Chapter 3 - THE FAMILY SECRET
My mother looked at Aunt Linda like she wanted to kill her.
“Stop talking.”
Linda shook her head.
“No. Not anymore.”
Dad pushed his plate away.
“What does ‘everything’ mean?”
Mom folded her arms.
“She’s exaggerating.”
“I’m not,” Linda said.
James stood near me while I packed Emma’s diaper bag.
He wasn’t leaving yet.
Neither was I.
Something ugly had cracked open.
And I needed to know what was inside.
Linda looked at me.
“Remember when Lauren wrecked your dad’s car when she was twenty-two?”
Dad frowned.
“She wasn’t driving.”
Linda laughed bitterly.
“Yes, she was.”
Dad turned toward Mom.
“You told me Kevin drove.”
“Because Lauren had been drinking,” Linda said.
Mom slammed her hand on the table.
“Enough!”
Dad rose.
“You lied to me?”
Mom’s voice shook.
“She was young.”
“She was twenty-two!”
Linda continued.
“She also stole money from Rachel’s college account.”
My chest tightened.
“What?”
Mom looked away.
I stepped toward her.
“What did she say?”
“It was complicated.”
“How much?”
Silence.
“How much, Mom?”
“About twelve thousand.”
I felt physically sick.
Years ago, I had taken two jobs during college because Mom told me my savings had been lost in a banking mistake.
James looked at her.
“You let Rachel believe she had lost her own money?”
Mom snapped, “Lauren needed help!”
“For what?”
Linda answered.
“Credit card debt.”
I laughed once.
It came out broken.
“You made me work nights because Lauren wanted designer clothes?”
Mom’s eyes filled.
“You don’t understand.”
“No. I understand perfectly.”
Dad stepped backward like he had been struck.
“How many times?”
Mom didn’t answer.
“How many times did you lie for her?”
Her silence was enough.
Then my phone buzzed.
Lauren.
I almost ignored it.
James saw the name.
“Don’t answer.”
Another message arrived.
Then another.
I looked.
YOU THINK YOU WON?
ASK MOM WHY SHE NEVER TOLD YOU ABOUT THE HOSPITAL.
I froze.
James noticed.
“What?”
I handed him the phone.
He read the message.
Dad looked between us.
“What hospital?”
Mom suddenly grabbed her purse.
“I’m done with this.”
Dad blocked her path.
“What hospital, Susan?”
Her face had gone white.
I stepped closer.
“What happened?”
Mom whispered, “Rachel…”
“What happened?”
She stared at me.
And for the first time in my life, I saw fear in my mother’s eyes.
Not fear of Lauren.
May you like
Fear of me finding out.
“It happened when you were eight months pregnant.”
