Secrets Everybody Knows (11 page)

“I did not black out. I fell asleep. I must have slept longer than I thought.” Elaine walked into the kitchen. Her mouth was dry, and she could still taste Johnny on her lips. She filled a glass from the tap.

“Twenty-four hours? What did you do to get so tired?” Kitty followed her into the kitchen.

“Honey, your sister is right. It’s not normal to sleep that much. Do you have any other symptoms?” Her mother followed on Kitty’s heels. “Chills perhaps?”

“Can we go back to that part where I’m right? I’d like to commemorate it for posterity.” Kitty sat down at the table and picked up the bottle of Bailey’s sitting there. “Let me guess, this is the first one. It’s only two-thirds empty.”

“I don’t have chills. I was just really tired. The festival planning has been very stressful this year without Beth to help and then Mr. McMannus having a heart attack.”
And Johnny coming home because of it.
Elaine filled the glass again and sat down across the table from Kitty.

“Speaking of whom, you’ll never guess what I heard yesterday.” Her mother took the chair between them. Kitty rolled her eyes at Elaine. “I was having lunch with Lou from the recovery unit and he said he got a call from Johnny McMannus.”

The glass slipped out of Elaine’s fingers, spilling water down the quilt and bouncing on the floor.

“Good heavens, Elaine. What happened? Have you been doing that a lot? It could be a sign of a neurological problem.”

“Why did Johnny call the recovery unit?”

Her mother stood up. “I want to get you in to the emergency room. This could be serious.”

Elaine planted her feet on the floor. “Why did Johnny call the recovery unit?”

“Elaine, don’t argue with me. We’re taking you to the hospital.” Her mother grabbed her arm. For a sixty-year-old woman, she had the strength of a bear, but Elaine had gravity on her side.

“Answer the question.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. If I answer, will you go?”

Elaine weighed her options. Her mother had always been a big fan of medical intervention, even before she got her nursing degree a year ago. Now she had not only motherly impulse behind her, but professional experience as well. Nothing short of time travel was going to help Elaine, but a CT scan would satisfy her mother. She glanced across the table and found her sister was wearing a disturbing expression as well. Kitty had narrowed her eyes and raised one eyebrow. Her sister was registering something beyond the end of her own nose. This would end badly. “Fine. I’ll go to the ER if you tell me why Johnny McMannus called the recovery unit.”

“He called to find out what he had to do to get his mother in. Happy?”

“His mother?”

Elaine’s mother threw up her hands. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s just realized she’s an alcoholic. It doesn’t matter. Lou told him she had to be willing, and if she wasn’t, recovery wouldn’t work. Now, I’m going to start the car. You change clothes and chop-chop.” She walked out.

“Johnny?” Kitty asked.

“Yes, Johnny McMannus. I was friends with his sister for years, you know.” Elaine stood up and shook off the quilt. She was still wearing yesterday’s clothes. If she changed, Kitty would have more time to interrogate her. These clothes would do.

“Just ‘Johnny’?”

“Leave it alone, Kitty,” Elaine snarled. “It’s nothing. A slip of the tongue. Can we go?”

Kitty tapped her manicured nails on the table one last time before standing up. “All right, but this isn’t done.”

“When is anything ever done with you?” Elaine stomped through the living room. “I’m still fighting the same battles with you that I was when we were kids.”

Chapter 7

“What are you doing?” Sue demanded.

“Admiring the basement floor, what does it look like I’m doing?” Johnny sat back on his heels and stretched. After spending most of yesterday trying to get his mother into rehab, he’d decided to tackle home and garage repair today. Will and Dale, Dad’s dour mechanics, had been enthusiastic about the idea of straightening things up. It wasn’t just the subs Johnny bought for lunch from Sinkers next door to the garage either. They finished that day’s scheduled work in half the time so they could start the cleanup. Then they had to flip a coin to see who had to stop working on the parts room to work on Jade Kimball’s Crossfire while she leaned on it looking perturbed that any man would choose cleaning over her. She would never understand that she wouldn’t be a draw for either Will or Dale. They viewed her as inaccessible as Farrah Fawcett on the ancient poster still hanging on the back of the storage closet door. Johnny ended up doing the repair himself while Jade leaned over his shoulder trying to seduce him and telling him what a wonderful manicurist his sister was.

As happy as Will and Dale were, Sue was suspicious.

“Why are you fixing the hot water heater now?”

“Because it’s leaking and you can’t use it. How long have Mom and Dad been boiling water to wash with?”

“I don’t know. I have my own water heater in the apartment. I don’t use a lot of hot water here.”

“Except when you wash dishes,” Johnny pointed out.

Sue folded her arms. “Dad said he was going to get to it.”

Johnny shook his head. “Whatever. I’m getting to it now.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s broken.” Johnny stood up and turned on the water. “One more thing down.”

“Why is that broken window all covered in tape?”

“Because tomorrow I’m going to get a piece of glass cut to fit the hole and I’m going to replace it.” Johnny started for the stairs, but stopped at the furnace to pull out the filter. It was black.

“Oh, gross.”

“Yeah. Another thing on the list.” He shoved the filter back in and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket.

“What’s that?”

“My shopping list for Home Depot.”

“There’s a lot of stuff on that list.”

Johnny shoved the paper back in his pocket. “No duh.” He headed for the stairs.

“Where are you going to get the money for that?”

