Page 52 of The Unconventional Nanny
"You've been in Willow Creek this whole time?" When I nod my head yes, she turns on Ang. "And you've known?"
I try to come to Ang's defense, but he's quicker than I am.
"Remember when I told you I had a secret, but it wasn't mine to share?" Ang’s tone is laced with guilt. My baby sister doesn't verbally answer, but I can see in her eyes she knows exactly what he's talking about. "This was that thing."
"But why?" Her question is directed at me. "Why make him lie?"
I always knew when the time came to expose my secret it would be hard, but I never thought it would be this difficult to see the disappointment on Gracie's face.
"I wasn't ready for the world to know where I was or what I was doing. Everyone would try to talk me out of it."
"I wouldn't. I've always supported you."
This is true. If there’s been anyone over the years who’s supported me and never judged me for my actions, it's my baby sister. I think it's because, as the youngest, she was constantly being judged, and that causes her to not do the same to others.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just didn't want the others to know.”
I'm still not ready for people to know, but I guess the cat is out of the bag now.
"I'll deal with you"—Gracie points at me—"after I deal with him." She points at Ang.
"Before you yell at me," Ang says as he puts his hands up in surrender, "I realize I may have made a mistake telling your brother."
"No shit," Gracie screeches, and now I'm fully invested in what’s happening.
I was going to walk away and give them their privacy, but now my curiosity’s got the better of me. What could Ang have said to my brother to make Gracie this mad? Luckily, I don't have to wait long to find out.
Her voice continues to escalate as she screams, "I don't know why you thought telling Owen what Jeremy did to me would result in anything short of Owen wanting to kill him."
Hold the phone. "Uh, what exactly did that prick do to you?" I interrupt the two of them to ask.
I never liked Jeremy. He's a self-centered dick who kept my baby sister away from her family. The only time she was allowed to see us was when Owen was in town. Secretly, I’ve alwayssuspected it’s because he's afraid of my brother. As he should be—Owen would rip the man apart.
My sister throws her hands up in frustration. "Great, now Annie is going to know as well."
"I could go ask Owen. I'm sure he would be willing to tell me."
My sister whirls on me. "I thought you didn't want him to know you're in town?" she fires back. And damn if she doesn't know me well enough.
But I don't let her call my bluff. "The secret’s already out, so I might as well go out with a bang."
Gracie glares at me and I glare right back. We both know she's choosing to go toe-to-toe with the wrong sister. I'm the only one who’s as stubborn as her.
"Fine." Gracie caves first, and internally I do a victory dance. No point in gloating out loud since that isn’t the mature thing to do. "Jeremy and I got into a fight one night and he grabbed me hard enough to leave bruises. I left right after that, and haven't seen him since. But now he's blowing up my phone with texts and calls."
That son of a bitch. No wonder Owen wants to kill him. I want to as well. Only, I know for a fact my brother has the skill set to do it without leaving a trace. I, on the other hand, would likely wind up in jail.
"I'm guessing you've blocked him?"
"Multiple times. He's using different numbers to keep at it. At this point, I'm going to have to change my phone number to get him to stop. Or maybe Owen answering my phone and threatening him worked, because he hasn't tried again since then."
I love my sister’s optimism, but I highly doubt that’s the case. Jeremy might be licking his wounds after being bitch-slapped bymy brother, but I have a feeling he's going to come back with a vengeance.
"Your brother spoke to him?" Ang asks.
"Yeah. He didn't give me much choice," Gracie answers with a roll of her eyes, and I have to laugh. I can picture how that argument went. On any given day, it would be a toss-up of who won. But clearly Owen had the upper hand today.
"That's good." Ang sounds hopeful, but I hate to burst his bubble.
