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“Your grandmother has never been very good at keeping secrets, and apparently you had one.”
Brenda felt the color drain from her face. Everything wavered around her—the familiar fluffy carpet, her sapphire-blue couch, the framed photograph of a lotus blossom above her mantel.
Best Kept Secrets.
She remembered now that Billy had mentioned her book release. If he knew about it, he probably wasn’t the only one.
“You told?” Somehow, her numb lips managed to form the words.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” CeCe said woefully. “I let my pride and excitement go to my head. I told them not to spread it around, but…”
“Them?”
“Oh, just a few friends at the home. Bryce, of course, but he didn’t say anything. I’m not sure who it was, but the responsibility is mine. I should have been more careful.”
Her grandmother looked so unhappy that Brenda couldn’t stand it. She put her arms around her and squeezed. “Don’t beat yourself up, Granny. It’ll be fine. I’m not mad.”
“You might lose your job!” Granny wailed. “And it’s all my fault.”
“What?”
“Your school knows.” Her mother spoke more gently than Brenda would have expected. “As soon as CeCe called me, I came to do what I could. I’ve already reached out to a PR crisis manager. I have a lawyer on standby. I’ve come up with a plan B and C and D.”
Brenda straightened up and put a hand to her forehead. This was her mother in full take-charge mode. “Why so quickly? We’re on Thanksgiving break.”
“I’ve been told the school board is having a meeting about it.”
“About…”
“About whether they can continue to employ a fourth grade teacher who publishes erotic thrillers. Some parents have been posting about it on Facebook. It’s blowing up everywhere.”
Oh God. Her worst nightmare was actually coming to pass. Using a pen name hadn’t been enough separation. She should have chosen a different one, ditched the Brenda, been more careful.
Not told her grandmother.
A sick ball formed in her stomach. She might well lose her job. No school board welcomed controversy, and parents could get riled up about all kinds of things. She’d already had to defend a few of her choices to the principal after a parent complained. So far, the school had always had her back, but this might be the opening for an unhappy parent to exploit.
Was she on the verge of losing both the man she loved and the job she loved?
“If they try to fire her, they’ll have to go through me first,” Granny declared.
“No need to be so dramatic, CeCe. Brenda doesn’t need that job and never did.” Her mother brushed her hands together as if that was that. “That’s why I have a plan A that will take care of everything.”
“If you’re thinking I can make book-writing pay my bills, that’s a ways off.”
“God no, that’s not at all what I’m thinking. Come home to Connecticut. That’s the best plan. If you insist on teaching, you can find a job there. You can make a fresh start.”
Because clearly, her mother thought she’d made a mess of this one. And she might have a point. Just when she was really beginning to feel part of Lake Bittersweet, she’d screwed everything up. Maybe she should leave town.
She could handle getting fired. But she’d made that horrible agreement with her mother to put her relationship with Galen on pause. Would he understand? Would he hate her for it? What if he didn’t want her back? Seeing Galen around town, knowing that she’d blown it, that she’d never even told him what he meant to her, and that they might never again sit by the fire sipping wine, or run outside naked under the stars, or spend a snowy morning in bed, that she might never again get to watch Galen wield a chainsaw or pick twigs from his hair…it broke her heart. She’d be better off living somewhere without constant reminders of the most pure soul she’d ever fallen in love with.
Galen would probably prefer it if she left. It wouldn’t be easy on him if she stayed. If his crush had been painful, a breakup would be even worse. For his sake alone, she should leave with her mother.
You’re being dramatic. It’s just a pause. He’ll understand. I did it for him, to bail him out.
She wheeled around to face the front windows, hiding the tears springing to her eyes.
Goddamn. She should have figured out another way, anything but allowing her mother to control her love life.
