Secrets Everybody Knows Read Online Free Page A

into the house.
    “The sheriff?” Lily asked.
    “He was happy to do it. More or less.”
    Elaine dropped onto the couch and considered sticking her fingers in her ears. She had enough insane chattering going on inside her head. She didn’t need more from the outside.
    “Not a sheriff’s deputy, but the sheriff himself.”
    “The sheriff himself.”
    “So you asked the sheriff to pick up the cookies from Mrs. Coin’s,” Lily said, sounding haughty. She sat down in a leather wingback chair and crossed her legs.
    “Yes. They’re on their way if they aren’t already there.” Beth nodded.
    “And you picked up Elaine and brought her here.” Lily and Beth looked at Elaine, who sat on the couch glaring back at them. If there had been any way to avoid this, she’d have done it. As soon as the festival issues were dealt with, both of them were going to shift into fix-it mode and try to solve her problems. Problem. Lily had never met her problem, and Beth knew him mostly by reputation. Neither of them knew what the problem entailed. No one did. Elaine had been keeping the secret all these years and Johnny hadn't been around to tell.
    “Getting her in the car was the hardest part. Eventually her civic pride won out,” Beth explained.
    “You promised I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone but you two. No phone calls, no visits,” Elaine insisted.
    “I promised.” Beth folded her hands in her lap. It was her Waterloo gesture. Whenever anyone had gotten as much as they were going to get from her, she folded her hands in her lap and pursed her lips. The lips would be next.
    “And Chubby Hubby ice cream.” Elaine reminded her before the lips went into action.
    “Bob is getting it as we speak.”
    “That’s the other thing,” Lily broke in. “You got Bob to do your grocery shopping?”
    “I gave him a detailed list. He’s going to be at the grocery store anyway.” Beth shrugged. “It’ll take him half the time it takes me.”
    “You asked the manager of the grocery store to get your groceries for you.”
    “Yes.”
    “Bob.”
    “Yes.”
    “To put the groceries in the basket for you.”
    “Yes.”
    “And ring them up.”
    “All right already!” Elaine shouted, leaping to her feet. “Lily, get it through your head. Bob is getting Beth’s groceries for her so all she has to do is pick everything up on the way home. How hard is it to understand?”
    Lily stared at Elaine for a beat, then turned back to Beth. “Michael’s father.”
    Elaine stomped into the kitchen. “Christ. Lily, do you have any wine around here? Beer? Rum? Vodka? Rubbing alcohol?”
    “Yes, Michael’s father, but they’re Nonie’s groceries. Elaine, don’t drink rubbing alcohol. It’ll make you go blind,” Beth called.
    Elaine opened every cupboard in the room. Lily actually was a teetotaling schoolteacher. She didn’t even have cooking sherry. Elaine yanked open the fridge. Potato salad, lunch meat, the decimated remains of a rotisserie chicken, brown bottles. Elaine pulled one out. Beer. It might work. After opening all the drawers, she finally found a bottle opener.
    Elaine walked back in making a face as she swigged from a bottle. “My God, this stuff is awful.”
    “That’s Guinness, you cretin. I got it for that cheese soup I made for in-service day last spring.” Lily tapped her pencil on her notepad.
    “It is the second worst thing I’ve ever had in my mouth,” Elaine said.
    “What was the worst?” Lily shot back.
    Elaine froze at the edge of the living room. Her heart paused between one beat and the next as her brain assaulted her nose with the scent of crushed grass and water. The memory seemed to want to grab her bodily and transport her back in time. Tears welled up in her eyes, and heat welled between her legs. All this time later and her body responded the same. He wasn’t even here. Beth stood up. “Now that that’s behind us, can we get down to work? Lily, why don’t you call George and see what he