Secrets in Summer

“What? No. No, I like making it from scratch. It takes more time, and I have to stand here and stir, but the taste is worth it. Ah, I’ve got a bag of mini marshmallows, too.”


“How do you know my stepfather?”

Oh, boy. Darcy continued stirring, considering her answer. “I was married to him,” she admitted. She hoped Willow knew her stepfather had been married before.

“Wait, what? Okay, I’ve heard about you.” Willow relaxed in her chair. “Isn’t it odd that you live next to us?”

“I’ve lived here for three years. It was my grandmother’s house.”

“Does your grandmother live here, too?”

“No, she died a few years ago. It’s okay—she was in her eighties. She’d had a good life.”

“My grandmother, my mom’s mother, works in Vegas. We don’t see her very often. My mother doesn’t approve of her. My dad’s mother—my real dad—well, I’ve never met her. I don’t see my real dad much. I’m supposed to say my birth dad. He lives out west somewhere….”

“That’s kind of the way my parents are,” Darcy told her. “They got divorced a long time ago. My father got a new wife and moved to Florida and never gets in touch with me—”

“Really?” Willow brightened at Darcy’s words. “My birth dad doesn’t either. I mean, he never sends me a Christmas present or even a birthday card.”

Darcy carefully poured the hot chocolate into two mugs and added the mini marshmallows on top. She set one mug on the kitchen table in front of Willow and one mug across from the girl. She handed Willow a spoon and took one for herself.

“Careful,” Darcy said. “It might be too hot.”

“I like watching the marshmallows melt.”

“I do, too.”

Willow stirred her cocoa. “Swiss Miss has a packet of these really tiny marshmallows.”

“Cool.”

“Plus, it’s quicker than making it your way.”

While Willow bent over her mug, stirring the marshmallows, Darcy studied the girl. She had her mother’s abundant red hair and green eyes. She had her mother’s body type, too. Darcy could understand why a guy would be attracted to this fourteen-year-old even in her jeans shorts and a loose cotton T-shirt.

“I’ll have to try Swiss Miss sometime,” Darcy said.

“Yeah.” Willow sipped her drink. “This is good, though.”

Muffler swanned into the room, waving his glorious long-haired black tail.

“Oh, he’s beautiful!” Willow cried.

“He certainly thinks so.”

In one light leap, the cat jumped into Willow’s lap.

“He likes me!”

“He’ll like you more if you pet him.”

For a while, only the sound of Muffler’s loud purring filled the room. What next? Darcy thought. They say if you save someone’s life, you’re responsible for them forever, which Darcy always thought was kind of backward, because if you save someone’s life, shouldn’t they be responsible for you, in a sort of turnabout is fair play? Besides, she hadn’t really saved the girl’s life. Except maybe she had. Getting hooked on heroin was a slow and ugly death sentence. Willow had asked Darcy not to tell her parents, but Darcy thought she had to. The girl was young and impressionable and too pretty for her own good.

She deliberated about what to ask Willow. She didn’t want to start a series of monosyllabic responses to boring adult questions. Besides, she wasn’t a certified therapist and Willow had a lot to process. She didn’t feel comfortable letting the girl return to an empty house, though.

“Want to watch TV? Until your parents get home? On Demand? Maybe Pretty Little Liars?”

“Cool! My parents won’t be home till midnight.”

“Want me to pop some popcorn?”

“No, I’m good.” Willow stood up, holding Muffler in her arms.

Darcy led Willow into the living room. They settled at either end of the sofa. Darcy pushed the buttons on the remote control until they’d gotten to the show, then handed it to Willow.

Willow raised the volume slightly. When the show began, she took a deep breath. Obviously being on a sofa, watching television, was a safe place for her.

Darcy had never watched the show. She was stunned at the perfect beauty of the actresses, and especially liked Alison, who was worried about her sanity. Her mind raced as the show went on: She wanted to be with Willow when her parents came home. She wanted to make the events of the evening clear. Somehow she had to get to the doing heroin without talking anymore about sex, since Boyz had made it clear it was none of her business. But heroin…

As if Willow had read Darcy’s mind, she said, “Will you come with me when my parents get home?”

“If you want me to.”

Willow chewed on her thumb, then spoke so lightly Darcy could hardly hear her. “Logan really is my boyfriend. And all the girls at home are doing it.”

Darcy gasped. “All the girls at home are doing heroin?”

Willow laughed out loud. “No! I meant they’re all having sex. Or kind of sex. They give their boyfriends BJs. That keeps everybody happy and no one gets pregnant.”

Words fail me, Darcy thought, and couldn’t speak. The girl at the other end of the sofa had a sprinkling of cinnamon freckles over nose and cheeks. If Willow wore her hair in braids…“I wonder if Anne of Green Gables ever gave BJs to Gilbert Blythe,” she mused.

Willow burst out laughing so loudly that Muffler, insulted, jumped off her lap.

“Wait, what? That is a very bizarre thought!” Turning on the sofa, she studied Darcy. “You really were married to my stepfather?”

“I was.”

“You were a waitress when he met you.”

“Yes, that’s right.” Darcy smiled, remembering. “At Bijoux. I had so much fun working there. So many great friends.”

“Why do you live on Nantucket?”

“My grandmother left me this house. I sort of grew up in it, and I’ve always loved it. Plus, I had finished my degree in library science, and there was a job at the children’s library. Everything fell into place.”

“My stepfather thinks he’s going to open a real estate company here, on this island. He says Nantucket has cachet.”

“Do you think you’ll move here?”

“Gosh, I hope not!” Willow made a grimace and covered her mouth. “Sorry. I mean I know some people totally choose to live here, but, wow, there’s no mall or Dairy Queen.”

“I love Dairy Queen. When I go off island, I try to get to one for a Pecan Mudslide.”

“I love Mudslides, too! They’re my favorite!”

“Well, you know,” Darcy said in a jokey voice, “pecans are very healthy.”

“I try not to eat too much ice cream. Mom says I can’t afford to get fat, that as I get older, any weight I put on will be hard to get off. But I don’t know any kids my age here. So I get kind of bored. I’m not big on going to the beach, either, and the one time I went, Logan hit on me.” She sighed. “You see how well that turned out.”

Darcy said, “I think you’re perfect, maybe even too thin….” She let her voice trail off. She didn’t want to contradict anything Autumn had told Willow. Still, she had an idea….“Willow, do you like kids?’

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