I Love It When You Lie by Kristen Bird

Author:Kristen Bird
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIRA Books
Published: 2023-01-09T20:09:40+00:00

Sixteen

Late Friday Night

Tara

Several of the oldest folks and those with the youngest children in tow had already said their goodbyes. Sprinkled around the tents remained those in the middling stretch of life, those with older children, those who didn’t shy away from late hours, and those who were going home to an empty house.

Stephanie was still running around like a madwoman after her young’uns. Her hair was starting to poof in the humid night air, and she had a wild look in her eyes as she wrangled a mud-covered Auggie and struggled against an exhausted-beyond-reason Bella, who had set off a full-blown two-year-old tantrum in the yard.

Tara knew she should intervene, that she should help calm the situation, take one of the kids off of Stephanie’s hands, but she didn’t feel like it. Not tonight. Not when Stephanie had a nanny every other day of the week and certainly not to save that woman from embarrassment. Still, she would ask John to go down to the lake and get a hold of Walker Jr. If that boy wasn’t hanging from the trees or throwing rocks at the teenagers, she would be amazed.

John was deep in conversation with one of the deacons, that look from earlier in the old chapel back on his face. She took his arm and leaned into his ear, whispering her message, that she needed him.

When he stepped away a couple minutes later, concern knitted his brow. It was just the two of them, so Tara asked, “What was all that about with the deacon?” She tried to sound less concerned than she actually was.

“I think you already know,” he said, his tone sharp again. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t the way John spoke to her—as if she was the enemy rather than the wife who’d stayed by his side. “Tara, did you do something with church money?”

She was thankful for the waning moon that hung in the air, so John couldn’t see her face, blanched nearly as pale as the glowing orb. “What do you mean?” Tara had found over the years that it was always best to answer a hard question with another question. That’s how she’d survived teaching third-grade Sunday school all those years.

Her husband let out a long, slow breath. “I wanted to wait until after the weekend was over to bring it up.”

Tara braced herself. “But?”

“But some things have come up the past couple of days, some concerns among the deacons.” His voice switched from frustrated to authoritative as if he were about to preach her a sermon of repentance. He looked around to ensure no one could overhear. “I need to know, Tara. Have you...? Have you been moving money around?”

Tara considered. To his credit, he was leaving out words like stealing or embezzling. “Why would you think that?”

“We don’t keep secrets.” John kept a steady gaze. “We don’t lie to each other. That’s what makes us work.”

“We may not lie, but you keep plenty of yourself secret from me.” Tara

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