How to Keep a Secret

“We can’t. Not now.”

“You’d rather talk to your mother than do this?”

“I’d rather not get arrested for conducting an indecent act in public.” But she was tempted. This felt good. It had also felt spontaneous and there had been little of that in their lives lately.

“I guess you’re right.” He let her go and instantly she felt bereft.

“I love you.”

“Love you, too.” The sincerity in his voice soothed her.

There was nothing in the world better than knowing you were loved, and nothing that made you appreciate that gift more than seeing someone who had lost that.

“Let’s rescue my sister.”

She took his hand as they walked into the house, savoring the closeness. How must Lauren have felt marrying Ed when she was in love with Scott? It wasn’t something she could imagine.

As they entered the house, she sniffed the air. “Something smells good.”

The smells might have been hopeful, but as they walked into the kitchen Jenna felt the tension in the atmosphere. Her mother was lifting a casserole out of the oven and Lauren was setting the table. The look she gave Jenna was one of utter relief.

“Hi.”

Jenna walked straight across the kitchen and hugged her, frowning as Lauren’s hip bone jabbed her in the side. She could probably give half her body weight to her sister and Lauren still wouldn’t be fat.

Lauren’s arms tightened around her and Jenna remembered the times they’d done this as children.

When one was in trouble, the other was there.

Jenna noticed Mack slumped at the table. She was focused on her phone as if she was trying to disconnect herself from what was happening in the room. Like her mother, she had dark hollows under her eyes and she looked exhausted.

“How are you doing?” Jenna let go of her sister, checking first that she wasn’t about to keel over.

“Good.” There was a wild look in Lauren’s eyes and she was shivering.

Lie: to speak untruthfully with intent to mislead or deceive.

“Are you cold? This place can be drafty.”

Winter in the house was so much harsher, somehow. Summer shone light into dark corners but now, in the depths of February, the whole place felt tired and unloved. Or maybe it was the atmosphere. A house was only as happy as the people who lived there.

“Scott fixed the windows,” Nancy said vaguely. “No more drafts.”

“Scott?” Jenna glanced round cautiously, half expecting him to be leaning against a wall gazing at them all in brooding silence.

“He was here earlier finishing off some work on one of the doors, but he left.”

“Which shouldn’t be a surprise—” Mack glanced up from her phone “—given his track record.”

Lauren flushed. “It wasn’t like that.”

Why would her sister defend a man who had left her pregnant?

Jenna wished now that she’d found a way to drag her sister out of here so that she could be on her own with her.

“Sit down. Let’s eat.” Nancy put plates on the table.

Jenna sat next to Lauren, across from Greg.