A car beeps its horn—Mrs. Marshall’s minivan—and she waves to us as Finn and Max get in before driving off. JJ leans over Niall, holding out his mug to me. “Here, try this.”
I eye it suspiciously. “What is it?”
“A Biggs’ family secret recipe, as of this morning. Give it a go.”
I eye Niall, who winks at me and nods again. I take the challenge, grabbing the cup and taking a weary sip. I’m pleasantly surprised by the rich explosion of flavors.
“Ow wow,” I breathe as the warmth spreads through my chest. “What’s in this?”
“Coffee, tea, cocoa, cinnamon, a dash of vanilla,” JJ grins, setting the cup down as I hand it back. “I’m trying to convince Mama Blue to add drinks to the bakery’s menu.”
“Which she won’t,” Niall shakes his head, taking a sip of his cup.
I point to it. “Do you have some too?”
“Nope,” he says, setting his drink on the roof behind them, right next to where JJ set his. “Regular coffee. Cups only look the same ‘cause J’s a kleptomaniac.”
“Am not! I’m borrowing it. Borrowing,” JJ huffs, and points his thumb at Niall. “Can you believe this lad, Mols?”
“Don’t bring me into your arguments,” I hold up my hands. “I’m not your marriage counselor.”
Tires crunching behind us pulls my attention away from the boys, and my stomach just about drops through the pavement as I see my sister’s car pulling into the space beside Niall’s car.
She rolls down her window, smiling at me—looking prim and perfect as always, with her hair a glossy, chestnut waterfall andher eyelashes perfectly curled. “Hey, Mols! I was worried I’d be too late.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask, wondering briefly if something is wrong with Lorraine—until she pops her own head out of the back window.
“We’re going to dinner! Jamie said we could, come on.”
Guilt and resentment are warring for space in my gut, as I look between my two sisters.
“Mom’s working, so I figured we could all go out. Spend some time together,” Jamie gives me a nervous smile.
“Uhm, okay,” I murmur, turning back to the boys. “Bye, guys. See you in the morning.”
“Here,” JJ says, reaching behind him and grabbing the cup off the roof. “For the road, yeah? You can keep the cup.”
“Oh, now you’re just givingawaymy stolen cups—real nice, Jonathan, thanks a lot.”
“Aw, come off it, ya tosser.”
I thank JJ, sharing a look with Niall before walking over to Jamie’s car, and resigning myself to the passenger seat.
She smiles at me, her eyes looking so hurt when I don’t return it that I almost feel... bad. But I can’t feel bad for her.Sheleft me. She promised to write, to call, but didn’t.
Maybe she doesn’t remember that. Maybe she really did think she could come back and everything would be okay.
The axe can forget—but the tree will always remember the way it had to grow new limbs.
33
Drowning in Lies
Molly
November, 2007
IFEEL TRAPPED.
