Tell Me No Lies

“I like seeing that.”

Tessa looked up at Janey’s husband, Brad, who’d come over from the grill. “What do you like seeing?”

“You smiling.” He slid his arm around her. “We were worried after the accident. Your sister freaked.”

“I’m sorry she spends her time fretting over me. She always has, Brad. I can’t seem to break her of the habit.”

Brad shook his head—he was mostly bald now and had shaved off what was left of his hair. Still, he was fit and youthful-looking for forty-five. “You two had a hard life. You, especially.”

“I guess.” She held Brad’s gaze a moment. He knew about her past, of course, because he was married to her sister; after Tessa had been released from prison, she had lived with Janey.

Just the thought of her time in jail made her shiver. Dawson Federal Prison Camp was a minimum security facility, without bars, but the prisoners were locked down at night, performed long tedious work details and had no say over their time. Worse, Tessa had always had a sense of foreboding, as if something bad was going to happen to her. A few times, awful things had…even now, she sometimes woke up in a cold sweat from a bad dream.

Hugging her tighter, Brad whispered, “Don’t think about it, kid.”

“I try not to.”

“Hey, buddy, what are you doing with my wife?”

Tessa and Brad both smiled as Dan approached. He’d just gotten out of the pool, and his muscles were outlined by his T-shirt. Damp from the water, his navy shirt heightened the color of his eyes.

“Just catching up.” Brad took a carrot stick from the plate on the table. “I haven’t seen her much.”

Dan shrugged. “You’ve been out of town a lot.”

“Yeah, this grant thing’s great, but it’s hell on my life. We had to hire a new internist to take on some of my patients. Janey’s been terrific but I know it’s hard on her.”

“That’s what you get for being such a world-renowned researcher.”

“Says the hotshot D.A.” Brad glanced over at his wife, who was sprawled in a lounge chair getting some sun. “I wanted to ask you two to watch out for her and the kids. I’ve got that trip to London coming up, and I’ll be gone awhile.”

“Of course.” Dan’s expression grew serious. “Any time.”

“I’m sorry I can’t get back for the Citizen of the Year dinner. Janey will stay for it, though, and come to London afterward when Oxford officially awards me the grant.”

Dan clapped Brad on the back. “It won’t be the same without you.”

After exchanging more small talk, Brad went to check the meat on the grill, and Tessa and Dan stood watching the kids playing in the pool. Dan’s mother, Claire, who’d been taking pictures of them, got up from the poolside bench. At sixty, she was an attractive woman with gray-bobbed hair, youthful skin and a generous smile, though today it seemed forced. “Can I help?” she asked Tessa.

“No, we’re waiting on the grill. Want some lemonade?”

“Yes, dear.”

While she poured her mother-in-law a glassful, Dan put his arm around Claire’s shoulder and kissed her. “You okay?”

She looked up at him. “He’s not coming, I guess.”

“Nick had a lot going on at the center, Mom. Don’t take it personally.”

“It is personal. He’ll never forgive me for how I treated him after your father…left. It happened so long ago, and he’s done so much with his life. I wish he could forgive and forget.”

Tessa handed her the drink. “He’ll come around.”

“We Logans can’t seem to put the past behind us.”

Dan’s brow furrowed. “Did something happen?”

His mother sipped the lemonade, then ran her finger around the rim of the glass. “I received a letter from your father’s attorney. Daniel’s earning money again and wanted to know if we needed anything.”

Dan’s stance shifted. “Several years too late,” he said, his tone clipped. “We worked like dogs to survive after he used up all our money and stole more.”

Sometimes when Dan talked about his father, it chilled Tessa. He seemed to turn into a different man, one she didn’t really know.

“Be that as it may, I don’t want anything from him, but I’d like to stop taking your money, Dan.”

“Why?” Tessa asked. “We’re not hurting.”

“You two could vacation more. Have a new car every few years.”

Dan smiled at Tessa. “We’ve got all we need, don’t we, sweetheart?”

“You bet. And we use the money I earn at the library for anything extra we want.”

Dan refused to let her put her paycheck toward necessities. Instead she bought frills for the girls, Dan and sometimes herself, and used what was left for vacations, like a weekend away with her husband now and then. One of those was coming up. They were taking a few extra days when Dan had to go to Rockford to give a presentation to the city council on some innovative crime prevention work he’d done with underprivileged kids.

“Steaks are ready,” Brad called.

“Come on, Mom, I’ll help you find a rare one.” Dan grasped her arm and glanced over at Tessa. He mouthed “thank you.”

She nodded. She didn’t care about the money they gave Claire. No one wanted for anything in her household, and his mother couldn’t make ends meet on the hospital aide job she’d taken once she’d retired from full-time work. Though her condo was paid for, she needed other income.

Molly yelled from the pool, “Mom, look!”

Glancing over, Tessa saw her little daredevil do a backflip off the diving board.

Tessa’s chest tightened. “Be careful, honey.” Too protective, she knew. She had to lighten up.

Janey stood and yelled something to Molly about being careful. She wore a white swimsuit, high-cut at the legs. Tessa was in a navy Speedo swimsuit, with a wraparound skirt tied at her waist…

Buy this bathing suit, Trix. It’s sexy as hell.

I don’t want to. It’s too revealing.

I want you revealed, doll.

No, Frankie.

He’d grabbed her arms.