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  thinking of how her family would treat Margot made her

  stomach churn.

  “You okay?” Margot lifted her head and ran her fingers

  though Jaxon’s hair.

  “Perfect.” There’d come a day when she’d have to sit

  Margot down and tell her the truth of where she’d come

  from. The most important part of that story was why she’d

  run and why she didn’t want to go back. There was nothing

  left for her in Louisiana, but keeping things from Margot

  carried its own set of risks.

  “That you are, my love.”

  * * *

  Iris waited in the office of the high school, finishing her

  paperwork for the day. The busywork helped her get her

  mind off what was coming. It had nothing to do with

  reunions or a marriage that was getting ready to take some

  hits as the reunion neared. No, her daughter was a junior

  who was counting the days until she graduated and gained

  her freedom. That bothered her, but nothing she did or said

  persuaded Sean from wanting to fly away and not come

  back. That wasn’t a surprise, but it was why Sean wanted to

  go that made Iris feel shame.

  Her son walked into the office. “Hey, Mom,” Danny said,

  louder than necessary.

  “Hey, you don’t have to shout.” She closed the image

  she’d been staring at on her computer. Margot Drake was

  hanging on to Jaxon like she’d fall off the spike heels she

  was wearing without the support, but even with that Jaxon

  was taller and still looked good. There was no way she’d

  ever call Jaxon, but peeking in on her life every so often was

  okay. At least, that’s what she told herself.

  “I’ve been calling you for, like, an hour,” Danny said in

  his overexaggerated way. “What the heck are you doing? Is

  it the math test for that asshole I have this year?”

  “What have we said about you cursing? I know you’re

  going to do it, but I’d appreciate not listening to it all day

  long.” She powered down her computer and opened the

  bottom drawer of her desk to get her purse. “The one thing

  I’ve noticed is that the teacher is only an asshole when you

  don’t study and aren’t doing well. We’ve talked about that

  too.”

  “Come on, Mom. That guy has it in for me, and if he

  keeps slamming me, he’s going to tank my chances of

  staying on the team.” His voice was starting to rise again,

  and she pointed at him. “Okay, I’ll study.”

  “Good.” She kissed his cheek. “Where’s your sister?”

  “She was in the library the last time I passed by there.

  You should bring her to some head doctor and get her fixed.

  All she does is study and work out. That’s not normal.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but there’s nothing crazy about

  that. You should try to cut back on hanging with your friends

  and having a good time, so you can get to know math

  better.” She put her hand up when he started to disagree.

  “Stop talking before I ground you, and math will be the least

  of your problems.”

  “It’s not like I’m going to college. Going to the police

  academy here doesn’t require that.” He was tall, thick, and

  blond like his father. That physique made him the perfect

  football quarterback and catcher on the baseball team.

  Danny was also his father when it came to what his future

  should be.

  “What if you get a scholarship to play somewhere? Would

  you blow that off?” It was like talking to a brick wall, but she

  had plenty of practice with his father. Daniel had been a star

  in high school, and he still talked about the glory days.

  She’d married Daniel when he’d asked, and she’d paid

  the price for saying yes. He’d blamed her for a long time for

  everything he’d given up. Her pregnancy had forced him to

  pass on the scholarship he’d been expecting to a university

  in north Louisiana. That offer was a figment of his

  imagination, but that hadn’t been important. His star power

  hadn’t been enough to get him to the next level, and

  somehow that had been her fault.

  He’d asked for her hand, and she’d agreed for her own

  reasons. She’d never asked him to give up a damn thing,

  and nothing she’d done since had made Daniel stop talking

  about his glory days. Her rational brain was convinced he’d

  married her to prove he’d won against the one person in

  high school he hated above all others. It wasn’t the romance

  written about in books, but it wasn’t bad enough to walk

  away from.

  “You think I can?” Danny pushed his hair back with

  impatience, and she smiled. That move reminded her of

  Jaxon when she’d finished practice and wanted a shower.

  Her son had gone out for the JV football team, and his hard

  work had paid off when they’d put him in at quarterback.

  His season so far had been pretty good, and he had two

  wins as a starter.

  “If you keep those grades up and don’t get hurt, I’m sure

  you can. Instead of making fun of your sister, maybe you

  should ask her to help you with math. She had the teacher

  you don’t like two years ago, so I’m sure she’ll be happy to

  get you back on track.” They walked down the deserted

  hallway and stopped at the library. Sean had her head down,

  and she was bouncing the eraser of her pencil on her

  notebook.

  Iris knew it was her way of concentrating, and it never

  failed to bring her a level of happiness that was hard to

  describe. Sean was as different from Danny as two siblings

  could be, and while she loved them both, her daughter was

  a gift. “Hey, you ready?”

