Page 76 of Our Little Secret

Yes, her grandmother eventually took control, but in those first few weeks of her daughter’s diagnosis, even Brooke’s gritty little grandmother had stumbled when faced with the loss of her child. As ever, Mary O’Hara had turned to God for answers and advice. She had stumbled, her grief and despair nearly swallowing her. Until the old priest came to the house a week after the funeral, when Mary, Brooke, and Leah had watched the coffin be lowered into a neat pit cut into the manicured lawn of the cemetery. They had all tossed white roses onto the casket, and Nana was like a zombie, only aware enough to whisper prayers.

She hadn’t functioned, accepting visitors with casseroles and cakes as if in a fog, while Brooke kept track of who had come to offer condolences and meals. It was only after the old priest had visited and comforted her, somehow reaching the woman shrouded in grief, that Nana had returned to them.

Yes, Nana’s emotional breakdown was short-lived, but in those few weeks, Brooke, as a teenager, had held the little family together.

As she stared through the windshield to the city street, it began to rain again, at first only a few drizzling drops, then faster and faster. Silently, she told herself that she could handle Neal’s attraction to another woman. She’d find a way. No matter what it took.

She had to.

For her own sanity.

And for her daughter’s well-being.

Marilee deserved better.

And so did she.

Washing out her mouth with a half-empty, watered-down Diet Coke in the cup holder, she spat on the street. Then, with renewed determination, she started the SUV, pulled onto the street, and pushed down any remaining shreds of self-pity. No way would she let some upstart young attorney ruin her life.

Even if she was beautiful and had her sights set on Neal.

No damned way.

CHAPTER 18

Now, as she watched teenagers climb into cars, Brooke realized her response to Neal’s involvement with Jennifer Adkins had been way out of line. Not that she shouldn’t have felt such a deep betrayal, but when she’d met Gideon, she’d felt somewhat justified in becoming entangled with another man.

How stupid.

Look what had happened.

Her gaze followed a group of kids climbing into an old Cadillac, a boy who looked too young to drive getting behind the wheel and peeling out of the lot. Farther up the street, she caught a glimpse of Austin Keller behind the wheel of his pickup, and when he saw his daughter approach he climbed out, no longer tall and lanky as he had been in high school but a little more muscular, his hair still a coffee brown and his beard shadow covering his jaw. At the sight of his daughter, Chloe, he waved his hand, and the girl with the straight red hair nearly sprinted across the lawn to him. They fist bumped and laughed, a widowed man and his seemingly well-adjusted kid. As if he’d sensed Brooke watching him, he’d turned and smiled, then given a wave as he climbed into his truck.

“There she is,” Neal said and slid open the driver’s side window to wave at Marilee.

She spotted her father, then looked back to the doorway where Nick held up a hand. Marilee smiled faintly, then turned and half ran to the SUV, where she quickly opened the back door and ducked inside.

“How was the dance?” Neal asked, and Brooke cringed. What a stupid question.

“How do you think it was? Don’t you know?” Marilee charged. “You ruined it!”

“We didn’t ruin anything,” Brooke said.

“Oh yeah right! Are you crazy, Mom?” And then, without waiting for an answer, she said to Neal, “Can you just drive?” and slithered down in the back seat, as if to make herself invisible.

“Marilee,” Brooke said. “I’m sorry. Your father’s right, I did overreact a little bit, but—”

“A little bit? Jesus, Mom, you were a fu—a lunatic!”

“Hey! Language!” Neal barked as he pulled out of the lot.

“But the whole dance stopped. Everyone saw you!” She was starting to cry, tears sliding down her cheeks. “I can never go to school again!”

“Sure you can,” Neal said. “By Monday no one will even remember.”

“You really believe that?” Marilee was sobbing now.

Neal’s face had hardened. Of course he didn’t believe his platitude. None of them did. For a while no one spoke, the sound of the tires on the pavement the only sound as Marilee tried to stifle her sobs. Brooke’s heart was breaking.