Private Lessons

by Dara Girard

  “Jodi this is serious. This is no time—”

  “No. I’ve come too far for anyone to find out now.”

  “Jodi.”

  “No,” she said again, adamant. “No one can find out I was illiterate.”

  “How else can we prove you’re innocent?”

  She searched her mind. “You’re the owner of the company, right? If you don’t charge me—”

  “It’s not that simple. How would that look? Besides, I’m not ready to reveal that I’m the owner yet.”

  “But you want me to reveal that—”

  He took off his shades and tucked them in his shirt pocket. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “I did nothing wrong. If I could read, what would you do? Would you believe them?”

  An expression crossed his face.

  “You would,” Jodi said in shocked horror. “You would doubt me, but fortunately, I was too ignorant to pull this off.”

  “That’s not what I’m thinking.”

  Jodi met his gaze, defiant. “Then fight for me and believe in me no matter what.”

  28

  Shelley Durant Gillis hadn’t been in the same house as her parents for nearly fifteen years. She awkwardly greeted her mother and father, sharing a too sweet tea and stilted conversation with them before she excused herself and asked to speak to Jodi alone.

  “I’m so glad to see you,” Jodi said, giving her sister another big hug before settling on the living room couch. “As you can see Mom and Dad will be happy for days.”

  Shelley gripped the handbag she’d placed on her lap as she sat opposite her sister. “I didn’t come for them. I came for you.”

  “Why?”

  “Dylan called me.”

  Fear gripped Jodi’s heart, but she managed to keep her voice light. “What did he say?”

  “He told me about what you’re being accused of by that company, By Your Side.”

  “What else did he say?”

  “That he’s worried about you and that you have information that could exonerate you.”

  Jodi waved what she said away, relieved her secret was safe. “He’s wrong.”

  “Why won’t you just tell them that you couldn’t have done it, that you couldn’t read back then?”

  Jodi felt a sudden chill, unsure she’d heard her sister correctly. “What? What did you say?”

  Shelley looked chagrined. “Dylan told me…” She let her words fade away, and glanced at a photo on the wall.

  “He told you what?” Jodi pressed, desperate to make sure she’d misheard her. She couldn’t have said what she said. Her secret had to be safe.

  Shelley rested her handbag on the ground and clasped her hands together as if gaining courage. “Dylan told me the reason you couldn’t be guilty. He said it is the only way to prove you’re innocent.” She stared at Jodi in amazement. “I can’t believe I didn’t know all this time. How did you manage? Why didn’t you tell me? Does Mom and Dad know?”

  “No,” she said in tight voice. “And you shouldn’t know either.”

  “Don’t get angry,” Shelley said, taking a seat beside her. “I came here to help you.”

  “Help me?” Jodi’s voice cracked in surprise. “Why now?” She surged to her feet eager to place distance between them. “You think I didn’t need your help during all those family holidays when I asked you to come over? At those family birthdays where I made excuses for you? I don’t need your help now. Help when you feel like giving it to me on your terms. Always on your terms. I’m done with that. You can go.”

  Shelley looked up at her with sadness. “Jodi, if you’ll only listen.”

  “Listen to what? Your rationale? Your side? You’re the smart one, right? I should listen to you. I’m being silly, stupid even. Maybe, I am. But I’ve gotten along this far and you’re too late to pretend that you care.”

  “I do care.”

  “Why? Because it will be an embarrassment? Are you afraid your children will have an aunt like me? That would ruin your reputation, wouldn’t it?”

  Shelley stood, a helpless expression on her face. “That’s not true. I’m worried about you.”

  “I don’t need your worry. You stayed away before, you can do it again and this time I won’t miss you.”

  “Jodi, please. You’re taking this all wrong. I know I haven’t been the best sister. I stayed away because it hurt too much to see them, especially Mom. It hurt to see how she treats you.”

  “And it hurts too much to see you now,” Jodi said, then left the room.

  29

  A tactical error.

  Dylan realized he’d made one the moment he opened his front door and found Jodi glaring at him with tears of rage. “You had no right to tell her,” she said.

  “Jodi, let me explain. I—”

  She pounded her chest with her fist, her voice shaking. “It was my secret not yours. All these years I’ve kept it buried, hidden deep in my heart, afraid that she, of all people, would find out and I succeeded. She never knew and she never would have known if not for you.”

  “Jodi, she—”

  “But that wasn’t enough you had to humiliate me more. Not only did you have to tell her about her illiterate sister, then you both tried to manipulate me.” Jodi raised her brows in mock surprise. “Are you shocked I know that word? I can even spell it. Isn’t that amazing?”

  He stepped back and opened the door wider. “Let’s talk inside.”

  Jodi didn’t move. “You asked her to come over and pretend to want to see my parents. You knew how much it meant to me and you used it.”

  “I just—”

  “You’re arrogant. You both think you’re so smart.”

  He shook his head in regret. “That’s not why we—”

  “Tried to trick me,” she finished in a tone of disgust. “I’ve spent my life building myself up and you threw that back in my face. All I asked was that you believe in me, treat me like anyone else. As if I was someone who could read. I wanted you to treat me as an equal, but that was too hard for you because you never will. You won’t let me escape my past.”