  Sean glanced up but didn’t smile. “Sorry, I was trying to

  finish my paper before the weekend.” The books scattered

  on the table were jammed in the bag Sean had carried

  around for three years, and she stood. It never made Danny

  happy when his sister stood next to him and showed that

  she was three inches taller. They were like night and day in

  appearance, and over the years, that had triggered a lot of

  gossip.

  “Do you guys want to go out to eat? Your dad is working

  tonight, and it’s already after five.” They walked out, and

  the guys playing outside yelled at Danny. It didn’t take long

  for him to ask if he could go with his friends, and she

  handed him a twenty and waved, then turned to Sean.

  “What are you in the mood for?”

  Sean didn’t answer and got in the car. The silent

  treatment had started that summer and nothing she’d tried

  had broken through. She had to give it to Sean for her

  mental toughness. Taking a chance, she drove to the Italian

  place in the next town. They sat across from each other, and

  the only words Sean spoke were to order. Then she leaned

  back and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “How was school today?”

  “Fine,” Sean said, and that was it. It wasn’t exactly rude,

  but it wasn’t a conversation. r />
  “If there’s something bothering you, there’s no way I can

  help you if you don’t tell me what it is.” She put her hand on

  the table but didn’t reach for Sean, not wanting to be

  rebuffed again.

  Sean stared at her and shook her head. “Tell me about

  her?”

  “Who?” Iris knew exactly who, but she didn’t want to talk

  about it.

  “Please,” Sean said with absolute teenage sarcasm. “It’s

  like you think I’m clueless. Not to mention deaf and dumb.”

  During the summer Sean had found a box of her old

  things and had gone through it. The pictures she’d stared at

  for hours made the questions start pouring out, but Iris

  didn’t want to answer them.

  “I don’t think that at all, but just like you don’t tell me

  everything about you, there are things I’d like to keep

  private. It’s nothing sinister, but sometimes memories are

  best kept buried.” She didn’t raise her voice, and she tried

  not to show too much emotion.

  “Whatever,” Sean said, rolling her eyes.

  Iris sighed and had an urge to go home and close her

  bedroom door. Purging all this crap out of her head was the

  best solution, and to avoid this in the future she’d have to

  commit to letting go. Her family and the life she’d built were

  more important than something that was never going to be

  anything other than what looped in her mind like an

  unwanted old movie.

  “It’s more than whatever, Sean, but I can’t talk about it. I

  know you think I’m trying to put you off, but I really can’t.”

  The tears that were ready to fall seemed to move something

  in Sean to back off, and she finally lost her angry

  expression.

  “Forget about it, and please don’t cry.” Sean reached

  across the table and touched her hand. It was the first time

  in weeks Sean had made a move like that.

  “Thank you, and I promise we’ll have the talk you want.

  Only not today.” It was ridiculous, really, but her hometown

  was all she knew. There was a place for her there, both

  socially and figuratively. She’d made that place by keeping

  her head down and fitting in when all she really wanted to

  do was shout from the rooftops what was in her soul. Doing

  that would come at a cost, even now. It was a price she

  wasn’t capable of paying.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The invitation sat in Jaxon’s office drawer for the next week,

  and the only one who wanted to talk about it was Bert. He’d

  been hounding her for days to get her to agree to join him.

  Why in the world he wanted to go back to a place that didn’t

  hold many happy memories, especially for him, was a

  mystery, but he wanted to go. She had a short window of

  time before he told Margot about it, and then she’d have

  nowhere to hide.

  Margot was curious about her childhood and asked about

  it all the time. It wasn’t something she liked talking about.

  Her family was like every other Southern family, full of

  people others liked to call eccentric. Behavioral sciences

  had other names for it, and there was extensive research on

  each condition that stemmed from one form of mental

  instability or another. The last time her family had gotten

  together in Orange Beach, Alabama, for a reunion about

  twelve years ago, they’d spent the whole time whispering to

  one another. That stopped whenever she walked into any

  room, but she hadn’t said anything, surprised she’d been

  invited at all.

  Yep, there’d been some big secret they weren’t sharing

  with her, and that was fine. She didn’t need a crystal ball to

  guess what it was. It was no secret she was gay and was

  going to hell faster than adulterous Satan worshippers. That

  long weekend was enough to drive her to alcohol, and she’d

  still be drunk in a ditch right now if she hadn’t possessed

  stronger willpower than the average bear. The most

  ridiculous thing was that she’d gone in the first place, but

  it’d been her family. In her heart they deserved another

  chance to get it right, and it wasn’t a total shock they’d

  failed in spectacular fashion.

