Secrecy by Belva Plain Read Free Book Online Page A

he was hard on furniture, Charlotte thought. But he was so big. He was powerful and manly. That was the word:
manly
, and much handsomer than some of the men on television or in the movies. He made her self-conscious. It was stupid for two people to sit there chewing and not saying anything.
    “You’re a cute kid,” Ted said abruptly. “In another couple of years you’ll be really cute. You’ve got a nice shape.”
    When your breasts are bigger
, he meant. They were already big enough for him to notice. And she felt confusion, not knowing how to respond to the compliment.
    “So, Charlotte, tell me about yourself.”
    What was there to say? There was nothing.
    “There isn’t much to tell,” she said.
    Elena would say:
You have to sparkle, be alive, be interesting. You can’t just sit there!
    “There must be. Anyway, I already know a few things about you. C.D. talks about you a lot.”
    “C.D.?”
    “Your uncle.”
    “Why do you call him C.D.?”
    “Clifford Dawes, of course. I don’t like the sound of
uncle
because he isn’t my uncle. And he’s surely not my father. So you see …” Ted shrugged.
    She thought he looked somber. A thrill of sympathy, first hot, then cold, seemed to shoot through her veins. His father was dead, while her mother was—
    “C.D. says you’re very smart and you’re an expert swimmer. True?”
    “I don’t know that I’m so smart, but I am a pretty good swimmer.”
    “That’s great. Maybe you and I can go out to the lake this summer. I’ll bet you look great in a swimsuit.”
    She was astonished. If she were to tell anyone at school that Ted Marple—Ted Marple!—had invited her to go to the lake, they might not even believe it. She would certainly tell them, though, and no later than next Monday. Tell them all, too, not only her friends, but even snobs like Addie Thompson, who thought she was God’s gift to boys. With this thought enlivening her the words began to flow.
    “I know things about you too. I mean, everybody who reads the paper knows about you, about the Thanksgiving game with Franklin High and stuff like that. But I know other things. Your mother says you’re the best math student in the senior class.”
    “Oh, mothers. They boast too much.”
    But she saw that he was pleased, so she continued. “Between that and football, you’ll get into any college you want, I guess.”
    “You’re pretty young to know about colleges.”
    “No, I think about it all the time. I want to be an architect.”
    “You can’t know that already.”
    “Of course I can.”
    “Ah, you’re a baby.”
    For an instant Charlotte felt a rise of anger; then she saw that he was teasing, and they both laughed.
    “A pretty baby. Listen, pretty baby, I’d like to stay here talking to you, but I have to go now. Meeting some friends downtown.” Ted looked at his watch. “Geez, I’m late. I’m supposed to give the dogs a walk, but too bad, I can’t.”
    The dogs, alert to the word
walk
, had gotten up and gone to the door. “Poor fellows,” Charlotte said.
    “Tell you what, Charlotte. How about you and me taking them for a hike tomorrow afternoon? I’ll pick you up at your house. Is it a date?”
    “A date,” she said happily.
    Ted picked up her ponytail as if he were weighing it. “I’ll bet you look beautiful with all that hair spread out loose. Thick and blond. Not bad. Not bad at all.”
    She was flushed and thrilled. “It’s dirty blond,” she said.
    “Don’t say that. You need to learn how to accept a compliment. Come on, I’ll drive you home.”
    *   *   *
    Dad asked, “Where were you? Whose car was that?”
    “Ted’s.”
    “How did that happen?”
    “I went to see Claudia, but she wasn’t home, so I had lunch with him.”
    “Just you and Ted? You didn’t know they were away for the weekend?”
    “Of course I didn’t know. But what’s the difference?”
    Dad frowned. “I don’t like the idea of your being alone in the house with him—or