Broken Lies

by Rachel Branton

  “Any decision you make is yours.” Saffron said, her arms still around Kendall. “I’m not telling you what to do.”

  It felt so nice to have a big sister to turn to. Maybe two of them. Because Halla was also looking at her with concern from the refrigerator where she was stuffing the uneaten ice cream back into the little freezer.

  “Meanwhile, until you figure it out,” Saffron added, “you can crash here for the next few days.”

  Panic filled Kendall. “Is that all you’re going to stay? Just a few days?”

  “Well, I have to go back sometime. My life’s in Phoenix, and it’s really expensive for me here. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be there for you.”

  “Then did you mean it when you said I could go back to Phoenix with you?”

  A guarded look came into Saffron’s eyes, and her resemblance to their mother startled Kendall. “You’re welcome to stay with me for a little while, but I have only one bedroom, and my apartment is filled with jewelry-making equipment. So it’s not the most comfortable.”

  Halla snorted. “Let me tell you, her beads are everywhere. That’s why she moved out of my apartment.”

  “Well, that and the privacy,” Saffron muttered.

  “We don’t give her too much privacy anyway,” Halla said. “We all have a key.”

  The jealousy Kendall had felt toward Halla returned with a vengeance. “What are you saying?” she demanded of Saffron. “You don’t want me to stay with you?”

  “No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying I don’t have room for Joel. And that if you want to stay longer term, they have an opening at Lily’s House. That’s where I lived after . . . after I lost the baby.”

  “A foster home?” Kendall was aghast. “I’m not a child! I don’t need anyone looking after me.”

  Halla returned to the bed with a box of tissues. “It’s Lily’s House, so not your average foster home. And believe me, Lily will put you to work. She’ll probably try to get you certified by the state so she can get more girls.”

  “Many of us stayed after eighteen,” Saffron added. “I was there until twenty. Anyway, it’s just an option. I’m not sure how long I’ll be staying at my apartment. Some things have happened—”

  “She kissed Tyson tonight,” Halla put in.

  Kendall blinked. “You what? You mean . . .?” So that was why Saffron looked so happy. “I can’t believe it. I thought he was almost engaged.”

  “Looks like we came in the nick of time.” Halla’s voice was sardonic, and Saffron gave her a hard stare. “Well, it’s true.”

  “Tyson and I have a lot to work out, that’s all,” Saffron said. “I’m not jumping into anything, and I don’t want to leave Phoenix, but that might need to change. Anyway, my love life doesn’t have anything to do with what you and Joel decide to do.”

  Kendall pushed away from her sister and jumped from the bed. “It does when you’re willing to have me stay with you but not Joel. If we were married would that make a difference? Because I can march him down to city hall tomorrow. I just don’t see why it matters to you if he camps out on the couch for a few weeks.”

  “How long has he been at his friend’s?” Saffron countered, a flush growing on her face.

  Six months, but Kendall wouldn’t tell her that. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not like it would be a burden. I could make the food, and he could fix things for you when he’s not working.”

  “And who would buy the food?”

  “I would!” The nerve of her. As if Kendall would want her charity. “I can get a job.” She’d have to once her mother cut off her allowance.

  Saffron stared at her, dismay in her eyes. “I’m sorry. He can’t stay with me. I work at home, and there’s not enough room. But you could come with me, and he can move to Phoenix after he finds a job there. Or you could come back here to him when he has a place ready.”

  That wasn’t at all what Kendall wanted. “I can’t be away from him!” What if he found someone else? She’d seen the way his friend’s sister looked at him. Kendall knew Joel loved her, but she didn’t want to leave anything to chance. “I can’t believe you won’t help us.” She threw up her hands. “You know what? Never mind. I don’t need you!” Kendall turned to leave and was surprised to find little Halla blocking her way.

  “Just calm down,” Halla said.

  “Get out of my way!” Kendall tried to push past her, but Halla stood her ground.

