Read Online A Field Guide to Deception by Jill Malone - Free Book Online

sink, frightened, baffled, washing the same plate over again. Liv administered pills, took any assault, returned with soup and water and another dose. Ugly. Mean and ugly and frail.
    â€œMy mother,” Liv said. “My mother’s in tremendous pain and I’m bringing her soup. Everything she ever wanted.”
    Claire thought of herself in the car on the roadside. Her aunt’s body in the snow. Impotent. A scared child left behind, incapable of climbing from the car. You cannot be broken. You cannot be broken while I am still alive and needing you.
    â€œCan we get drunk?” Liv asked.
    â€œSure. Come and see the pantry. Any poison you like.”
    Claire does not mention Bailey, or their night out. She does not mention the Mercury Café or Liv’s disappointed disciples. After that night, she found herself a reluctant stone thrower—unwilling to cast judgment.
    â€œAre you close with your parents?” Claire asked.
    â€œBefore I moved back to Spokane, I lived with them for a while. That’s not something I would recommend.” Liv picked Tanqueray, and tailed Claire to the kitchen for tonic and limes.
    â€œI rarely last a conversation with my parents,” Claire said, worrying for her mother’s breasts. For the illness that must be inevitable. “Get
a kid. Simon deflects a lot of their energy, and doesn’t seem to notice that they’re insane.”
    â€œMy mother’s usually got four million questions she wants answered the first half hour. She didn’t talk much this trip. I kind of missed the endless cataloguing of minutiae. Anything’s better than your mom on the couch, sobbing for two days straight. I spent most of my time there trying not to call you.” Liv held up her glass. “Anyway, here’s to tumblers.” She lit another cigarette, then grinned at Claire: “At some point, we’re probably going to have to discuss what all this means.”
    â€œYou mean how I’m paying you for sex?”
    â€œYeah, you totally lowballed me.” Liv flicked ash off the deck. “We don’t have to talk about it now, I’m just saying that I know it’s coming.”
    â€œYou make it sound so dire, like you’re preparing for a siege.” Claire tried to laugh, to sound as though Liv’s tone hadn’t troubled her, as though she hadn’t wondered each night if Liv would return at all. “We’re dating, aren’t we? It’s intense because you live here and we’re isolated and Simon loves you. But it’s just dating.”
    Distracted by the rail of the deck, Liv had looked away from Claire. “You’re right.” She stood and took her glass to the kitchen before coming back out to finish her cigarette. “It’s late,” she said. “And I’m tired. Sleep well.” She kissed the top of Claire’s head and left through the field.
    Sensitive, Claire thought, and was immediately ashamed of herself. What did it mean—all this? She could see the girls in the bar, an endless line of them in bathrooms, and alleyways. A city of girls with their arms wide, and their faces eager. Cold now, even with the blanket, she went inside to bed.

Ten
    Hives
    Bailey ordered for both of them. “You’re going to love these crepes,” she said. “They’re marvelous.”
    Bittersweet Bakery, high-ceilinged and classical, had the most welcoming atmosphere. Claire thought of Hansel and Gretel and the gingerbread house while she drank her latte. Bailey split the croissant between them, her fingernails plum-colored, hair swept back elegantly from her face.
    â€œI love this place,” she said. “Eventually, I want to open a little bakery like this.”
    â€œI can see it.”
    â€œCan you?” Bailey, pleased, devoured her croissant.
    Claire wasn’t sure why she’d come. She’d had to ask Liv to watch Simon. Bailey’s enthusiasm