The One Place
Page 16
They would forgive her. I knew I would if I were them. “They will forgive you. I would forgive you. And I would forgive Jenny.”
I could not believe she knew my sister! I shook my head as I said, “I can’t believe you know my sister.”
Her face contorted as she told me, “You said you called her Winniekins. You always referred to her as Winnie!”
Jesus, she was right. “My father called her Jenny Winniekins. I called her Winniekins or Winnie.” I shook my head when I realized what she must be thinking. “Babe, this isn’t your fault. You wouldn’t have known anyway. It was like a one in a million chance that she would be the same Jenny.”
I pulled my shit together and got back on track. “What about Jenny? Where is she? What happened to her?”
Talie burst out crying and I knew the answer wasn’t good. I fought the fuckin’ boa constrictor that was trying to choke my throat. I would break down later. There were too many other important things that had to be done and had to be done now. “Do I need to worry about her?”
She just shook her head and sobbed, “I’m so sorry, Tuck. Oh my God. I’m so so sorry.”
My mind centered on one thought. “Maybe it’s a good thing my parents aren’t alive. At least they won’t have to live with knowin’ what happened to her.”
We both sat in silence for a few seconds before Talie’s arm shot forward and grabbed the front of my shirt as she sucked in a huge gasp of air. “Holy shit, Tuck. Oh my God. Holy fucking shit. Please Jesus, no.”
Jesus. “Babe, what the fuck?”
“Shit. Tuck, when did you say your parents died?”
Jesus Christ, she wanted to do this now? “Talie, I can’t do this right now.” I was barely hanging on as it was.
She yanked the collar of my shirt and yelled, “When did your parents fucking die?”
Fuck! Didn’t she know I was already about a millimeter away from completely losing my shit? My voice broke as I screamed, “Like four years, two and a half months ago!”
Her faced paled and her hand twitched in my collar.
Her voice came out in barely a whisper, but I heard every fuckin’ word. There was no way to not hear what she said. “I think Andrew might have had something to do with it.”