Page 96 of Want to Know a Secret?

She manages a smile. “I may need help finding a good lawyer. One who isn’t too expensive.”

“You’re in luck. I’m a lawyer. And I’m not too expensive.”

I want to help this girl. And I know exactly how to do it. Enough messing around. I have that photo of April with Mark Tanner. All I had to do is show it to Elliot—that will be the end of their marriage. He won’t understand about her cheating, even if he has done it himself.

I can stick it to April and give Brianna a happy ending.

Chapter 49

The day of the fall carnival was just about the worst day of my life.

In the ambulance, Leo told me what happened. Bobby wanted a turn on the slide, and when Leo told him it was his turn, Bobby pushed him off the edge of the bouncy house.

Leo could have died. I could have lost my son that day, thanks to April’s little monster. The teacher told her repeatedly that he should be in some sort of therapy. But she won’t send him. In her eyes, he’s perfect. Like mother like son.

I keep reliving that moment when I saw Leo drop off the top of that bouncy castle. I thought for sure he wouldn’t survive. I thought I was going to run over there and find him dead on the ground. But by some miracle, he survived. He had a broken arm, but he was okay. He didn’t even need surgery—just a cast.

That night, I’m saying a prayer of thanks that Leo is still with us. Every time I think about it, I feel sick. For a long time, I’m going to see Leo plummeting off that slide every time I close my eyes.

I give Leo an extra squeeze when I put him to bed, being careful of his broken arm. I thought after all the excitement of the day, he might have trouble falling asleep, but his eyes are drifting shut before I even close the door to his bedroom.

I go to Tristan next. He’s lying in bed, his eyes so big and wide that I can almost see them glowing in the moonlight. It looks like he might need an extra squeeze too.

“Is Leo going to be okay?” he asks in a tiny voice that makes him seem younger for a change.

“He’s fine.” I lean in to kiss Tristan on his smooth forehead. “I promise.”

His lower lip juts out. “Bobby pushed him. I saw it. Everyone saw it.”

“I know.”

Tristan gives me a hard look with his dark, penetrating eyes. I swear, he’s going to be a prosecutor someday just like I used to be. “So what are you going to do?”

Great question.

“I’m not going to let anything like that happen again,” I promise him.

My conversation with Tristan has gotten me fired up. After I kiss him good night, I go downstairs and start ranting to Keith. Unfortunately, that proves a bit frustrating. Keith is upset too, but he wasn’t there. There was never a moment when he thought our son might be dead. He just got a call from me saying Leo had a broken arm. So he’s not as fired up as I am. Or even as fired up as Tristan.

“I think we should sue them,” I say to Keith, as I pace across the living room. “Don’t you think so?”

He’s sitting on the couch, doing something on his phone. He doesn’t even look up. “Sue who?”

“April and Elliot!” I nearly scream at him. He never listens to me.

“For what?”

“Parents can be held civilly liable for any minor child’s willful misconduct.”

Keith lifts his eyes just long enough to roll them at me.

I plant my hands on my hips. “Why? Am I wrong?”

“You’re not wrong. But what are we going to do? Sue your best friend? Anyway, everyone will take April’s side.”

My mouth falls open. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, you’re not exactly Miss Congeniality, Julie.”