Read Online The Secret Sister by Brenda Novak - Free Book Online Page B

year.”
    â€œIt wouldn’t be if you had some blankets,” Maisey said.
    Laney swung her legs to show her enthusiasm for the idea. “We have blankets. We could take them from our beds!”
    Feeling awkward and self-conscious, Maisey rubbed her arms, even though the adrenaline that had shot through her at being startled awake had done a great deal to ward off the chill. “How long will you be visiting, Laney?”
    Laney rolled her head back again. “Visiting who?”
    â€œHow long will you be staying with your—”
    Rafe broke in. “She lives with me.”
    â€œOh.” Maisey combed her fingers through her hair and encountered several tangles that told her she must look as unkempt as she feared. “Then you should have plenty of chances to camp on the beach.”
    â€œWith our blankets,” Laney added.
    â€œYou wouldn’t want to go without them unless you had to,” Maisey said.
    â€œWhy did you have to?” Rafe asked.
    â€œI ran into a little...trouble last night, but I’ll get everything worked out today.” She started to back away, toward the road that led around to their units. “See you later. Have fun, Laney.”
    Raphael’s daughter waved. “I like your voice. You seem nice. She’s a nice lady, isn’t she, Daddy? Do you like our new neighbor?”
    Maisey spoke before he could respond. “There’s no question that you’re nice,” she said, then turned and ran.

6
    M aisey tried calling Keith as soon as she got back to the house. He didn’t answer, so she left another voice mail and sent another text.
    Seriously? You won’t answer my calls? Are you okay? I’m not mad. I swear it. I just want to know that you’re safe.
    She stared at her phone for several seconds. Then she called Coldiron House.
    Clarissa answered again.
    â€œIs Keith there?”
    This time she didn’t need to identify herself. Clarissa recognized her voice. “No, Miss Lazarow. We haven’t seen him since yesterday.”
    â€œReally, you can call me Maisey,” she said.
    â€œYes, Miss... Maisey.”
    â€œThere you go. No formality required when dealing with me.” She left all that to her mother, who loved her lofty station in life. “Keith hasn’t called?”
    â€œNot that I know of. Maybe Mrs. Lazarow has heard from him. Would you like to speak to her?”
    Maisey considered that, but decided against it. If Keith and Josephine had argued, Josephine would be the last person to know where he was. And Maisey didn’t want to hear their mother blame this latest setback on her. Josephine would undoubtedly claim it happened because she’d walked out on their tea yesterday and “upset” everyone. “No, thanks,” she said, and disconnected.
    After that, she wandered from empty room to empty room, trying to figure out if she’d be smarter to grab her suitcase and ask Rafe to drive her to the ferry so she could return to New York. Maybe yesterday when Keith had suggested she go back, he’d done it because he knew he wouldn’t be capable of maintaining the relationship she expected them to have...
    In light of his recent actions, that made sense. But it was too late to bail. She’d seen it that way on the ferry, and she saw it that way now. Coming to Fairham had been a last-ditch effort to save herself as well as Keith.
    Besides, it wasn’t possible—financially or emotionally—to undo everything she’d done to get here. And there were so many memories in Manhattan, memories she’d rather forget. She didn’t have work to go back to, anyway, not if she couldn’t write or illustrate. Even if she was capable of creating more children’s books, she could do that here, as her mother had pointed out. There was nothing to bring her back to New York. The life she’d lived there felt as if it had burned to the ground. Only