  “Is that really what you want? To leave? Where will you go? You have a sister here who loves you and who wants to help. As for Joel, he needs to decide what he wants to do—if he’s going to man up and support your child, or if he plans to keep sleeping on someone’s couch and doing odd jobs. But don’t make it easy for him to do nothing.”

  Her words struck Kendall like a slap. Because for months now it had been her pushing him to get a job, pushing for them to find a place to live, pushing him to be a man. She was tired of it. Bone tired. So tired she wanted to lie down on Saffron’s bed and cry herself to sleep.

  Somehow Saffron knew, whether by the slump of her shoulders or through sisterly intuition, it didn’t really matter. Her arms went around Kendall again. “Please stay,” she said. “We’ll work something out. Our friend Lily has connections if Joel wants to find work. What’s important is that precious baby you’re carrying. I don’t want you to lose her or him like I lost my baby.”

  Suddenly Kendall’s emotions realigned. Her frustration ebbed, she felt more energy, and hope burned in her chest. The baby. Yes, she wanted everything good for this baby. That was the most important thing. More important than herself. More important than even Joel. “Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll stay. Thank you.”

  “Here, come back to the bed. We’ll turn off the light and talk about unimportant stuff.” Saffron cracked a grin. “Like how Halla should join Ice Cream Eaters Anonymous.”

  Kendall smiled despite herself. “Okay.”

  Saffron tucked Kendall’s hair behind her ear, her concerned expression changing to one of surprise. “Nice earrings . . .”

  Kendall pushed her hair farther out of the way. “Thanks. Sorry they’re not the ones you gave me. They’re Mom’s. I borrowed them before I snuck out. I was mad at her.” She shrugged. “She hates it when I borrow her things.”

  Halla peered at the earrings. “Hey, those look like—” She broke off at a shake from Saffron’s head.

  Kendall was glad. She didn’t want anyone telling her how much the earrings cost and why she shouldn’t have taken them. “I’ll give them back tomorrow.”

  Saffron’s smile looked strained, though maybe Kendall was mistaken. “Well, I hope you packed pajamas,” Saffron said.

  Kendall nodded. “I did. But first I really need to pee.” She skirted around Halla, heading for the bathroom, while the others started laughing.

  There was still a sliver of anger in Kendall’s heart at Halla for her interference, but she was honest enough to admit that it was most likely because she was jealous of her relationship with Saffron.

  After she and Joel were married and had the baby, none of this would matter. She just needed to figure out how to make that happen. Maybe going to Phoenix is a good idea, she thought. Joel loved her, and if she wasn’t around, it might set a fire under him to act. If it didn’t, wouldn’t it be better to know that now? Her heart ached at the thought.

  She placed a hand on her stomach, looking in the bathroom mirror. “I promise you that I will always keep you safe. I promise.”

  15

  “Are you sure they’re your earrings?” Halla said as she readied to go down to the pool. “Or that you made them, rather?”

  Saffron looked up from the table, where she was putting together a custom necklace for an order that had come in over the weekend. “Oh, yeah. I never posted pictures of them online either, so no one could copy them. Even if I had, I got some of those beads off a fifty-year-old purse I found at a second-hand store. There’s no way anyone could have re
plicated them. That purse was a find I may never duplicate. I made them for a specific customer, one who obviously used a fake name to contact me.”

  “Well, I told you your mother knew about your jewelry.” Halla pulled on a mesh coverup over her suit.

  “But if she knew where I was all this time, why didn’t she try to contact me?” Saffron scowled. “And why would she buy my earrings?”

  “Because you’re an awesome designer? Because she wanted a connection with you?”

  “I think you’re giving my mother too much credit.” Yet Saffron distinctly remembered the request the client had made of her before sending the required down payment, one that haunted her now.

  Halla laughed. “Maybe. Maybe not. Come on. Let’s get down to the pool before that gorgeous doctor comes to sweep you away.”

  “He won’t be here for hours.” Saffron followed Halla to the door, stopping for her sandals. “What if my sister comes back from school—if that’s where she went.”

