Shadows and Lies by Karen Reis Read Free Book Online

wife and a mother for his three kids, two of whom were teenagers, one in middle school, and the other in high school.” I paused and looked up at Sean, who was listening with interest. “My dad’s not much for romance.”
    Sean nodded, but didn’t say anything, so I continued. “So they got married and I took to Nancy like a moth to a light bulb. I called her Mommy right from the start. I guess I really needed a mother figure in my life.” I shook my head absently. God, but hadn’t that hope backfired miserably.
    “Are you close to your stepmom?” Sean asked, putting the finishing touches on his pizza.
    I took a deep breath. “No, unfortunately,” I said, my tone firm. I didn’t want to tell the next part of the story. It was too depressing, and this was supposed to be a wedding shower. Besides, I hardly knew Sean at all. “What about you? You’re Irish, right?” I asked, switching the focus from myself.
    “Mostly,” Sean said with a smile, though I could feel him tense up, despite the fact that we stood at least two feet apart. Apparently he didn’t like talking about his family either. “I don’t really know much about my family history. I guess we’re pretty much Heinz 57.”
    “And what about your family? Functional or dysfunctional?” I asked without thinking, because I was curious about this man who was friends with my friends and was described as a good man, a nice guy. That’s me though, Miss Way-To-Direct-For-My-Own-Good.
    “Dysfunctional,” Sean said with a grim sort of smile. “Extremely dysfunctional.” He didn’t add anything to that description, and I didn’t press him. I didn’t want him to reciprocate in kind.
    “So where do you work?” I asked as I set my dough aside to rise. It was a nice neutral question. So we chatted. He worked for an auto shop, his boss’s name was Ranjit, and before I knew it, all the pizzas were done and the doorbell was ringing again.
    “There are the guests,” Sean commented, wiping his hands on a paper towel and making a 3 point shot into the kitchen garbage can with it.
    I frowned. Soon, the house would be full of people, all talking, some of them talking at me. I was horrible at party small talk and had nothing in common with most of Genny’s friends, who were older, mostly married, with kids and careers and retirement plans. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to stay in the kitchen for a while and hide.
    Sean cocked his head at me, puzzled by my frown and hesitation. He gestured to the living room with a jerk of his head. “Ready to go mingle?” he asked.
    I shook my head. “No. I-I think I’ll stay in here for a while more.”
    Sean gave me a small empathetic smile. “You gonna’ hide out?”
    Feeling loathe about lying, I said in a low embarrassed voice, “Yes.”
    “But there’s all that good food out there to try,” Sean said, trying to persuade me.
    “I’m not hungry,” I said quickly, but my stomach decided at that moment to growl loudly. The traitor.
    Sean didn’t push me or the issue, but his eyes showed his disappointment. “I see. Well, maybe you’ll come out later.” And with that he left me. All alone. By myself.
    “Loser,” I muttered, but I wasn’t talking about him.

Chapter 3
    At that time, I still worked at the library. I had gotten that job originally in high school in part as a key component in my plan to get as far away from my parents as possible, but also to pay for a 10th grade field trip to Shakespearean England. The trip fell through, but of course I kept the job. Nancy had been madder than a hornet in a mannequin shop when I took that job; she disliked me and my sisters reading and loudly discouraged us from going to the library, so continuing to work there was also my little way of rebelling against her.
    Anyhow, the very next day after the party, one of my coworkers, a man, walked up to me as I was setting up a display table featuring the works of Frank Herbert. I remember thinking how Dune was such an