“Right now from Mr. Mastercard.” He ushered his sister through the basement door before closing it. “I fixed the burners on the stove. When did those stop working?”

Sue turned on all the burners. When she looked up again it wasn’t with happiness, but deeper suspicion. “How did you fix them?”

“Toothbrush. There was a little buildup where the gas comes out.”

“Why are you doing this?” Sue squared her shoulders as she repeated her question.

“I told you. Because it’s broken.” Johnny walked to the kitchen door and opened it so he could tighten the hinges.

“This stuff has been broken for years, some of it.”

“I’m not surprised. I don’t want it to be that way anymore.”

“Anymore, or until you leave again?”

Johnny studied her face, trying to decide what she wanted out of his answer. That would at least give him a place to start. He couldn’t exactly tell her it was Elaine’s decision whether he stayed or not. This was why he’d never come back before. Layers of guilt and desire and shame and wishful thinking overlapped one another like the mattresses from the fairy tale about the princess and the pea. Too many people he loved had been hurt by his inability to both keep his mouth shut around unfriendly sheriffs and his hands off his sister’s only friend who also happened to be underage. Now he would have to choose between leaving again and hurting a lot of people or staying and hurting Elaine by not being able to come out of the closet with her.

Unless he could somehow turn himself into a hero and save the day. That was looking more and more impossible by the moment. “Try to be Zen about it. Enjoy the moment.”

“Zen? I thought you were in Florida, not California.” Sue managed a flickering smile. “Thanks for fixing the burners. Maybe you can show me what you did so I can fix it myself? You know, next time.”

Johnny nodded. “Sure, if you promise not to get Mom and Dad any alcohol or cigarettes.”

Sue bristled. “I didn’t give them any alcohol or cigarettes.”

“Then why is Dad upstairs smoking in a room with an oxygen tank? Did they give him cigarettes at the hospital? Maybe that’s the same place they got that bottle of rotgut they’ve been sharing all afternoon. Sue, you can’t give them that stuff.”

“You can’t tell me what to do.”

“Yes, I can. We’re going to an Al Anon meeting tonight.”

“What? I can’t leave. Dad is sick. Who’s going to take care of him?”

“Too much to ask of Mom, I guess.”

“Mom can’t–” Sue cut herself off. Her face twisted into a seriously ugly expression. Johnny thought her head might start spinning around or she might breathe fire. Instead she spat venom. “Look, you don’t get to come back after fourteen years and start issuing orders. I’m not going to any self-help meeting and neither are you. You’ve upset Mom and Dad enough without embarrassing them too. Did you stop to think who might see you at that meeting?”

“Yes, I did. That’s why I wanted to go. I want to show people that things are going to change. You think no one knows what’s going on here? You think it’s a big secret that our parents are drunks and our dad is violent? Please. The only secret is what a huge mess Dad has made of the money, and that’s just because Larry Phelps doesn’t air other people’s dirty bankbooks.”

“What do you mean?”

“Money. There’s no money. Dad has screwed things up to an amazing degree. His accountant isn’t speaking to him anymore. He screamed obscenities at me when I called. The suppliers are refusing to deliver any more parts until the bills get paid. I’ve been taking money out of the till and getting parts at Auto Zone when I need them. The mortgage on the house is behind.”

“No, that can’t be. There is no mortgage on the house. Grandma and Grandpa paid it off a long time ago.”

“And Dad took out another mortgage on it six years ago. The money’s all gone. He hasn’t even paid his taxes.”

Sue slumped back on the counter. “Taxes,” she murmured. “He told me it was going to be mine. He said I was getting everything in the will. The house, the business, Great-Grandma’s silver, everything.”

“Well, right now it’s a race between the bank and the township to see who’s going to get it first. There’s a year of back taxes unpaid.”

Sue stiffened. “I’m gonna kill him.”

Johnny grabbed her around the waist before she got out of the kitchen. He clapped a hand over her mouth and carried her outside. Behind the garage, he stopped. “I’m going to let you go now. I need you to focus on not killing anyone.”

As soon as he released her, she started running for the house. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. “Let me go,” she sobbed. “It’s not fair.”

“I know. It sucks. He’s managed to throw away three generations of work and she’s let him do it. That’s why we can’t let it go on. I have a plan and it’s going to take some effort, but I think we can save the farm at least.” Johnny grabbed her shoulders. “I’m not going to leave you hanging again. I’m doing the best I can, but I need your help.”

Sue cursed and sniffled. “Fine. What do we have to do?”

“Tonight, Al Anon. Tomorrow, meeting at the bank. Next week I’m going to see a new accountant. Mrs. Bennetti’s grandson. He said he would be willing to look at the books.”

Sue nodded. “I’ll get some dinner together for Mom and Dad to not eat. What time is the meeting?”

Johnny sighed. Maybe he could be a hero to someone.

* * * *

Elaine finally got home after soothing Lily’s hysteria at being left alone with the festival three days before it was due to start. Kitty was sitting on her porch sipping a Coke and looking calculating. Three hours in the ER with their mother demanding every test imaginable to make sure that Elaine’s marathon nap was nothing more than a nap, and Kitty hadn’t said a peep. Now she was waiting on the porch. No good could come of this.

“What do you need, Kitty?” Elaine asked, unlocking her door.

“I don’t think you want to have this conversation outside.” Kitty stood.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’ve finally solved a mystery that’s been plaguing me for fifteen years.”