Her Secret Life

The boy’s tone was remorseful. Something else the week had brought. In five days’ time, over video games and casual meals, Willie had pretty much owned every single thing he’d ever done wrong in life. Owned as in taking accountability for it, not blaming circumstance or even the beliefs of others for his own mistakes.

He’d even called a meeting with his family—their parents, sisters and Dennis—on speakerphone to tell them that he understood that he’d given them little evidence to have faith in him but to ask for one more chance to show them that he had potential.

Reactions had been varied but with one constant—pure shock. Willie asking for another chance was brand-new, but every single member of the family pledged to give it a go.

“You asked for this chance, Will,” Mike said now, hoping he wasn’t making a huge mistake, putting too much on the kid before he was ready.

His brother nodded. “Yeah.”

“You think you can stay alone and be cool?”

“Hell, yeah. I know I can.”

“Then I trust you to be cool.”

The boy looked up then, almost to Mike’s nose. There were tears in his eyes. But he didn’t say a word. He just nodded.

* * *

“I MIGHT BE out late.” Mike stuck his head into the family room as he pulled a dark blue sweater over his head and down to cover the waistband of his jeans. “Don’t wait up for me.”

“Whatever.” Willie was moving around like he was on the screen, not just controlling it, ducking and then swerving the top half of his body into the seat next to him. He barely glanced Mike’s way. “I’ll be cool,” he added.

He thought about calling Diane but didn’t. The only way Willie was going to learn to be trustworthy was to be trusted.

His sisters were right about one thing. It was time for Mike to loosen the apron strings where their baby brother was concerned.

“I’ll have my phone if you need me,” he called from the door leading to the garage.

“Whatever!” Willie called back.

* * *

“ARE YOU SURE this is what you want to do?” Lacey stood with Kacey at the front door to her cottage. “Maybe you should wait until you talk to Dr. Freelander on Saturday. Or talk to Sara tomorrow after your class at the Stand.”

Smoothing the lines from her sister’s forehead—a force of habit because lines would age them prematurely and be bad for business—Kacey shook her head. Dropped her hand. And smiled. She didn’t feel the smile. But she made it appear.

“I need to do this, Lace. I’m not going to let them steal the beach from me. It was night then. They were guys that I trusted to be friendly and move on. It’s night again. And Michael is a friend I trust. I can’t be in this town and not feel the pull of the beach and the ocean. It saved me last summer when I was coming face-to-face with what I’d become. I have to trust it to save me again.”

“It kind of did save you,” Lacey said now, worry still shining from her gaze. “If Gerald Forsythe hadn’t been walking his dog there...” They knew the man’s name now. He was a local business owner—a small insurance firm—with a wife and three young daughters.

Kacey had been telling herself the same thing. Problem was, it didn’t feel like she was believing herself yet.

Which was where Michael came in.

He’d agreed to come get her. To take her down to the beach after dark.

She was dressed in dark pants that buttoned and clipped at the waist, with a button-down shirt that was tucked into her underwear. A dark sweatshirt hung past her thighs and her hair was stuffed up in an oversize baseball hat.

She hoped having him with her wo

uld take care of the rest.

Besides, she had something to tell him.

“So...I’ve been waiting for you to tell me, but you haven’t,” Lacey said, probably reading her mind as usual.

“Tell you what?” She’d already told her sister the news she had for Michael.