  “Jodi, it’s cold,” he said, referring to the breeze that signaled the coming autumn. “Come inside.”

  “I will never step foot in this house again. And I hope this is the last time I ever see you. You know where you can mail my things.” She turned.

  He grabbed her arm. “Jodi, wait.”

  She glared up at him, her eyes a biting black. “I’m glad I never told you I loved you.”

  Dylan let her arm go as something deep inside him shriveled up and died. He didn’t know if it was his heart or hope, but it left him with an anguish that made him go cold. He only managed to nod, his mouth too dry for words, then he stepped back and closed the door unable to watch her go.

  Jodi stared at the closed door her rage making her skin tingle, tears blurring her eyes. He hadn’t said a word. He hadn’t said he was sorry or that he was wrong. He’d just nodded his head and shut her out of his life, treating the time and trust she’d given him like it was nothing at all.

  Didn’t he know—or care—how much he’d hurt her? How much his betrayal had devastated her? She’d felt safe with him. She’d never felt safe before.

  She pressed her hand against the door, remembering how his home had felt like a sanctuary. She took her hand away and balled it into a fist. Before him, she’d always been on guard; felt like an outsider, but with him, for the first time in her life, she felt like she belonged somewhere. That she belonged with him. And he’d betrayed her.

  Fury, shame and pain warred within her. She wanted to pound on the door and force him to ask her forgiveness, to show her that he cared.

  Jodi turned from the door and wiped her tears. She was on her own again, but she’d grown used to it and she’d never trust again.

  30

  Elena’s eagle like gaze swept across the boardroom, she studied the expressions on the faces of her family.

 
“Loyalty is something your grandfather prized above everything else,” she said. “Today one will rise and one will fall.” She paused, taking pleasure in the control she had over them. “Josh will now be the new vice president of operations for his excellent work at uncovering a traitor in our midst.” She looked at Dylan. “Did you think I’d never find out about your little side hobby?”

  “Hobby?”

  “Called By Your Side?”

  Dylan stared at Josh stunned. Josh looked away.

  “I had underestimated your cunning, but your brother hadn’t. I realize that your rebelliousness will never change. Don’t come back here.” She made a dismissive gesture towards the door. Dylan didn’t move.

  “Mother,” Adelaide said, her voice stronger than before. “I don’t think that’s fair.”

  Elena tapped the table. “I decide what’s fair.”

  Dylan shrugged. “Still see me as a threat?”

  “I think I’ve adequately squashed it for now. Malcolm has told me about Jodi.” She clicked her tongue. “Such a shame.”

  Dylan gritted his teeth. “He’s lying,” he said, casting his brother-in-law a look. Malcolm stared back and Gwen looked at him with pity. “Jodi is innocent.”

  “I don’t care if you believe it or not. I have all the information I need to run circles around your little operation thanks to her,” Elena said before she sent Malcolm a secret look.

  That look made Dylan’s blood run cold as he remembered Malcolm’s warning and realized that Malcolm was lying on purpose to satisfy his grandmother’s plan to hurt Jodi and punish him. “I don’t scare easily.”

  She stood. “Are you finished?”

  He glared at her.

  “That’s what I thought. I am willing to buy you out, of course. I’m not completely without family devotion. The choice is yours.”

  She left the room and the rest of the family followed- everyone except Josh.

  He leaned forward. “I had to do it,” he said with feeling.

  “I didn’t ask.”

  “She kept squeezing me and telling me I had to do something to prove myself. She always gave you and Malcolm the exciting responsibilities. I was Dad’s son too. I deserved a chance.”

  Dylan stood.

  “Gran was certain you were hiding something like a secret child or relationship. She wanted me to find out more. I thought she was crazy. I never expected to find what I did when I came over to visit. When I looked on your computer I thought I might see racy photos or something, but I didn’t find anything. Until I saw an old file that had the By Your Side mission statement. After that I found the rest on my own.”

  Dylan gripped the back of his chair. “Good boy,” he said in a mocking tone as if offering a dog praise.

  Josh surged to his feet. “I had no choice. I wasn’t even going to tell her at first.”

  “But you did.”

  “You don’t understand,” Josh said, his voice a plea. “I had to. It was the first time she looked at me. The first time she treated me like a person instead of like a piece of dirt.”

  “And why did you have to drag Jodi into this?”

  “I had nothing to do with Jodi. That was all Malcolm’s idea. He wanted to get information about the company another way since you were undercover for only a month.”

  Dylan nodded then turned to the door.

  “You didn’t just betray Gran. You betrayed us all, but as Gran said, you can fix it.”

  “I could take legal action.”

  “But you won’t.” His shoulders fell. “Just sell the company. Then it will be all in the family.”

  Dylan looked at him for a long moment. His brother was offering him a chance to make it all better. To make this all end. As if he wanted to go back. As if he was actually losing something. He’d grown used to his grandmother’s cruelty, Malcolm’s lies were a surprise but not completely, but Josh…he’d never suspected.

