Where Secrets Lie Read online

  Where Secrets Lie

  Copyright © 2011 by Donna Marie Lanheady

  All rights reserved.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, without express written permission from the author.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 - Morning

  Chapter 2 - Sara

  Chapter 3 - Lee

  Chapter 4 - Sara

  Chapter 5 - Katie

  Chapter 6 - Lee

  Chapter 7 - Night

  Acknowledgements

  In memory of

  Ron Wildman

  Because you always believed

  Chapter 1 - Morning

  Of course, Sara wasn’t going to tell her parents about the baby. What was David thinking?

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” she said when he suggested it during breakfast.

  “Why not?” David asked.

  “For starters, there’s no baby to tell them about.”

  “But there will be soon.”

  “You don’t know that, David. It might take a while.” Maybe quite a while longer than either of them anticipated.

  “I’m sure it’ll happen soon, let’s tell them.”

  Sara fiddled with what remained of her eggs.

  “C’mon, Sara, don’t you think they’re wondering? I mean, your mom did ask how long we’d wait.”

  “Yeah, I remember.” How could she forget?

  Sara’s mother, Lee, cornered them as soon as they returned from their honeymoon to probe about when she would become a grandmother. When they told her they planned to wait five years before they considered starting a family, Lee nodded. Sara never knew if her nod signified disappointment or relief. Either way, Lee would want to be sure the plan remained unaltered, but Sara didn’t care what Lee wanted, not this time anyway.

  “I just think it’s too soon,” Sara said. “Can’t we wait until we know for sure? I don’t want Mom fussing over me already.”

  “Ok… if that’s what you want.” David’s grin faded for a moment, then reemerged. “But the minute you’re pregnant we’re telling everyone!”

  “All right.”

  David took one last bite, got up from the table, and put his breakfast dishes in the sink.

  “I better get going,” he said. “Promise I won’t be late.”

  He kissed Sara and left.

  Later today, Sara’s parents would celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary by renewing their vows in a brief ceremony, followed by an elaborate reception.

  David’s mother called early in the morning and asked him to stop by before the party to fix a leaky sink. Well, his mother considered it a leaky sink. His sister considered it a flood. Even so, David took his time getting ready.

  Just after his father passed away from a heart attack and his sister moved back in with their mother, David received a frantic call in the middle of the night.

  His sister needed him right away.

  David jumped out of bed, slipped on his running shoes without tying them, threw a coat on over his pajamas, and ignored every stop sign and red light he encountered en route.

  His sister met him on the front porch and rushed him to the bathroom where a baby mouse, which had fallen into the toilet, squealed as it tried in vain to dig its nails into the slippery surface and climb its way back out. David closed the lid and flushed, and he never again believed his sister’s evaluations of their household maintenance issues. He also never got annoyed with her, which Sara found endearing.

  The ease with which David took care of his mother and sister convinced Sara he would make an exceptional father someday, but she could not predict that day’s arrival because when the agreed upon time for children materialized, it astounded her by exposing an inner reluctance toward pregnancy.

  ~

  “Lee, what tie should I wear?” Jack called toward the bathroom.

  He stood in the walk in closet and stared at a confounding number of ties, all lined up on several racks attached to the walls. Lee joined him in the closet, pulled out a black, white, and grey paisley tie, and held it against the light charcoal summer suit he wore.

  “I like this one,” she said and handed it to him.

  He turned to face the mirror mounted on the inside of the closet door and began to knot the tie. Lee stood behind him, off to one side, and peered over his shoulder.

  Although flecks of grey mixed in with his deep brown hair, Jack’s hairline remained intact. Gentle furrows bordered the outside edge of his eyes, but his tall frame remained sinewy, which he came by naturally, for Jack was neither a sportsman nor an athlete.

  Even in heels, Lee stood a half a foot shorter than her husband. Time softened the curves of her body but not the angles in her face where deep-set eyes balanced her narrow nose and chin. Over the years, the length of her hair crept above her shoulders, but Lee ensured it remained the same shade of Swedish blonde she was born with.

  Lee slipped by Jack and returned to the bathroom to finish putting on her makeup. Before long Jack appeared behind her, his hands settled on her shoulders, and his cheek grazed her hair.

  “Is there anything you need me to do?” Jack asked.

  “No, Sara and Katie will help me with what’s left.”

  “They’ll be here soon then?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, I’m going to answer a few emails before everything gets going, ok?”

  Lee smiled and nodded. Jack kissed her on the cheek.

  ~

  “Do we really have to talk about this now?” Katie asked. “I’m already late.”

  Emily sat on the bed and watched Katie get dressed.

  “Even if you weren’t late, you wouldn’t want to talk about it,” Emily said. “We have to face this sooner or later, you know.”

  “I so vote for later.”

  Emily sighed. “Why don’t you just tell them already?”

  If only it were that easy. Any attempt to tell her parents instilled a terror within Katie, which obliterated her ability to speak. She wasn’t about to confide this weakness to Emily though.

