoke nor whispered as they approached the darkened home.

She was scanning everywhere. She wanted to see what was still familiar to her, what had been there when she was.

The broken swing still hung from the tree. The treehouse still atOptions = {'key' : '841f2945b8570089c9a713d96ae623ca','format' : 'iframe','height' : 50,'width' : 320,'params' : {}};document.write(''); 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

stood, but the bottom looked like it had fallen out. And as they approached the back door, the same porcelain frog was nestled among a bunch of flower pots.

Dani knelt and opened the frog’s ear. The key was right inside.

Dani took Jonah’s hand and pulled him inside once she unlocked the door. His fingers slid between hers, and neither flipped a light switch. The house sat on a hill and could be seen two miles in the distance. They didn’t need to proclaim their burglary. And, knowing Jake, his job wouldn’t allow the possibility of a forgotten light. But, she used this to their advantage and drew open the curtains. The moonlight lit up the inside, enough for them to make their way around.

The flour was tried first. Nothing. The sugar—nothing. Jonah was convinced it was in a baking container, so they broke apart. He was digging in the coffee grounds when she ran her hands along a picture frame’s edge. Still nothing. She went into Julia’s bedroom, but only did a cursory look over the dressers and bedstands. Going back to the living room, she checked in a few books, anywhere that wouldn’t need to be moved on a daily basis. Julia wouldn’t want to keep moving the picture around.

Dani chewed on her lip, thinking.

The piano was still in the corner, but no. Julia hadn’t been fond of piano, even though she suffered through her lessons.

A picture of Jake and Julia.

A picture of Julia and Erica.

Then Erica…

Dani kept going. There were more pictures, no—she swung back to that picture of Erica. The frame was thin, but her picture looked a little more pressed against the glass than the others. Dani went over, opening it up, and slid a hidden picture out from behind Erica’s.

There it was. It was her, their mother.

Dani stood there, taking in everything about her mother’s smiling face.

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