Read Online Secrets and Lies (Cassie Scot) by Christine Amsden - Free Book Online

had as much invested in our families’ rivalry as her husband.
    “Is that why you don’t like me?” I asked. “Because I look like my mother?”
    “What makes you think I don’t like you?”
    I didn’t know, but I felt sure of it, so I shrugged.
    To my surprise, Laura smiled. “My mother likes to call that sort of thing common sense magic. Shouldn’t be magic at all, but it eludes so many people that it can seem magical at times.”
    She made me laugh, and also, momentarily made me forget that she had basically admitted to disliking me. Only for a moment, though. “So you don’t want me to marry your son?”
    She shrugged. “No, but he wants you. Maybe if you’d let me color your hair, the resemblance wouldn’t be so strong.”
    I wasn’t sure I had ever met anyone so matter-of-fact, and I wasn’t sure if I found it refreshing or disconcerting. Maybe both. At least, with her, I knew exactly where I stood.
    “Darker or lighter?” I asked, gesturing toward my hair, which I had no intention of coloring for anyone’s benefit, least of all hers.
    “Redder, perhaps,” she said after a moment’s thought.
    “With bright green streaks?” I suggested. “That way, I can scare away your son.”
    She smiled. “You’ll look like a Christmas present, and besides, he loves green. Better to go for orange.”
    “And take a freckling potion.” I tapped my chin thoughtfully. “Although, now that I think about it, I’m not sure if there’s any such thing.”
    “I’m sure there is, somewhere. I’d be happy to brew some for you, if you’re interested.”
    “How kind of you. Do you suppose it will work?”
    “At what? Making you look less like your mother? I would hope so.”
    “Repelling your son.”
    “Oh, that.” She shook her head. “Not a chance. I think you and I will just have to find some way to get along.”
    That idea sobered me. Did everyone think, then, that Evan and I were a foregone conclusion?
    “Why don’t you want to marry him?” Laura asked.
    “Isn’t it obvious?” I waved my hand up and down my body. “No magic. He would have total control.”
    To my surprise, she laughed. “You don’t understand men at all, do you?”
    “What is that supposed to mean?”
    Before she had a chance to respond, Evan walked through the door, followed closely by his father. Evan looked anxiously between the two of us, but neither of us betrayed our conversation.
    “Did you find them?” I asked.
    “No.” Evan held a manila envelope in his hands. “I’ve got what we need, though. It’s time to go.”
    * * *
    The trip would take well over an hour, an hour I did not look forward to spending with Evan. I never used to have trouble coming up with conversation, especially with him, but of course, everything was different now.
    Around us, the rolling hills of the Ozark Mountains rose and fell in verdant waves. The winding, two-lane road that took us south into Arkansas flowed with the land rather than barreling through it like major Interstates, almost creating the illusion that it belonged. Only the smattering of man-made hovels that interrupted the landscape in the form of abused gas stations or ramshackle farm houses broke the illusion.
    Finally, Evan cleared his throat to get my attention. When I looked at him, he asked, “Are you ready to hear about the girls?”
    “Yes.” Definitely. Anything to push away the silence.
    “There’s a picture in the envelope.”
    I reached into the back seat, where he had tossed the envelope, then opened it to pull out a glossy digital photo print. It showed two teenage girls in front of a small wooden cabin, their faces full of laughter, arms around one another’s shoulders.
    “That was taken last week at camp,” Evan said. “Laura’s the one on the right, Regina’s on the left.”
    Laura had long, straight hair down to her waist, colored in varying shades of black and platinum. Her face was caked in makeup, and a tiny glint of metal hinted at a stud in