Page 92 of Last Call

“Worked his way through school. Sold his parents’ farmhouse and used the money for law school. He went to Boston for two years when Dan was little.”

“How do I not know any of this?” Fallon asked

“Probably because no one talks about it. Anyway, I guess the same thing happened to Dora. She left Dan with Andi’s mom. Went to Boston to surprise. Found him with his girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?”

“Yep. He spent weekdays with his girlfriend. Weekends with Dora.”

“No way. Dick?”

Pete nodded. “Yep. I know. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Dora was crushed. I guess her solution was to drown her sorrows at the bar. Then she drove home.”

Fallon stayed silent.

Pete took a deep breath. “She hit a kid, Fallon. A ten-year-old boy riding his bike.”

Fallon felt sick.

“Yeah. I know. It’s awful.”

“What happened after that?” Fallon asked.

“Dora just shut down. She did time in a treatment program through the church. My mom said it was brutal. Judgment, shame, guilt—the whole thing. When she came back, she had to do community service. Guess who oversaw that?”

“Let me guess, Mother Mary Branigan.”

“Good guess.”

“I don’t know everything. I know that Dora’s mother took custody of Dan for more than a year. She told Dora that our mothers were bad influences, “too far from God,” my mom told me.”

Fallon couldn’t help but chuckle. “Because they drank?”

“Probably.”

“I can tell you that your mom and Andi care a lot about Dora. When Dora found out about Jake’s affairs, she sent Andi a letter. I don’t know what it said. I know Andi still has it.”

“How can there be so many secrets in this town?” Fallon wondered.

“I don’t think it’s a secret. Just something no one wants to revisit.”

“Why wouldn’t Andi tell me?”

“Have you told Andi and Riley everything about Liv?” Pete asked. “Did you tell them how close you came to not being here?”

“They know about the bridge.”

“All of it?”

Fallon shrugged. “Enough.”

“People don’t look, Fallon. It’s kind of like working on cars.”

“Huh?”

“People hear something rattle or they feel something shift. Most times, they ignore it. Until they can’t.”

“Maybe you should think about becoming a shrink.”

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