  Perhaps this betrayal was some sort of cosmic justice. He’d revealed Jodi’s secret and Josh had revealed his. But the pain of losing Jodi seemed to hurt more every day. I’m glad I never told you I loved you.

  The woman he’d loved, the woman he’d hoped to marry, hadn’t loved him. The family he’d dreamt of having would never be.

  “What family?” he said bitterly. He walked to the door. “I don’t have one.”

  31

  She didn’t want to see anyone. Jodi stayed holed up in her bedroom, ignoring her parents’ pleas and Shelley’s messages. Even Cara tried to contact her, but she didn’t reply. Dylan hadn’t tried to reach her, but after he’d closed the door in her face she had slowly let that hope die. He didn’t care and she’d never see him again.

  To her surprise, she hadn’t heard from Larry about pressing criminal charges so she suspected Dylan had told him the truth. If he had no trouble shaming her in front of her sister, he could easily do so in front of her former boss too.

  Jodi buried herself under the covers when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. “I said leave me alone.”

  She heard the door open and lifted her head to glare at whomever had entered. She gasped when she saw Rania. “What are you doing here?”

  “Your father let me in. You look terrible.” Rania sniffed and made a face. “And when’s the last time you took a shower?”

  “What do you want?”

  “We can’t help you if you keep running.”

  “I’m not running.”

  “You can’t keep hiding either.”

  Jodi pulled the blanket over her head. “Go away.”

  “Have you forgotten the oath?”

  “Oath?” she said, her voice muffled by the sheet.

  “As a member of The Black Stockings Society, I swear I will not reveal club secrets, I will accept nothing but the best and I will no longer settle for less,” she said in a solemn voice.

  Jodi waved her away. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

  Rania pulled the blanket back. “Do you think I’m joking?”

  “I’ve followed the oath and I’m really not in the mood for this.”

  Rania sat on the bed. “How long are you going to live a lie?”

  “I’m not living a lie anymore.”

  “Then why are you still in this house? You can move out. Your parents are fine where they are and you can have a caretaker come in.”

  “I like the house.”

  “No you don’t. You tolerate it because your parents like it. Because they told you how much it means to them, how many happy memories it brings them. Your sister stopped pretending years ago, when will you?”

  “I’m not pretending and I’m not Shelley.”

  “No, she fought to make a life and live with the man she loves.”

  Jodi pushed the sheets away and sat up. “Fought? What did she fight for? She left and went to college and her life just fell into place as it usually does.”

  “Why did you walk away from Dylan?”

  Jodi stared, hurt by the accusation. “I didn’t do anything. He betrayed me. He closed the door in my face! He’s the one who hasn’t once said he’s sorry.”

  “Did you give him a chance to say he was sorry?”

  “He was going to explain, just like Shelley. He was going to rationalize—”

  Rania shook her head. “That’s not what I asked. Did you give him a chance to say he was sorry?”

  “It should have been the first thing he said. He was wrong.”

  “True, but have you thought about how this may look to him?”

  “Why would it look any different?”

  “Do you want him to think you had an affair with Malcolm?”

  “He knows I didn’t.”

  “He may start to doubt you.”

  “Why? He knows I didn’t write those emails.”

  “But you could have had them dictated. You’re smart. You fooled him before. You’ve fooled everybody. What if this is all a trick now?”

  “Whose side are you on?”

  “Maybe i
t was all a ploy,” Rania continued. “Maybe you were using him. You pretended to be with him so that you could find out what he knew.”

  “You’re spinning stories now.”

  “He trusted you.”

  “And I trusted him.”

  “Then why are you taking the blame for something you didn’t do?”

  “He was supposed to help me. He was supposed to…he shouldn’t have done what he did. I will not be branded as the woman who didn’t learn to read until her thirties.”

  “There have been people much older than you.”

  “It was a different time.”

  “And there are people right now. Should they be ashamed? You learned to read at—”

  Jodi covered her ears. “That’s not how I want to see myself. That’s not how I want others to see me.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because that woman was once a lonely little girl with a sickly father and selfish mother; the one who dreamed of college but was too stupid to graduate high school; a person who’d spent most of her life in the shadows.”

  “I’m not saying what he did was right. But have you said anything to him that you now regret?”

  “No, I meant every word.”

  Rania nodded then stood. “Then I don’t suppose you need to read his letter.”

  “Letter?”

  “Yes.” She pulled an envelope out of her handbag. “Your father brought in the mail and asked me to give it to you.” She ripped the envelope in two. “But you don’t need it.”

  Jodi jumped up, horrified. “What are you doing?”

  Rania ripped it three more times. “Getting him out of your life.”

  Jodi tore the pieces from her. “That’s not what I want.”

  “But you don’t love him.”

  She stared down at the pieces in her hand shocked by Rania’s actions. How could she have done that? It was the first letter anyone had ever written her, the first letter she’d be able to read and he’d written it. Now it was destroyed. She didn’t trust that she knew enough to piece all the words back together. “I didn’t say that.”