I nod. I can always count on him to tell me the truth. “Thanks, Tristan.”
Leo’s eyes fly open. “What are you going to do?” He wipes his eyes with the back of his sleeve as he tugs on my shirt with his other hand. “Don’t tell him I told. Please, Mom!”
“Don’t worry,” I say through my teeth. “I’m not going to let Bobby Masterson hurt you.” He’ll have to go through me first.
After calming Leo down, I reach for my phone to tell Maria where to find Raffey. Except just as I’m texting the message, I get another idea. Maria and I are going over to April’s house later today to discuss the fall carnival. The timing is perfect.
So just before I meet Maria outside on the way to April’s house, I send a text message from my burner phone:
There’s a surprise buried in your backyard.
I can’t wait to see the look on her face…
_____
A few days later, I knock on Maria’s back door to say hello and ask if she wants to have some coffee and chat, and I catch her sitting at the kitchen table, watching something on YouTube. It’s only after I knock that I realized she’s watching April’s show. Sweet Secrets.
She looks embarrassed that I caught her. Not only that, but she has a plate of cookies sitting on the kitchen table next to her. I could recognize April’s cookies a mile away.
“Sean loves these cookies,” Maria explained to me. “April brought them by last night to try to make up for the whole fiasco with her son stealing Raffey. I’m trying to replicate the recipe, but I have a feeling they won’t come out as good.”
I stare at April on the screen. The secret to chocolate chip cookies is that you never use chocolate chips. You take a high-quality chocolate bar and slice it up.
“She does have a gift,” I admit.
“And,” Maria adds, “she’s really pretty.”
It’s true. Part of the reason April’s show is so popular is because of how she looks. She’s pretty, but also very photogenic. She looks great on camera.
“You don’t have anything to worry about,” I say. “I promise. Sean is a good guy.”
“Maybe.” Maria shoves a cookie into her mouth. “I can’t stop eating these cookies. These are, like, insane. What does she put in them that makes them so good?”
“Poison,” I joke.
Her eyes widen. She stops chewing and puts her hand over her mouth.
“I’m joking,” I say. “April wouldn’t poison you. You don’t really think that, do you?”
I watch her face, waiting for her response. Because the truth is, I believe April is perfectly capable of poisoning someone. These cookies probably aren’t poison. But I’ve become very wary of eating anything she’s made. Everybody else gobbles up her treats, but I steer clear.
“No, I don’t think that,” Maria says. “But I do think she hopes I’ll get fat from them. And that’s just as bad.”
I put my hand on her shoulder. “You know what will make you feel better?”
Maria raises her eyebrows, and I go to the comments on the YouTube video. I quickly type in: I’m worried if I make these cookies, I’ll gain a lot of weight like you have. Maria snickers as I post the comment.
“Oh my God, that’s awful!” she cries. “You should take it down.”
“Oh, come on,” I say. “She deserves it.”
On the screen, April is pulling a tray of cookies out of the oven. She inhales deeply and smiles at the camera. There’s nothing like the smell of fresh-baked cookies.
“You’re right,” Maria says. “She does deserve it.”
Chapter 48
A few days before the fall carnival, I’m driving home from my morning kickboxing class when I see a young woman on the Mastersons’ doorstep.
She’s in her twenties, with blond hair similar in color to April’s. Actually, she looks a lot like April—same build, height, and even similar facial features from afar. For a moment, I thought she was April. They could be sisters, except April is an only child. Perhaps a long lost sister?
I pull into my driveway and watch her from the car for a little while. I’m not quite sure what to make of it until I see her peering through the dark windows into the Masterson house. As the block captain, I recognize this is unacceptable behavior. I could call the police, but she looks harmless. So I go outside to talk to her.
“Excuse me.” I clear my throat. “May I help you?”
The young woman jumps away from the window. She’s only about ten or fifteen years younger than me, but somehow she seems decades younger. She blinks a few times. “Oh, I… I was just looking for Elliot.”
Somehow, I’m reminded of Courtney. I saw Courtney’s photo in the paper, and this woman is a dead ringer. Of course, they both look a lot like April.
“I’m his assistant,” the woman explains hurriedly. “And I came to bring him…” She looks down at her bare hands. “I have some papers in my car.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.” She nods vigorously. “I just need to… to…”
And then she bursts into tears.
Of course, I invite her inside. I sit her down at her kitchen table and make her a cup of tea while the story unfolds. Her name is Brianna Anderson. She is, as she said, Elliot’s assistant. She is also pregnant. And it is his.
Oh, and she’s keeping it.
By the end of the story, my mouth is hanging open. I’ve forgotten about the tea sitting in front of me. I can’t even believe what I’m hearing.
“Does Elliot know?” I manage.
She shakes her head miserably. “He’ll flip. I mean, this was supposed to be a casual thing. Fun, you know? A break from that evil witch he’s married to.”
“Right…” I chew on my lip. “But you have to tell him. If you’re keeping the baby.”
“Yes, but…” She frowns. “He’s just going to insist I get rid of it.”
“I don’t think it’s up to him.”
“He won’t leave April.”
I wonder about that part. Despite everything, Elliot does seem devoted to his family. But he has to know what April is like. Maybe he’s looking for a way out. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”
Brianna takes a sip from her tea. “This is really good, Julie. Thank you for listening to me.”
“Of course.” I take a drink from my own cup. This is the special Thai milk tea that I ordered from overseas. “I’m happy to do whatever I can to help.”
“So…” She lifts an eyebrow. “You’re not friends with April, I take it.”
“No,” I say. “I wouldn’t say so.”
I study Brianna sitting across the table. She looks so young. I think about what happened to Courtney all those years ago. April wouldn’t dare try something like that again, would she? Two assistants in a row? She has to know that would look very suspicious. Even so…
I get up and find my purse. I fish around inside until I come up with what I was looking for.
“Take this, Brianna,” I say.
She stares at the bottle of pepper spray. “What is it?”