Page 5 of Lies and Lullabies
“Oh, you’re awake!” I swiveled around again. My daughter fiddled with her car seat straps, trying to spring herself free.
Adam opened Vivi’s door. “Come on, princess. Let’s go see grumpy.”
“You mean Grandpa!” my little girl corrected.
“Right. Just like I said.” He swung her out and onto his hip.
“I’ll unload our things and then come back for you?” I suggested. The house was barely a quarter mile away.
“We’ll walk it,” Adam countered. “She’s a big girl now.”
“Okay. See you there.”
I watched Adam carry my daughter up the wooden steps and onto the store’s screened porch, then I turned the car around in the post office driveway. Idling past the Kreemy Kone, I happened to glance at the couple seated at the picnic table. The woman was watching me, but the guy was reading a magazine. Then, maybe because he sensed my gaze, he looked up, smiling. His mouth fell open in surprise.
And my heart absolutely stopped.
Jonas Smith was sitting right there on the bench. After five years, he barely seemed real. In my mind, he’d become a mythical figure. Back when I’d known him, he’d called himself John Smith. He’d given me a fake name. A fake name, and thus a fake friendship for an entire summer.
And on the very last night, he’d given me a baby.
Then John Smith had left town, and I’d never spoken to him again, had never seen his face. Not in person, anyway. It wasn’t until a year and a half later that I’d spotted him on my computer screen, looking out at me from an ad for a new album calledSummer Nights.
And now he sat casually on the picnic table bench in shorts and a T-shirt. Like a specter from my past.
Stunned, I pressed the gas pedal. But in my rearview mirror I saw that he’d stood up, his eyes following my car.
The woman he was with called to him. “Jonas?” He didn’t respond. Instead, he took off, trotting after me.
Go homewas all I could think to do. But of course, John, orJonas, knew where my father’s house was. Adam would be on his way there too. With Vivi.
Oh God.
I had driven maybe fifty yards, to the place where the road veered left and curved around the lake. But I didn’t make the turn. Instead, I stopped the car in front of the beach. I got out and closed the door. I could hear the slap of flip-flops coming my way.
“Kira,” his voice begged.
With my heart beating wildly, I walked away from him, down the little slope and out onto the town dock. My throat went dry. I knew I wasn’t behaving rationally. The dock was a dead end, unless I planned toswimaway from him.
But there was no escape anyway. The sensible part of my brain knew I would have to deal with the fallout. If he was here in Maine, I was going to have to tell him the truth even if he’d broken my heart.
“Kira.”
I closed my eyes at the sound of his voice. The water lapped gently under the dock. If I turned around, he might not truly be standing there. I held my breath.
That’s when he began to whistle softly. The first four bars of “You Are My Sunshine.”
Goosebumps rose on my arms.
“You remember,” I gasped, whirling around. Five years later, and he still knew to warn me. He hadn’t forgotten that I used to startle if he—or anyone else—approached me from behind.
He walked towards me slowly, his hands spread wide, muscular arms on display. His hair was shorter now, but still the most beautiful shade of sandy blond. “OfcourseI remember, sweetness. Never sneak up on Kira.”
At that, my eyes filled with tears.
“Hey, now,” he said gently. He’d made it all the way out on the dock, so close I could almost touch him. His blue-green eyes regarded me warmly. “I’m sorry to take you by surprise. Don’t I get a hug?”
Lord, I needed to get a grip. I took a step towards him, and he folded me in. He smelled the same, like sunshine and soap.