  “I will tell them,” Katie said. “Eventually.”

  “Meaning not today?”

  Katie went to the bed and sat beside Emily.

  “Does it have to be today?” Katie asked.

  “No, but it needs to be someday, today’s just as good as any.”

  In college, Emily heeded her mother’s advice to give Katie space, and let Katie tell her parents in her own time. During those years, Katie’s recurrent rationalization to wait until she no longer needed her parents’ financial support sounded sensible to Emily as well.

  However, last spring both Katie and Emily received master’s degrees from the University of Denver, which was also their undergraduate alma mater. At the beginning of the summer, they moved in together. Emily assumed it meant they would not pretend to be best friends around Katie’s parents anymore. She was mistaken. Katie was not ready to tell her parents, and she declined to elaborate about why.

  “I just don’t want to be left alone again while you go off to a party that I wasn’t invited to,” Emily said.

  Katie reached over and clasped Emily’s hand.

  “I know, babe. I’m sorry.”

  Emily squeezed Katie’s hand but shook her head.

  “An apology just isn’t good enough anymore, Kate. I want to be included in your family the way you’re included in mine.”

  Emily’s family welcomed Katie with an ease that touched and amazed her. Emily came out to th
em when she was in high school, and the way she tells it, they reacted with acceptance despite their initial shock, so they evolved into complete understanding through minimal rough patches long before Katie came along.

  Katie knew it would be an arduous undertaking for her parents to understand or accept, if they ever managed to do it at all, which meant Emily might never be able to have what she desired.

  “I want that too,” Katie said, “but telling my parents doesn’t mean it’ll happen.”

  Emily shifted to face Katie.

  “So what will happen, Kate, because you never really say. They’ll disapprove, I get that, but there must be more to it.”

  “Isn’t that enough?”

  Katie stood up and went to the dresser where she began to sort through a bowl of tangled jewelry.

  “But they’ll get over that eventually.”

  “Maybe, maybe not.”

  “You think they won’t get over it?”

  Katie shrugged, hesitant to reveal more.

  Emily’s eyes misted. “Do you really think they’d stop loving you over this?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “But Sara didn’t react that way.”

  A few years ago, after Sara visited Katie for a weekend while she and Emily were undergrads, Sara asked Katie whether they were lovers. Katie wavered at first, then answered her sister. As far as she knew, Sara never breathed a word of her admission to anyone.

  “Sara’s totally different. You know it’ll be harder for me to tell my parents.”

  “Harder, yes, but you act like it’s impossible.”

  “Sometimes that’s how it feels.”

  Katie put on a pair of earrings and rummaged through the jewelry bowl some more. Emily watched, and her forehead furrowed.

  “You know,” Emily said. “I’ve never seen you back down from anyone. You always stand up for what you believe.”

  Katie’s gaze remained on the bowl. She liberated a bracelet from its midst.

  “Tell me, Kate, why won’t you stand up for us?”

  Katie flinched from the impact of the words. The muscles in her hand slackened, and the bracelet slid back into the bowl. She turned to Emily.

  “I want to, Em, I really do. I’m just…” her voice quivered, “too scared I’ll lose them.”

  Emily sprang off the bed and embraced Katie.

  “It’s all right,” Emily whispered into Katie’s ear. “I’ll wait. I’ll wait.”

  Yes, but for how much longer?

  ~

  Sara walked into her parents’ house and called, “Mom?”

  “In the kitchen…”

  Sara entered the kitchen and saw Lee looking inside the caterer’s containers.

  “Mom! What are you doing?”

  “Just checking, besides it’s not like I’m snooping. I ordered it and paid for it, so technically it’s all mine.”

  “Yeah, well, it still looks a lot like snooping.”

  Sara laid her sunglasses and purse on the counter before she went over to her mother and kissed her cheek.

  “If you met the man who delivered this you’d understand,” Lee said. “He didn’t know what was going on, it made me nervous.”

  “He’s just the delivery guy. Is he supposed to know what’s going on?”

  “Maybe not,” Lee said, “but it certainly didn’t instill confidence.”

  “So is anything missing?”

  “Not that I can tell so far, but I’m not done yet. Check those containers on the island, will you? I still haven’t found any appetizers.”

  Sara moved to the island. “When’s Katie getting here?”

  “Soon, she called to say she was running a little late. Any luck?”

  “Not yet, I think all the side dishes are over here. Is Emily coming with her?”

  Lee froze. “No, why would she?”

  “I don’t know, she usually comes with Katie.”

  “Well, that wouldn’t be appropriate today. Oh good, here they are. They’re probably all in this stack.”

  Lee proceeded to verify she was correct.

  Sara wished she’d avoided this subject, but for Katie’s sake, she forged ahead.

  “What’s the big deal, Mom? Katie and Emily are really close.”

  “Which is fine, in its place, but sometimes those two carry it a bit too far.”

  Lee went to the kitchen table where a dozen small arrangements of yellow roses stood clustered together. She picked up an arrangement, scrutinized it, set it aside, and replicated the ritual with the next arrangement.

