Secrets of the Tulip Sisters

Helen wrapped her arms around herself and seemed to shrink into the wall. “You can’t. It’s not like that. I just...” She started to cry. “Your dad slept with Marilee. When Griffith spent the night, he saw her, you know, after. Griffith felt he had to tell me and he was right to. I just never thought... Of course I was worried, but I never thought Jeff was really like that.”

Kelly hugged her friend, but had no idea what to say. Her mind raced. Why hadn’t Griffith said something to her? He should have told her first. Could her dad really have slept with Marilee? Worse, could he have really cheated on Helen?

“What did my dad say when you talked to him?” she asked.

“He denied it all. He said he’d made a mistake to have her stay in the house and that he would move to a hotel.” She looked up, her expression hopeful. “Did he?”

Kelly felt as if someone had stabbed her in the gut...or the heart. “Not that I know of. I’m sorry.”

Helen whimpered. “I should go home.”

“If that’s what you want, I’ll take you and stay with you. Griffith can hang out here and walk with the kitten and the armoire.” Olivia would understand, Kelly told herself.

“No, you have to stay.”

“What’s going on?”

Kelly turned and saw Griffith had joined them. He moved to Helen and put his arm around her.

“How are you holding up?”

“I’m a little shaky.”

Griffith squeezed her. “I want you to look at me and think happy thoughts. Then I want you to fake laugh. Now.”

Helen sniffed, then did as he asked.

“Good,” he told her. “Marilee is here and she was looking this way.”

“That’s it,” Kelly said firmly, deciding this was the time to worry about her friend. She would deal with Griffith and her father later. “We’re taking you home.”

Helen hesitated, then squared her shoulders. “No. I’m staying. I don’t care that she’s here. I bought my ticket and I’m going to support the craft mall. This is my town, too.”

“I already saved us seats,” Griffith said.

“Thank you.” Helen wiped her face. “I have to go tidy up. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”

“I’ll come with you,” Kelly said quickly.

Kelly stayed close through the restroom visit and sat next to Helen at dinner. When her friend leaned away to talk to the couple on the other side of her, Kelly turned to Griffith.

“When did you find out?” she asked, her voice low. “About my dad and mom?”

“Last Sunday when I stayed.”

“Is that why you left so early?”

“I needed to tell Helen.”

She tried not to show her turmoil, but she had a bad feeling her confusion showed on her face.

“You’re upset,” he said gently.

“Yes, and pissed. You should have said something to me. I had the right to know what was happening in my own house.”

“Why?”

An unexpected question. “Because it’s my dad and my best friend.”

“You weren’t sure how you felt about Helen dating Jeff and I didn’t know if you were ready to be supportive. Trust me, telling her was not fun. The last thing she needed was you being ambivalent. I figured I’d let Helen tell you when she was ready. I wasn’t keeping secrets from you, I was keeping secrets for her.”

Her outrage grew. “I would have been there for her. I was tonight. It wasn’t your decision to make.” She couldn’t believe he’d kept this from her.

His gaze was steady. “Yes, it was, Kelly. Helen is my friend, too.”

But we shouldn’t keep secrets from each other. The thought formed, but she didn’t speak the words, mostly because she wasn’t sure they were true. Of course they kept secrets. They hadn’t known each other that long and while they’d agreed to be a couple, it wasn’t as if they were on the road to falling in love and getting married. In fact Griffith had pretty much promised that would never happen.

“I love Helen,” she said instead. “I would never hurt her.”

“You love your dad, too. What about him? Besides, you weren’t exactly supportive when you found out about their relationship, were you?”

She looked at him and didn’t know what to say.

“I’m sorry if you’re mad at me,” he told her. “I won’t apologize for telling Helen and I won’t apologize for not telling you. That’s between you and her.”

The servers set salads in front of them, Helen turned back and the chance to continue the conversation was lost.

Ignoring the fact that Helen was devastated and Kelly alternated between shame and hurt, the evening went perfectly. The auction items, including a year’s worth of tulips, went for way more than Kelly would have expected. When she got up to go backstage for the fashion show, she spotted her parents sitting together. Marilee looked dazzling while her dad seemed more resigned. She had no idea what might or might not have happened and couldn’t begin to figure out how to handle the situation. There was only one thing she knew for sure.

She turned to Helen. “I’m sorry. I was wrong not to be more supportive when I found out about you and my dad. I’m sorry I wasn’t the kind of friend you felt you could tell from the beginning. I love you and I want to be there for you. Please forgive me and help me do better.”

Helen started to cry and Kelly did, as well. They hung on to each other until Olivia raced over.

“What are you two doing? Stop it this second. There’s an antique furniture and pet fashion show about to start and you’re both in it. Stop it right now!”

Kelly held out one arm. “Group hug,” she announced.

“Fine. Then no more tears. I mean it.”

The three of them hugged, then straightened. Olivia wiped each of their faces, pronounced them camera ready and motioned for them to get in place. Kelly pulled an armoire on a wheeled pallet while Helen held a small black-and-white kitten in her arms. She nuzzled the sweet baby.

“You’re right,” she said when they were backstage again. “This is really helping.”

“I’m glad.” Kelly stopped. “If you and my dad get back together, I want you to know I’ll be really happy for you. I want you to tell me everything.” She wrinkled her nose. “Unless it’s about sex and if you get married, there’s no way I can call you Mom. Otherwise, I’m game for anything. Deal?”

Helen nodded and tried to smile. “Deal.”





31

Kelly waited in the kitchen for her dad to wake up. They’d both had a late night with the fund-raiser. She didn’t know about him, but she sure hadn’t slept well. There’d been a lot on her mind. Not just what had happened between him and Helen, but how it had been handled. While she understood why Griffith hadn’t told her, she didn’t like the implication—that she was a bad friend.

She loved Helen. They were there for each other, depended on each other, yet all this time, Helen had kept a really big secret from her and based on how she’d reacted, her friend hadn’t been wrong.

Kelly didn’t like what that said about her as a person. She’d always thought she was a good and thoughtful friend. That she was dependable. It was kind of a shock to find out that wasn’t actually true.

She poured herself a second cup of coffee. She had to come up with an action plan, or at the very least, vow to do better so she could be the kind of friend she’d always imagined herself to be.