the chapter

Jenn led Tara up the stairs to their second-floor room. To Tara’s delight, Margie rented a suite equipped with a living room, a small kitchen and two bedrooms. The décor wasn’t fancy, but the room was clean and it was big enough that she and her family were not falling over one another.

“The only downside to the room is the single bathroom.” Margie told her.

“Mary Lou doesn’t plan to leave the hospital and I’ll be gone a good part of the day, so I don’t think it will be a problem,” Tara said. “Does the hotel have a pool?”

“The bestest pool in the world.” Jamie ran from the bedroom into her mother’s arms. “Do you want to go swimming with me?”

She looked at her watch. “I would love to swim, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.”

Jamie pouted. “I want to show you the pool.”

“If you go to bed now, we can check it out in the morning.”

Tara lowered her daughter to the ground and instructed her to say goodnight to Jenn and her grandmother. The girl complied and then ran back to her mother.

“Can we swim?” She asked on their way into the bedroom.

“Sure.”

“Where were you and Grandma Mary Lou?”

Tara chewed the inside of her cheek. She hated lying to her daughter. “I had to visit a friend.”

“Can we do something fun tomorrow?”

“We’re going swimming,” Tara told her. “That’s fun.”

Tara pulled the blankets off the bed and checked the sheets before placing her daughter in bed. “Aunt Jenn tells me you were unhappy this evening. What happened?”

Jamie shrugged.

Tara slipped into bed next to her daughter. She turned on her side and propped her head on her fist. “Something must have happened. Aunt Jenn doesn’t lie.”

“Remember last summer when we went on vacation and Daddy wouldn’t let you go to the amusement park with us?”

Tara checke...

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...uise without you?”

Tara sat up in bed and rubbed her hands together. She no longer believed she was protecting Jamie by lying to her. If anything, the lies were causing more harm than good. She just wasn’t sure how much detail to share with her daughter.

She cleared her throat and placed Jamie’s hand into her own hand. “Daddy’s in the hospital,” she admitted. “The doctors are working to make him strong.”

Jamie’s eyes filled with tears. “What happened to Daddy?”

Tara inhaled a deep breath and released it before speaking. “He…he was hurt in a car accident, but doctors are making him better.”

“Oh.” Jamie wiped a tear from her eye. “I feel bad that I was mad at him.”

“Don’t feel bad. Sometimes the people we love make us angry. He would understand.”

“Do you promise not to tell him.”

“I pinkie promise.” Tara wrapped her pinkie around her daughter’s small finger.