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“Andi? Did something happen to Pete?”

“It’s not my story to tell, Billie. It’s Pete’s.”

“You can’t tellme?”

Andi sighed again. Pete had been one of Andi’s closest friends in school. There were many aspects of his life that few people in town were aware of. She doubted Fallon knew about Pete’s childhood. Ida did. She was confident that some of the older generation had an idea of what Pete endured in high school. There had likely been murmurs at the Middle Ground and the Biddy’s Bible Brigade meetings. When it came to Andi’s classmates, most people assumed Pete was the typical high school boy who cared more about cars and friends than his studies.

“Andi?”

“Pete probably would have been valedictorian if things had gone differently for him.”

Billie didn’t mean to show her surprise, but her jaw dropped.

Andi chuckled. “See? You do have an opinion about Pete’s intelligence.”

“No. You have to admit, Pete doesn’t portray himself as a brainiac.”

“I don’t think Peteeverportrayed himself that way,” Andi said. “In fact, I doubt most of the people we went to school with had a clue how good his grades were. Pete’s never been braggadocios, and he’s always been quiet—friendly, but quiet.”

“True.”

“Pete’s dad lost his job in Enosburg when we were sophomores. I know it was hard on their family.Hard.Marge was four years behind us. I didn’t know it at the time, but Pete’s father started drinking. He wasn’t a friendly drunk.”

Billy cringed.

“Anyway,” Andi continued. “Dale’s father got him a job at the paper mill in Bellows Falls. I think he hoped it would solve two problems: get Mr. McCann out of the house and restore the family income.”

“Why do I get the feeling it didn’t work out that way?”

“It accomplished the first part,” Andi replied. “By the middle of our junior year, Pete’s dad had all but disappeared. Everyone assumed he was working down in Rockingham. Let’s just say, Pete’s mom didn’t see any benefit from hiswork.”

“Shit.”

“Mm. Then the shit hit the fan. Mrs. McCann was diagnosed with breast cancer.”

“What?” Billie asked.

“See? People don’t know nearly as much about each other in this town as they think they do.”

“But Mrs. McCann just passed away a couple of years ago,” Billie said.

“You can thank Pete for the fact that she made it through—Pete and Ida.”

“Ida?”

“Mm-hm. Delia McCann was not one for accepting handouts,” Andi said. “She needed transportation to get to Burlington for her treatment. Ida had an old Ford that wasn’t running. She sold it to Pete for ten dollars. Pete fixed it for his mom. That’s how he started fixing cars for people. There were many times when his mother was too sick to drive herself to Burlington. Pete would do it. I’m not sure how he managed to graduate. He missed a lot of classes. I even wrote a couple of his English papers.”

“I had no idea,” Billie said. “Fallon doesn’t know?”

“I’m sure she knows a little. Ida and Delia were close. I doubt she knows the extent of things.”

“Why wouldn’t Pete tell Fallon? They’re so close.”

“They weren’t close back then. And I’d he wants to protect his mom. She was such a sweet lady, Billie. She was also proud.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“And I’m sure he wanted to protect Marge. He’s still protective of her,” Andi said.