Page 94 of Our Little Secret

Brooke said, “Look, I’m sorry for all of this, all of the trouble. I’m going to have a talk with Marilee too.”

“Teenagers,” Renata muttered under her breath, as if that single word said it all. Then she added a world-weary, “Whaddaya gonna do?” and lit up.

Brooke let herself out and found Marilee slumped in the Explorer, already strapped in, her arms crossed belligerently over her chest. As Brooke slid inside, Marilee said, “We didn’t do anything, okay? I know what you’re thinking, but we were just together. That’s all.”

“In bed.”

“With our clothes on. It’s not like we were—you know!”

“Having sex?”

Marilee had the decency to look aghast. “It’s not like that!”

It’s always like that, Brooke thought but held her tongue. She cast her a glance as she started the car and tried a gentler approach. “Marilee—”

“Don’t, Mom! Just don’t!” Marilee turned to face her, and in the darkness the girl’s skin was white as death. “I don’t need a lecture. I know you’re ‘disappointed’ and all that, and that you’re going to ground me or whatever, butnothinghappened.”

Brooke’s jaw slid to the side. She wanted to believe her daughter but couldn’t.

She started the Explorer and backed onto the street. Traffic was picking up, the sky turning to a deep gray, the mist having turned to rain, the silence in the car thick and deafening.

Marilee turned on the radio.

Brooke switched it off.

“Maybe we should talk before we get home and have to deal with your dad.” She switched on the wipers, but they didn’t move.Damn.She tried again. Nothing. Just the click of the switch.

“He knows about this?” Marilee was doodling in the condensation on the passenger window.

“Of course he does.”

“Ugh.”

“You thought he wouldn’t know?” She tried the wipers again; the windshield was difficult to see through. Once more they failed.

“I hoped he was asleep.” She was doodling on the fogged passenger window, writing Nick’s name with a finger.

“Marilee, what were you thinking?” Brooke demanded.

“That I love him!”

“For the love of God! You’re fourteen!”

“You keep saying!” She drew a heart around Nick’s name.

Sooo frustrating!

“Look, this is serious. I was worried sick. So was your dad!”

She was squinting, trying the damned wipers and cursing under her breath as the rain distorted everything in her path. Obviously the wipers had been damaged in the stupid accident she’d had days earlier. They were barely working.

“What do you mean?” Marilee grumbled.

“I mean, what were you thinking when you were sneaking out behind our backs and meeting Nick?”

“You wouldn’t let me see him.”

“Wrong! I wouldn’t let youdrivewith him.”