  The only person she missed was her brother, Roy. Their

  late nights talking while sitting in the large oak in their yard

  helped her forget her mother’s constant disapproval. Even

  he, though, had been quiet that last time they’d been

  together—not that he’d engaged in the whispered

  conversations, but something was different. Not even Bert

  had shed any light on why that could be when he went back

  for regular visits to see his parents.

  “Dr. Lavigne?” The young woman standing in front of her

  appeared worried. “Are you okay?”

  “Sorry, did you say something?” Great, that’s all she

  needed. Blanking out at work because she was thinking of

  things not worth remembering was just fantastic.

  “I was wondering if you knew the book we’re reading

  next?”

  I’m teaching the fucking class, so yes, I do. It was the

  way she wanted to answer sometimes, but the kids

  appeared so earnest she didn’t have the heart. Asking

  questions like that was their way of breaking the ice with

  her, so she grinned and Ctrl+Alt+Deleted her brain to

  reboot it. Now wasn’t the time to worry about what her

  family thought. “Stop by my office, and pick up the reading

  list. Ask my assistant for it, and she’ll be happy to get you

  up to speed. The essay on that first book is due soon, so

  don’t take too long.”

  “Want to grab a coffee and talk about it?” This young

  woman was something else. She was gorgeous and had the

  body to match.

  “I only see students during office hours, sorry.” Her

  phone rang, saving her from any more of this innocent

  flirting. She answered with, “Hey, gorgeous,” waving as the

  student left, looking disappointed.

  “And you wonder why I love you so much. You always

  make me smile when you answer the phone,” Margot said.

  “Are you busy?”

  “Not at the moment. I was walking to class, so I can sit

  and start writing up my tests.” Her worries evaporated at

  the sound of Margot’s voice. For once in her life she’d gotten

  it right by taking a chance. Margot was the real deal when it

  came to returning her love.

  “Does that mean all the cute girls on campus who are

  suddenly in love with English are trying to trade certain

  favors for a good grade?” Margot was kidding, but there was

  that slight edge to her voice.

  “You were the only one who offered that, darlin’, but you

  should be proud—you got that grade all on your own.” She

  laughed at the memory of Margot trying the same thing,

  only she’d been much more persistent. It was the only time

  in her teaching career that she’d gone home hard, wet, and

  extremely horny. Margot’s office visits were an exercise in

  temptation. br />
  “That’s the only reason I don’t handcuff myself to you

  every morning when you leave for work. Now that I know

  how to make you sweat, you can admit you were tempted.”

  She could imagine the smile on Margot’s face. “Is there a

  person alive who wouldn’t be tempted? You are, my love,

  the one woman who fuels my dreams, not to mention my

  desires. I thought that even when it was inappropriate for

  me to even contemplate it.”

  “Good comeback, baby. Listen, I’m due on set soon, but

  Mama called and invited us for dinner.” She heard Margot

  snap her fingers. “Don’t spend the rest of the day trying to

  think up reasons you can’t go.”

  Margot’s parents had a lot in common with her own, only

  they were accepting of what they had and who their

  daughter was. They were also completely crazy. “Would I do

  that?”

  “Yes,” Margot said with no hesitation. “I know you, Dr.

  Lavigne, and you have to realize Daddy doesn’t really want

  to kill you.” Margot laughed, and she had to join in.

  “He has a funny way of showing that, and we’ll talk about

  this later. There’s a few students waiting for me.” She

  waved to the group headed into the classroom.

  “Oh no, we’ll talk about it now. Repeat these words,”

  Margot ordered. “I will be at dinner tonight.”

  “I will be at dinner tonight.”

  “That didn’t sound very convincing, but I’ll take it.”

  Still smiling, she sat with her students and talked about a

  slew of different topics that didn’t all have to do with class.

  These guys had been in her classes from freshman year,

  and most of them were headed to law school after this. It

  was a pleasant afternoon until she glanced up and saw Bert

  waiting on her again.

  “Unequivocally no.”

  “Unequivocally? That’s harsh. You just have to sort out

  your feelings, and you’ll be fine.” Bert softened his voice,

  trying a new tactic. He cocked his head to the side and

  seemed to be trying to appear sympathetic.

  She took a deep breath, not wanting to pop his bubble,

  and jammed her papers in her bag. “You think that’s my

  hang-up? If I haven’t been perfectly clear, I just don’t want

  to go. Besides, it makes no sense. It’s a fifteen-year reunion

  happening sixteen years after the fact.”

  “They actually had the first five-year reunion at year six,