“I still can’t believe it. An inch of snow,” Lena said to Rachel. “Should I put you on video, so you can see? I’m in the yard now, and listen to it crunch under my feet.”
“Wow.”
“Thankfully, the party planner insisted on a tent.”
“Smart,” Rachel agreed.
“She’s been worth every penny. Oops, I found more trash.”
Lena bent down toward the glint of silver. Another protein-bar wrapper, the fourth one this month. Someone on Rudy’s staff. Lena suspected the new guy with all the muscles. He went shirtless at every possible opportunity, no matter the weather.
“What do you think would have happened?” Rachel said.
“If we didn’t have the tent?” Lena straightened up. “It probably would have been fine. The roads are clear and the sun will melt everything.”
“Not the tent.” Rachel spoke in a whisper. “Seeing Annie Perley has dragged it all up. I couldn’t sleep last night. We should’ve told the truth. Like I wanted to.”
Lena crumpled the wrapper in her fist. A bitter taste rose in the back of her throat. “Nothing good would have happened.”
“What about what’s right?”
“Honey, Tim Meeker was a crappy father and a horrible husband,” Lena whispered. “In his final moments, your father helped us. That’s what’s right.”
Lena swallowed, hard, and stared out over the neighborhood. A jogger bobbed up the road, stopped at Lena’s driveway, put her hands on her knees.
“I’ll call you back,” Lena said, her voice dry. “Laurel’s here.”
Laurel hadn’t seen Lena’s wave. She reached into the pocket of her running tights and slipped out her phone.
“Laurel!” Lena shouted, and Laurel spun around quickly and dropped the phone on the road. She bent to pick it up.
“Is it broken?” Lena said.
“No.” Laurel held up the phone. “It’s all right.”
“Well.” Lena turned in a slow circle, arms extended. “What do you think? Do you want to come inside the tent to see? Oh dear.” Another wrapper lay on the ground by the gate. This was getting ridiculous. She was going to have to say something to Rudy.
She straightened up and turned all the way around again, but Laurel was gone, vanished so quickly it was like she’d never been there.
“That was odd,” Lena said aloud to the empty yard.
She’d check in with Annie after graduation. Lena considered herself an expert on dirty secrets, and Laurel Perley sure looked like a girl who was keeping one.