“I’m glad you’re staying in Heartache for a little while,” Ally said. “I’m going to school tomorrow, but then we’re off all next week if you want to do anything.”
“That’d be nice.” Idly, she flipped through a rack of blouses organized by color and size, stopping when she got to a tee with a bunch of female superheroes on the front. “Will there be any more parties? I had fun last night.”
She and Lucas had been making out in the woods before her father’s arrival. Total buzzkill.
“Did you? I wondered if everything was okay since your dad came to get you.”
“Right. Well that part was a major downer, but I was having fun until then.” Why did he try to pry confidences out of her that were supposed to be private between her and Theresa?
“Is he worried about you being with Lucas?” Ally passed her a bright blue miniskirt. “This would be cute with the superheroes tee, by the way.”
“Why would he worry about Lucas?” She couldn’t focus on the skirt. She moved out of the way of a rolling camera as it followed another customer through the store.
“Oh.” Ally shook her head. “No reason. I just wondered why your dad wanted you to leave.”
Ally sounded sincere, yet her cheeks turned pink as she leafed through the clothing racks faster.
“Why does everyone think Lucas is trouble?” Sarah kept her voice low, since the cameras were probably picking up audio now. There weren’t any close to them, but she knew the microphones on her dad’s equipment were much better than anything she had on her phone.
“I’m not sure, honestly.” Ally shrugged. “I don’t want to spread rumors anyway.”
“Ally—”
“Sarah?” Her dad interrupted—as always—just when things were getting interesting. “Are you ready to go?”
He must have ESP in addition to all his other protector-father instincts.
“Okay.” It’s not like she’d have this conversation with her new friend in front of him anyhow. “Text me later,” she told Ally as she brought the shirt and skirt to the front of the store. Turning to her dad, she asked, “We’ll stop by the shop afterward, right?”
“I can drop you off here if you like, but I’m probably going to get some work done at the hotel.”
“Or you can just drop me off at the soccer field and I’ll pick up my car.” She handed the clothes to Ally’s mom, who still stood by the front counter while Erin helped a customer. “Can I hold these until later, Mrs. Finley?”
“Of course,” she said, smiling, though Sarah was pretty sure she had a tear in her eye. “I’ll let Erin know.”
If there hadn’t been other people around, Sarah would have asked her if she was okay. She didn’t want to put Mrs. Finley on the spot, though, so she simply thanked her and followed her father out the front door.
“Dad?” She hurried to catch up to his long steps.
He’s mad at me. She kept thinking it even though Theresa always told her that he wasn’t mad just because he didn’t have much to say.
Pausing outside the rental car, he waited for her to speak.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the letter sooner.” She hated it when he became quiet. It reminded her too much ofthose months right after her mom’s death where he’d barely spoken.
She slid into the passenger side of the big four-door Lincoln and buckled up. Then she locked the door, too, knowing how much he appreciated it when she took extra safety precautions.
He didn’t speak for a long moment as he got in and started the car. He looked tired. Sad. She remembered days when he’d been so full of energy even after he came home from a business trip. He’d race into the house with surprise concert tickets for her mom or a new phone with a shiny pink case for her. She missed that—not for the phones or tickets—but just seeing him full of life and happiness. Finally, he looked at her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
A million answers came to mind. Any of which would have been true since there were—literally—a million reasons why. But she went with one she hoped he might understand.
“I keep thinking we’re finally done with the nightmare, and then something new happens to make it come back.” She couldn’t look at him when she said it or she would cry and that would hurt him worse. “I just couldn’t stand for this letter to undo all the hard work we’ve done to put it behind us.”
“That’s the problem.” Exhaling a long breath, he pounded the steering wheel lightly with his fist. “The past isn’t really behind us, is it?” He picked up the stupid envelope with the postmark from Pollock, Louisiana.
“Maybe if we tried harder to move forward, it would be.” She’d never said it in so many words to him. But that’s what she wanted more than anything.
