Chapter 29 Scarlett
Scarlett
“Come on, you promised you’d play cards with me,” Olivia whined.
She nudged Scarlett, who was in the middle of texting Ben.
Scarlett was beginning to regret her proclamation that they no longer needed a sitter.
At least Olivia wouldn’t be bugging her every five minutes if Gram was here. She swatted her sister’s hand.
“Okay, okay. Give me five.” Her fingers flew over the phone.
Ben: Did you go sailing today?
Scarlett: Tomorrow morning
Ben: Wish I could go with you
Scarlett: Me too. Gtg. Pesty sis needs attention
Ben: K. BTW Did u find anything else?
Scarlett: Not yet. I think I should just ask her about it
Ben: She’ll just lie—you need to do more digging. Hold off for now—I mite b coming to ur town
Scarlett: Seriously? That would be awesome
Ben: Yeah. I’ll keep you posted. We’ll meet any day now
Scarlett: GR8
Scarlett put the phone down and picked up the deck of cards, dealing out the hands for Go Fish, Olivia’s favorite game.
“Who are you texting all the time? Your boyfriend?” Olivia asked, trying to grab Scarlett’s phone.
“Cut it out! None of your business.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “I thought Zoe stole your boyfriend.”
“It’s not stupid Ethan, okay? Why do you have to be so nosy? It’s my life. Stay out of it.”
Olivia teared up, and Scarlett was filled with guilt. “I’m sorry, Liv. Look, it’s just a friend, okay? I don’t really want to talk about it yet, but I will. Let’s play cards.”
“You used to tell me everything. I don’t get why you have secrets all of a sudden.”
It was true. They had always been close, but in the past couple of years or so, after Scarlett had turned fourteen, then fifteen, the gap between them became wider.
Olivia was still interested in kid things, and Scarlett just wasn’t.
Olivia thought their parents were perfect; she’d always gotten along so easily with them.
She didn’t think their dad was too strict, or that their mom gave in to him too much.
When Scarlett tried to talk to her about them, to complain, Olivia had gotten upset and defensive of them.
She was still in that phase where she saw them as some kind of saints or something, not real people.
But Scarlett looked deeper. She didn’t like the way her mother’s personality changed when their dad was around.
One minute she’d be all funny and loose, and the next she was like a soldier at attention, making sure the kitchen was perfect, or that Scarlett and Olivia weren’t eating too much junk food.
It wasn’t like she was afraid of him exactly, but it was like she didn’t want him to disapprove or to be disappointed.
But it seemed to Scarlett that he was always disappointed one way or another.
At least as far as she was concerned. She could tell that he still didn’t believe she hadn’t been vaping.
It had surprised her that day, the way her mother had stood up for her and made her dad go along with it.
It made Scarlett feel good, like maybe she could confide in her mom, after all.
That was when she decided it was time to tell her all about Ben.
She had planned to talk to her tomorrow, but she’d respect Ben’s wishes and wait until he let her know if he was able to come to Connecticut.
It would be much better if her mom could meet him and see that he was a great person.
She looked at her sister. “I’m not keeping secrets from you.
I’m just texting a friend. No big deal.” She’d have to tell Olivia the truth soon, but she intended to protect her from it for as long as possible.
Because when it came out, Olivia’s image of their perfect parents would be shattered beyond repair.