  “She’ll text you. Come on.”

  Saffron let Halla propel her down the stairs to the pool area, where a dozen people were already enjoying the facilities. Halla threw her bag on a chair, took off her coverup, and immediately jumped into the pool and began doing laps.

  Saffron removed her own coverup but stretched out on a lounge chair and closed her eyes, basking in the delicious warmth of the sun. With her thoughts of Tyson and trying not to crowd Kendall in the bed, she hadn’t slept much last night. Now thoughts of her mother and the custom earrings wouldn’t leave her head.

  She was grateful for the distraction of her ringing phone. She squinted in the bright light to see who it was but immediately gave it up and answered. “Hey,” she said.

  “Hey, yourself.” Vaughn’s deep voice filled her ear.

  “Hi, Vaughn.”

  “I have news about your car.”

  “Oh, good.” Of course he was calling about the car. “What’s the damage?”

  “Well, it’s just the brakes. No rotor damage.”

  “That’s a relief.” The last time she’d taken her car in too late and had to replace the rotors as well as the brake pads. “They say anything about the weird noise?”

  “Loose belt. Simple fix.”

  “That’s fantastic!” Saffron had been worried about that, especially with all the money she was spending from her savings. “Will they have it ready tomorrow?”

  “Yep, and I’m planning to drive it down to you this weekend—if you’ll still be there.” The question in his voice was unmistakable.

  “I’m not sure how long I’m staying,” she said. “I’ve got to figure something out because this hotel is costing me too much, but I’m not ready yet. I should know more in a few days. Oh, and that reminds me. Halla says she can drive back Friday, so maybe she can bring my car and save you the trip. Because I’m not sure if I’ll be ready to go back even then, and I don’t want you to be stranded here.”

  Silence met her through the phone, and for a moment Saffron wondered if she’d offended him. Then he said, “That’s nice of Halla. What will you do without a car until then?”

  “I don’t really need to drive anywhere.” She hesitated, deciding how much to share. “My sister is staying here, and she has a car, if I need something. And I have other . . . friends.” It wasn’t like she could tell him about Tyson. Or could she?

  “So how’s it going with your family anyway?”

  The single question was all it took. She started explaining about Kendall and how she’d asked if Joel could stay with her, and how bad an idea that was.

  “I’d offer to try to get him a job at the sports store, but from what you say, I don’t think he could do the work.”

  “Not without constant supervision, I don’t think. I wouldn’t want everyone to have to deal with that.”

  “And your mother?”

  Saffron didn’t want to go too far into the subject of her mother with him. Even if she’d wanted to tell Vaughn about the baby and why she’d left, it wasn’t something she could do over the phone out here in public. “I’m not sure I’ll see her again. I didn’t say everything I wanted to, but I don’t really think she cares.” Saffron tried to stifle a sigh.

  “That bothers you.”

  “No, I’m fine with it.” Saffron was beginning to feel a little hot under the sun, and she wiped her neck with her towel.

  “Well something’s bothering you. You sound exactly like you did when you told me about that employee stealing money from the register.”

  Saffron gave a wry grin, though he couldn’t see her. Something was bugging her, and she did need to share it with someone—preferably someone who hadn’t met her mother. “Okay, okay. A few months ago I had this client who requested a set of earrings. She said she was estranged from her mother and wanted something very special to show she still loved her despite everything and that she wanted her back in her life. Those weren’t her exact words, but close. It was different enough that it stood out in my mind. I made some fabulous earrings with unique one-of-a-kind beads. Then last night, my sister shows up wearing the earrings.”

  “She ordered them?”

  “No, she’d taken them from my mother’s jewelry box.”

  “That is weird. What do you make of it? I mean, unless you have another estranged sister who could have ordered them.”

  “I don’t. And now I’m not sure what to think. I mean, you should have seen her yesterday. Not even a hug. If my—if I had a child, even one I’d had a falling out with, I would still give him the biggest hug ever, especially after almost nine years.”

