Tell Me No Lies

Janey loved Tessa unconditionally. And he knew being with Janey was good for his wife. Her mood was lighter after her visits with her sister or even after talking to Janey on the phone.

Dan touched her shoulder. “Tell you what. We’ll get her home and make sure she’s all right. The girls will need to see her, then I’ll take them to a McDonald’s restaurant and you can have an hour alone with her.”

“Thanks, Dan. For understanding our bond.”

“Janey, I want what’s best for Tessa. If being with you for a while will help, so be it.” He put his arm around her. “Now let’s go get our girl.”

TESSA BURST INTO TEARS when Dan walked through the curtains of her cubicle in the E.R.

He strode to the bed. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”

“It was my fault,” she said, clinging to him, burying her face in his chest. This was what she needed now. His closeness. The feel and scent of him. “I should have been more careful. I should have waited at the light longer.”

His hand in her hair was soothing. He kissed the top of her head. “Tess, the driver of the other car admitted guilt. He said he ran the signal light. He took legal responsibility. None of this was your fault.”

“It’s all my fault.”

“No, no.”

After a moment, his steady heartbeat quieted her and she drew back. She raised her hands to her cheeks and flinched. “My face hurts.”

“It’s banged up a little.”

Her gaze flew to Janey.

“The bruises will go away,” Janey said.

On the outside, maybe. Tessa fell back into the pillow. “Lisa said I can go home, right?”

“Uh-huh. As soon as you get dressed and I sign the papers.”

She took Dan’s hand. It was big, and holding it always made her feel safe. But she had to be careful here. “I’m okay. Just shaken. When I think that Molly and Sara could have been with me. The other car hit the passenger side so hard.”

Dan drew a handkerchief out of his pocket, and she wiped her eyes. “They weren’t with you. They’re safe with my mother. She picked them up after school and brought them to her condo.”

“Do they know what happened?”

“Not yet. I wanted to wait to tell them until they could see you in person.

“I’ll stay with you while he gets the girls,” Janey said.

“Oh, okay.”

Dan kissed her nose. “I’m so sorry you have to go through this, honey. I know driving is hard for you. This must be your worst nightmare.”

“I’ll be fine.” She fisted her hands in the lapels of his suit coat. “I’m sorry I’m being such a baby.”

“You’re entitled.” He stood. “Want me to help you get dressed?”

“I’ll do it.” Janey stepped closer to the bed. “Maybe you can take care of the hospital stuff.”

Dan cocked his head and looked puzzled. “Sure.” He squeezed Tessa’s shoulder, and walked out of the cubicle.

When Dan was gone, Janey sat down on the side of the bed and enfolded Tessa in her arms. “Oh, God, Janey, what did I do?”

“You did nothing. Not this time or the last.”

“Yes, yes I did.”

She could still hear the screeching tires and breaking glass. The screams and the sirens.

“Don’t associate the two accidents, honey. They’re unrelated.”

“I was driving this time.”

“I know.”

“I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt someone again.”

“The only person hurt today was you.”

Releasing her sister, Tessa lay back. When she closed her eyes, she could feel the terror creep up on her. “I can’t forget what happened fifteen years ago. This has brought it all back in Technicolor vividness.”

Before Tessa could say anything, the curtain swung back. Dan stood in the entryway.

How much had he heard?

“DOES IT HURT, MOMMY?” Molly cuddled into Tessa on their bed, and Dan watched his wife wince. Sara stood across the room in the safe circle of his arm.

“Yes, sweetie, a little bit.”

“Hey, kiddo,” Dan said to Molly, “I think your snuggling could be a little less fervent today.”

Molly glanced over at him. If it had been Sara, Dan wouldn’t have said anything and let Tessa bear the brunt of her daughter’s enthusiasm. Sara was sensitive and unsure of herself and even a gentle chiding would have made her feel bad.

But Molly was tough. Maybe too tough. “Okay, Daddy.” She drew back, and touched the purple bruises on Tessa’s face. “It looks yucky.”

“I know, Mol. But what’s most important is that nobody was hurt.”

Not today, anyway.

Dan had overheard his wife and Janey talking in the E.R. Once again, he squelched his anxiety that Tessa was keeping something from him. Something important. He’d have to deal with that sooner or later, and he would, but Tessa was at her worst right now and he wasn’t going to force the issue.

Even if secrets were abhorrent to him. Even after he’d made Tessa promise she wouldn’t lie to him, either outright or by omission, as his parents had. She was the one person he’d trusted in his life to be honest with him.

He made sure there was no concern in his voice when he said to the girls, “Are you two ready to eat yet?”

Molly catapulted off the bed. “McDonald’s!” she shouted. “They got a mad-cool slide in the playground now.”