Page 5 of Secrets That Bind Us

Verity

Present Day

“This place is a fuh- freaking dump.” Savannah quickly corrects herself, saying what we’re all thinking. As always, leave it to kids to be honest as fuck.

We eye the way my mother lived out the last years of her life as a recluse– not exactly hoarding, but not exactly pristine the way it was when my daddy was here.

It was like once he disappeared, she finally let herself rest while she was still alive– not worried about whether the floor was clean enough to eat off of in case Daddy made her do that. Again .

From what I’ve been told by Zo, Mama had peace before she died, and that was more than I could ever ask for her.

I catch Zoey’s smirk, hazel eyes as bright as her hair. Evan is also biting back a laugh, but instead, he says, “It ain’t so bad, Savvy. We just gotta get a cleaning crew in here, throw out the furniture, rip out the carpet, the walls, the fixtures-“

“In that case, why not just tear down the house and build a new one? You know, one with Wi-Fi?” She asks, peering at everything in annoyance. Yeah. She’s in that stage – the one where she just can’t possibly be bothered by anyone or anything that isn’t virtual. But she’s also frustrated with me.

A year after their father died, I packed them up.

I decided to come home. I rented out our house to some college kids and drove us almost two thousand miles away from everything and everyone they’ve ever known.

Well, except for Zoey and Evan, that is.

I’d fly them up every few months or catch up with them when I had book tours that brought me back.

But they didn’t technically bring me back – just the major cities surrounding this little hick town.

I’ve also stayed in slight touch with Evelyn, just not as much.

I look at my daughter, and when she catches me, she looks even more pissed off. Always. She’s always angry with me. Raven hair, freckles across the bridge of her nose, cerulean eyes so blue they made my heart stumble the first time I ever held her.

My biggest secret.

Never a regret.

“Besides-” Zoey grabs a sledgehammer left behind by the construction crew she hired for me during their walk-through and balances it on her shoulder.

“I think you'll have a lot of fun helping us tear some of these walls down.” She winks in my direction, lightening the mood. “C’mon. Let’s check out the rest of the place. ”

Except the rest of the place isn’t as bad as where Mama lived the last year of her life.

The appliances aren’t too old– as though they were purchased only a few years ago.

There are no holes in the walls, and the paint on the inside looks…

well, it doesn’t look old. The kitchen, the rest of the house, the two guest rooms upstairs – excluding my old bedroom and the primary bedroom downstairs – all look slightly already renovated.

Like someone had been slowly making changes, working around my mother and her illness.

I quirk an eyebrow at Zoey, but she only glances at Evan, who’s tight-lipped and looks severely uncomfortable – like they know a secret I don’t.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I ask.

“You know I haven’t had much time to come back here and visit with her once I opened up Twisted Ink.”

I nod.

She inhales. “I knew Mama Marie was getting help towards the end with simple things like plumbing issues and stuff when I was dropping off groceries for her. But when she died and you had her cremated, I thought they stopped coming by, too.” She shrugs. “Guess I was wrong.”

“Who was coming?”

“Town folk. Me. Evan… just people that genuinely cared about her. Mad when you didn’t give her a proper funeral.”

“I had to be in Paris. There was a launch.”

“ We know. We understand that Ver, but these people…”

Yeah. These people. Another reason we’re skipping town as soon as we can after the wedding. Even Zoey doesn’t live here anymore – she’s twenty miles away, closer to the city.

“So I’ll have to win over some hearts.”

“ Mend them ,’ feels more appropriate here. Your mama was loved here, Ver. After your father disappeared and you left, she really did make a better life here for herself till she got sick.”

I nod.

I wouldn’t know that. I wouldn’t know any of that.

After I left I saw my mother twice. Each time was for the birth of my children.

She stayed for exactly three days and then went back.

Once my books really started selling, I sent her enough money to live comfortably every month.

Although when she passed and the lawyers read me her will, it was all there and accounted for.

Save the hundred and fifty grand she donated to the church.

The rest of it was put into college funds for the kids.

When my mother and I spoke on the phone, it was short. Simple. Then she got sick, and she became a ghost of herself. Mumbling. Paranoid. About what, I’m not sure.Then she stopped taking my calls altogether. Her hospice nurse telling me it “wasn’t a good day.”

“So I got hearts to mend.” I reply, even though I don't feel like the right person to do all of that. I also won’t be here long enough to fix every single broken heart when I really only have one in mind. Well two, if I'm counting my own.

“You know, the nearest bookshop is over thirty miles away... you could… open a bookstore with a café and host book clubs and-"

I snort. “In a town with a population of seven hundred? It would tank.”

“Population: two-thousand and twelve .” Evan says matter-of-factly. “Prices in the city have gone way up due to inflation. They’re all coming down to these parts and really helping out the economy. Zoey's even been able to hire two new apprentices at her tattoo parlor.”

Zoey nods enthusiastically with a smile on her heart-shaped face so wide her dimples show and her eyes twinkle.

God, my best friend is gorgeous. Our friendship was one I always made sure to include in my books.

Growing up, she drew, I read and as we grew, she still drew, and I wrote.

She even illustrated the cover art for my books and still does.

We’re still walking around the place I once called home when I hear the roar of engines coming up the drive, telling me Will & Jay’s crew is here. I can feel my metaphorical mask pulling over my face as I take a deep breath and ready myself to face them.

“Let’s put a pin in this.” I offer as we make our way outside to greet the contractors.