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She heaved a great sigh. “I promise.”
“And not like you promised not to tell Tammy.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “You really can’t tell anyone, or there could be ramifications.”
“Like what?” Mom asked suspiciously.
“The people that I put away are bad people,” I answered, leaving the rest for her to her imagination.
“I promise,” she said more convincingly this time.
We had a group hug, and Dad and I went back to work. I clocked in late, but Dad said not to worry about it. I worked an extra hour at the other end of the day because I didn’t want to pull the “son of the owner” card with my manager. I drove home to find Tammy had cooked dinner. It was corn on the cob with hamburgers, exactly what my belly was craving.
“This is really yummy,” I said around mouthfuls.
She shrugged. “It’s nothing special.”
“How did you get home in time to cook?” I asked.
“You were late,” she pointed out.
I nodded, accepting that explanation.
“So, did you tell your parents?”
“Yeah.” I finished up and took my plate to the sink. “Thanks for encouraging me to do that. The only thing I’m worried about is my mom telling her church friends.”
“Oh.” Tammy gave me a worried glance. “She wouldn’t do that, would she?”
I shrugged. “I thought she wasn’t going to tell you, but she did. I think I didn’t have a choice. I had no right to keep the story from her, and now I just have to trust that she’ll do the right thing.”
Tammy bussed her own plate and came to stand beside me, wrapping her arms around me. “You did the right thing. Both today and in the past.”
I kissed the top of her head, letting one arm linger on her shoulders. “Have you reconsidered telling me what’s going on?”
She pulled back instantly, as if stung. “Nothing’s ‘going on.’”
I sighed. If I could tell her about the worst time in my life, surely, she could tell me whatever was eating at her? It was obviously bad enough to make her sick, or she wouldn’t be so sensitive about what she ate. I considered myself a pretty understanding guy. Whatever she was holding on to would only get worse if she let it come between us. But it wasn’t my call to make. I didn’t want to argue, so I just let it go.
24
TAMMY
“You know, I was thinking,” I said over breakfast. “Those houses on the TV shows have nothing on this one.”
“Really?” Mike humored me.
“Yeah,” I argued. “They have open concepts, but we have the forest. They have two bathrooms, but we have a dry bar in the basement.”
“Should we invite the camera crews here to take footage?” he teased, popping a bite of egg in his mouth.
“No,” I said, “but I think we should invite Macy and Lindsey and their families over for a cookout. It’ll be fun. We can show off our new digs.”
“Sure, I’m game,” Mike said.
“Great!” I leaned forward to kiss him on the nose. “I’ll text Lindsey and Macy.”
“I’ll pick up some groceries,” he offered. “If you make a list, dogs and buns and plates and everything.”
I nodded. “I’ll ask the girls to bring salads.”