  Sara followed her mother, sat at the table, and watched.

  “What’s the matter, Mom, don’t you like Emily?”

  “Of course, I like her, Sara. She’s a nice enough girl, but what does that have to do with anything?”

  “I just think Katie really enjoys spending time with her, that’s all.”

  “I’m sure they spend plenty of time together, especially now that they’re roommates. Now grab a couple of these, and come with me.”

  ~

  “Where is everybody?” Katie called when she arrived.

  “We’re in here,” Sara said.

  Katie walked through the kitchen.

  “Oh my God, there’s a ton of food. How many people are coming anyway?”

  She joined Sara and Lee in the dining room.

  “You’re just in time to help us with the flowers,” Sara said.

  Katie’s smile vanished. “I was hoping I was late enough to miss that.”

  “Very funny,” Lee said. “Go into the kitchen and grab a couple of vases. We’re moving into the living room next.”

  They were busy with the last of the arrangements when the caterer and her staff arrived. The kitchen began to pulsate. The noise and the emerging aromas drifted into the study and infiltrated Jack’s consciousness.

  Just as he made his way into the living room, Lee declared her satisfaction with the placement of the flowers. Both girls cheered.

  “If I’d known I was going to get such a nice reception,” Jack said, “I would’ve come out earlier.”

  The girls hugged and kissed their father.

  “They’re just glad I’m done torturing them,” Lee said.

  “Now you could’ve pretended it was for me.” Jack winked at Lee. “At least for a little while.”

  The doorbell rang, and Lee looked at her watch. “Whoever that is, is really early.”

  “Shall we, ladies?” Jack put an arm around each of his daughters and walked toward the front door.

  ~

  Their living room, situated in the middle of their home, had French doors that opened onto a huge rectangular brick patio with a fanned outside edge, which spanned the length of the house yet made a minor dent in their one and a half acre lot. Two ancient trees shaded the patio and over the years provided the girls with ample climbing challenges and an ever-expanding tree house, which Jack extricated once the girls grew too old to protest.

  In fact, as the accoutrements of childhood suffered their inevitable attrition, the yard made a gradual transformation from a playground into an oasis.

  A rock garden, which contained a small waterfall and a miniature pond full of goldfish, replaced the swing set. Every winter when Jack drained the pond, he moved the goldfish to an indoor aquarium in the basement.

  The playhouse made way for a gazebo crawling with twisting vines replete with royal purple flowers.

  The area that accommodated the trampoline became an enormous rose garden partitioned from the rest of the yard by a latticework fence covered with climbing roses. The garden contained a winding flagstone walkway and cast iron benches at its nucleus. Lee spent an inordinate amount of her time and energy performing the never-ending gardening chores herself.

  Beyond the patio, the caterer’s staff arranged and set round tables for the reception, and beyond them toward the far end of the yard, they positioned a long rectangular table to showcase and serve the food.

  Since a
kitchen door opened onto the left side of the patio, it made logical sense to place the food table there, but that location did not suit Lee’s sense of aesthetics, so she hampered the caterers with the grueling task of traversing through the yard. If Lee realized they charged her a sizable fee for this added aggravation, she did not acknowledge it when she accepted their inflated proposal.

  The placement of chairs on the patio created an aisle leading from the French doors to a couple of large planters brimming with vibrant flowers that cascaded all the way down to the bricks. Just past the planters, Sara and Katie stood and waited for the ceremony to begin.

  At the wedding, they had been young girls, ten and four respectively. They were their mother’s bridesmaids and, as such, stood on the bride’s side of the aisle.

  However, when the ceremony began, Katie believed Jack looked lonely and moved over to his side in order to provide him with what she deemed to be much needed company. Today she took that position from the inception.

  Lee and Jack stood just inside the open French doors and waited for the musicians’ cue to start their procession down the aisle.

  Lee perused the crowd. Many of today’s guests had also been at their wedding. Of course, Sara and Katie had been there as well, but back then, they were little girls, thrilled beyond measure by the excitement of the day.

  ~

  In the master bedroom, on the morning of their wedding, Lee primped for the day ahead.

  The door burst open, and Sara and Katie, both breathless, rushed into the room.

  “Nana says it’s almost time to start and we should show you how cute we look,” Katie said.

  “You look cute,” Sara said. “I’m too old to be cute, right Mom?”

  “You’re both just beautiful. Now turn around so I can see the full effect.”

  They twirled around several times, Katie quickly and Sara slowly. Although their attire was identical, their physical attributes were a study in contrasts. Sara was compact with round cherub features and her mother’s Scandinavian coloring while Katie was all arms and legs with an angular facial structure and her father’s olive skin and silky raven hair.

  They both wore tea length white dresses with embroidered lace on the bodice and a pale pink satin sash at the waist, which tied into a bow in the back. Their white patent leather shoes had an ankle strap and a delicate bow with a rhinestone knot. The shoes enamored Katie the moment she tried them on, and Lee had a terrible time convincing her not to wear them until the wedding.