She pulled her iPod out of her pocket and I knew I was losing traction. That’s when Mr. Hill stepped out of his house and headed for his car. He was a lawyer in town who rented out space in the old town hall. Rumor had it he would have to close his practice soon.
“Have you heard that Mr. Hill might have to close his practice? He’s been telling people there’s not enough work.”
Lilah glanced over to watch him slide into his black Lexus and then shook her head. “That’s not why he’s closing up shop.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“He’s having an affair with his receptionist,” she said matter-of-factly.
“What? How do you know that? You haven’t even been in town that long.”
She shrugged. “I keep my eyes open.”
We turned toward Main Street and I narrowed my eyes, trying to work out her accusation. I’d never heard about an affair. Mr. Hill and his wife had been married for something like thirty years. It didn’t make sense.
“Who told you ab—”
She sighed and pulled out her headphones. “No one told me anything. I saw them in the window of his office the other morning. It wasn’t that hard to connect the dots. It’s the closing of his practice that I haven’t been able to work out. I think his wife has something to do with it.”
I reached for her arm and pulled us to a stop. “Wait. Were you snooping?”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t call it that. Snooping implies that I went out of my way to find out Mr. Hill’s secrets. In reality, he was flaunting his affair for anyone to see. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time.”
She pulled her arm out of my grip and kept walking. I ran to catch up to her. She seemed so sure of herself, not like someone embarrassed to have stumbled upon an affair.
“Does that happen often? You being in the right place at the right time?”
She smirked. “Sort of.”
“What else do you know?”
Her bright eyes slid to me, alight with excitement. “I’ve been back in Blackwater for two weeks and the things I know could turn this entire town on its head.”
“Like what?”
She pointed to a nondescript blue house we were passing on the left. “It’s a lot of little things, like that woman that lives there. Mrs. Peterson, right? She steals roses from her neighbor’s garden, and Mr. Jenner goes through his next door neighbor’s trash.”
I stared at the houses as we passed them, wondering if Lilah was telling the truth.
She continued, “We’re all consumed with the petty drama, the minor stuff settled right up at the top, like roses and trash. Not many people realize how easy it is to dig a little deeper.”
She sounded like she knew from experience.
“You’re saying there are bigger secrets? Like what?”
The curl of her lips slowly faded to a straight line as she shrugged.
“Things people would prefer to keep buried.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Lilah
The warning bell rang through the hallway, indicating that I had less than a minute to make it across the school for physics. They gave us five minutes to get from one period to the next and I’d thought I’d snub my nose at the establishment by attempting to use the restroom. Mistake. I shoved my physics textbook into my backpack and slammed my locker closed. I spun on my heel, prepared to make a run for it, when I nearly ran straight into Ashley.
She laughed. “Sorry, I was calling your name but you didn’t hear me.”
I smiled, already moving in the direction of my physics class. “Sorry. I’m kind of in a hurry.”
Her smile fell. “Oh, it’s cool. I just wanted to see if you had plans for this weekend. I think Trent is going to lift some stuff from his mom’s boyfriend’s stash.”
I withheld a cringe. “Actually, I’ll probably just stick close to home this weekend. Binge on Netflix and do that history report I’ve been putting off.”
In truth, I wanted to start working on my garden.
“Sounds fun, except for the fact that Chase will be there.” She made a fake gagging motion. “Yeah he’s hot, but he’s such a goody two-shoes.”
“He’s not that bad,” I shrugged, taking another step back.
“I’m sorry, are you on crack? He’s one of the chosen people.”
Students rushed around us trying to get to class before the tardy bell, but Ashley wasn’t the least bit preoccupied by the threat of detention.
“Listen, I gotta get to class. I’ll call you later.”
Before she could reply, I took off. I knew I looked like a dork running with my backpack jostling around, but I fully embraced it. Our school had zero tolerance for tardiness. Every day, the principal reiterated over morning announcements that being tardy would land you in detention, no exceptions.
I rounded the corner into the science wing and was two feet from the door when the final bell rang, marking my doom with its shrill sound. Mr. Jenkins stood behind his desk prepared to start class, and I knew there was no hope. He’d see me as soon as I walked into the room.