Read Online Deep Betrayal (Lies Beneath #2) by Anne Greenwood Brown - Free Book Online
Authors: Anne Greenwood Brown
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surprised. Don’t come crying to me when your precious merman takes off for good. I warned you. That’s what they do. He’ll mess with your head. Then he’ll be gone.”
When he said it like that, it resurrected the old fears I’d had during my exile. I tried to muffle those doubts by remembering what Calder had said at the pool:
I need her, I need her, I need her
. Of course, that didn’t negate what Jack was saying. I supposed there could come a day when Calder didn’t need me anymore. And I couldn’t deny that his need hadn’t meant anything over the thirty-two days he’d been gone, without a word to me.
“I thought you liked the mermaids,” I said. “I thought you
loved
Pavati. You told me once you secretly hoped you were one of them.”
Jack laughed darkly and it raised the hair on my arms.“Funny thing happened on the way to a cliff last May. I finally grew up. I realized what a fool I’d been to think Pavati cared about me.
“Mermaids are only in it for themselves. They take, take, take. If they give us anything, it’s only a tease so we stick around long enough for them to take some more. They don’t care about us, Lily. And they’re all the same. Don’t. Trust. Mermaids.”
Dad and Mr. Pettit came into the back room as Jack’s last word dropped to the floor. Gabby followed, looking embarrassed and like she wished she’d found something better to do tonight.
Fortunately, both our moms were busy in the kitchen talking hotdish recipes, so they were oblivious when Mr. Pettit reproached Jack, saying, “Oh, for Pete’s sake, would you shut up? This is getting ridiculous.”
“What’s it to you?” snapped Jack.
“Dad, Jack, please don’t,” Gabby said.
“If you want to make a fool out of yourself,” Mr. Pettit said, “talking to news reporters, spouting your mouth off to the
police
, for God’s sake, that’s one thing, but when people start asking
me
about it, when you start embarrassing the family, pushing this nonsense on
these good people
, it’s gone too far.”
“I was only talking to Lily,” Jack said. “You’re the one making this a bigger thing than it needs to be. And I’ve probably got a much more receptive audience in ‘these good people’ than I’ll ever get from you.”
Dad silenced Jack with a look.
“Excuse me,” I said. I pushed around Jack and ran for thestairs. When I got to my room, the box spring and mattress had been made right. Calder was gone. The vacancy took my breath away.
Gabby followed me up. “Hey, um, I’m sorry about that.” She gestured behind her toward the stairs just as the front door slammed. “We should have left Jack at home. He is seriously messed up. Even more than before.” She tried to laugh, but failed.
“No more than usual,” I said. I opened my closet door to see if Calder was hiding inside, but it was empty save for a musty cardboard box full of vintage band T-shirts. I noticed that someone had pulled my Lady of Shalott dress off its hanger and thrown it in the wastebasket. Apparently, the dress raised too many painful memories for Calder. As much as I wanted to keep it, and as much as I didn’t like people telling me what to do, I left it where it lay. It was a small price to pay.
“It’s been coming on slowly all year,” Gabby said. “Dad was pissed enough when Jack didn’t go on to college last fall … spending all day on the lake … but the last couple of months have been bad. At first, I thought it was because all his friends had moved on while he stayed back. But that was his choice, right? That shouldn’t make him act so crazy. Then I thought it was because you left. I thought maybe he liked you even more than I thought.”
“Yeah, that’s not it,” I said. “He’s just being stupid.”
“No, I know it’s not you now,” Gabby said. “It’s this mermaid obsession. It used to be kind of quirky. Now it’s getting embarrassing. Did you hear my dad say that Jack went to the
When he said it like that, it resurrected the old fears I’d had during my exile. I tried to muffle those doubts by remembering what Calder had said at the pool:
I need her, I need her, I need her
. Of course, that didn’t negate what Jack was saying. I supposed there could come a day when Calder didn’t need me anymore. And I couldn’t deny that his need hadn’t meant anything over the thirty-two days he’d been gone, without a word to me.
“I thought you liked the mermaids,” I said. “I thought you
loved
Pavati. You told me once you secretly hoped you were one of them.”
Jack laughed darkly and it raised the hair on my arms.“Funny thing happened on the way to a cliff last May. I finally grew up. I realized what a fool I’d been to think Pavati cared about me.
“Mermaids are only in it for themselves. They take, take, take. If they give us anything, it’s only a tease so we stick around long enough for them to take some more. They don’t care about us, Lily. And they’re all the same. Don’t. Trust. Mermaids.”
Dad and Mr. Pettit came into the back room as Jack’s last word dropped to the floor. Gabby followed, looking embarrassed and like she wished she’d found something better to do tonight.
Fortunately, both our moms were busy in the kitchen talking hotdish recipes, so they were oblivious when Mr. Pettit reproached Jack, saying, “Oh, for Pete’s sake, would you shut up? This is getting ridiculous.”
“What’s it to you?” snapped Jack.
“Dad, Jack, please don’t,” Gabby said.
“If you want to make a fool out of yourself,” Mr. Pettit said, “talking to news reporters, spouting your mouth off to the
police
, for God’s sake, that’s one thing, but when people start asking
me
about it, when you start embarrassing the family, pushing this nonsense on
these good people
, it’s gone too far.”
“I was only talking to Lily,” Jack said. “You’re the one making this a bigger thing than it needs to be. And I’ve probably got a much more receptive audience in ‘these good people’ than I’ll ever get from you.”
Dad silenced Jack with a look.
“Excuse me,” I said. I pushed around Jack and ran for thestairs. When I got to my room, the box spring and mattress had been made right. Calder was gone. The vacancy took my breath away.
Gabby followed me up. “Hey, um, I’m sorry about that.” She gestured behind her toward the stairs just as the front door slammed. “We should have left Jack at home. He is seriously messed up. Even more than before.” She tried to laugh, but failed.
“No more than usual,” I said. I opened my closet door to see if Calder was hiding inside, but it was empty save for a musty cardboard box full of vintage band T-shirts. I noticed that someone had pulled my Lady of Shalott dress off its hanger and thrown it in the wastebasket. Apparently, the dress raised too many painful memories for Calder. As much as I wanted to keep it, and as much as I didn’t like people telling me what to do, I left it where it lay. It was a small price to pay.
“It’s been coming on slowly all year,” Gabby said. “Dad was pissed enough when Jack didn’t go on to college last fall … spending all day on the lake … but the last couple of months have been bad. At first, I thought it was because all his friends had moved on while he stayed back. But that was his choice, right? That shouldn’t make him act so crazy. Then I thought it was because you left. I thought maybe he liked you even more than I thought.”
“Yeah, that’s not it,” I said. “He’s just being stupid.”
“No, I know it’s not you now,” Gabby said. “It’s this mermaid obsession. It used to be kind of quirky. Now it’s getting embarrassing. Did you hear my dad say that Jack went to the
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