  “I’m sorry,” Vaughn said. “I can’t imagine how that made you feel. But maybe the earrings are a good sign.”

  “That’s what Halla thinks.”

  “You should talk to your mother again.”

  The idea made her stomach hurt. “Maybe.”

  “I meant what I said about coming with you, if you need someone else.”

  That made her weird mood lighten. “I know. Thanks. But I’m a big girl.”

  “Oh, of that I’m very aware.” His voice was seductive, and a little thrill ran up her spine.

  What was wrong with her? She and Vaughn were broken up and she’d reconnected with Tyson. Vaughn and I are just friends now.

  “Thanks for telling me,” he added. “I think I’ve learned more in these last two days about you than I did in the past year.”

  “I guess you were right about me having issues to work through.” There was so much she hadn’t told him—most of which she would probably never share now.

  Another long pause before he spoke again. “Right now I’m wanting more than anything to ask you something, but I’ve got to teach a class in five minutes. Enjoy your time at the pool.”

  “Wait, how do you know . . .”

  He laughed. “I do, that’s all. Make sure to use plenty of sunscreen. You know how you burn. Talk to you later.”

  She wanted to ask later when—tonight? Tomorrow? But he’d already hung up. Saffron stared at her phone, feeling immensely better. She hadn’t solved the problem with her mother or the weirdness of her buying the earrings, but it had helped to tell him.

  What if she’d confided all of it months ago? Including about the baby? He’d wanted her to, but it had seemed too personal then. Now not confiding in him seemed odd. No wonder he’d been concerned. “Sorry, Vaughn,” she murmured.

  Sweat had begun running down her back. Time for a little dip in the pool. She tucked away her phone and went to join Halla in the water.

  Tyson left work feeling unsettled. He’d eaten lunch with Jana today, and he’d told her he needed space to work things out with Saffron. The look in Jana’s eyes had almost killed him. She hadn’t cried or become upset but had stared at him sadly, as if she’d been expecting his reaction all along. For a brief moment, he wished he’d asked her to marry him last week or a month ago. What had he been waiting for?

  No, he couldn’t wish that because he would
never have had this opportunity with Saffron, and he might never have learned the truth about his son. He had to follow his heart. Jana had a good career, and she was a capable woman who could take care of herself. He had no choice but to let her go and see where this thing with Saffron led.

  At his parents’ house, Joel and the other two workers Tyson had hired had already arrived to finish the back ramp, so he got them started without going inside the house. “Remember there are bonuses if we finish tonight. I’m going to grab dinner and buy some stain. After that, I’ll be staining the front ramp if you have a question. If you need something before then, talk to my dad.”

  “Sure thing,” Joel said.

  Tyson waited until they were hard at work before jogging back to his car, smiling in anticipation of seeing Saffron. He didn’t have long before he had to be back to check on the men, but they would finish the main job tonight, and he’d be able to take more time to be with her. More time like yesterday, which had been a complete step back in time. She was so beautiful, and every bit as fun as the girl he’d loved, only better. He wanted what they’d had—and more.

  There were so many things he planned to do with her. He would show her where he attended med school in Washington DC, and take her to New York. They’d go to stores featuring name brand jewelry designs, and he’d buy her anything she wanted. He’d take care of her. He’d make all the pain of the past go away.

  Somehow.

  Moments later, thoughts of Jana crowded back in. He hoped she was okay. None of this was fair to her, but there didn’t seem to be an option that gave everyone what they wanted or needed. After parking at the Rodeway Inn, Tyson checked his phone, thinking maybe he should text Jana something, and saw four new messages from his mother. The first one asked why he hadn’t come in after he’d gotten the men started on the back ramp. The last one read: Please forgive me. What can I do to make things better between us?

  He didn’t doubt his mother’s regret, and he knew he wouldn’t stay mad at her forever. Already the anger he’d felt on Saturday was fading. She couldn’t have foreseen what had happened to Saffron, and he believed she wanted the best for him.