Free Liabilities by Shannon Dermott Page A

powerful.
    Mary came back in the school door. With the door to the office open, I saw her return. “He’s probably hungry.” Then she proceeded to unbuttoned her shirt. Turner looked away. And I watch him not comfortable with the natural state of being a mother. As a kid, it was just a way of life. As an adult, she was my sister baring her breast to the world, too weird for me.
    “We should go and give you privacy,” I stated, getting to my feet.
    Turner did the same facing the wall, although my guess was that Mary wouldn’t have minded one bit if Turner saw her. I headed out the door and drew in a heavy breath once outside.
    The kids were siting picnic style in the small front lawn eating lunch and talking. Turner took my hand. “Want to go for a walk.”
     The need for air and distance between me and Mary filled me. I nodded.

Chapter Nine
     
    Walking down the center aisle of the road wasn’t a problem considering cars weren’t allowed in the community with the exception in the event of an emergency, which hadn’t ever presented itself in the years I’d lived here.
    We didn’t go far before he ducked us into the tree line.
    “I heard you and Vi this morning,” I said.
    Turner stopped in his tracks and faced me. “What happened between her and me was a mistake.”
    “And what happened exactly.” Although I may not have been privy to most of the details of his life after me, somehow I felt like I deserved this bit of truth seeing that she was my sister.
    “You have to understand, losing you was like losing my life. She was there. And in a moment of weakness I gave in. She’d been so close. I can’t even remember how it happened. But I got lost in her eyes and it was as if you were there. And I kissed her. But as soon as it happened, I knew it wasn’t you.”
    “Does she know that?”
    He shook his head. “She knows that I couldn’t do it. But I never told her it was you I was seeing. Didn’t think that was the right thing to say. Kissing her had been shitty enough.”
    “And Beth?” Although we’d talked about it before, I thought there may have been more to that story.
    He stepped closer, his eyes darkened with desire. “Beth made her idea of us together known. She was persistent. I’d broken up with my girlfriend at school and was back at home. I wasn’t in the mood for any girl. Then you showed up. She was convenient. And I used her. I felt like a total douche. But I wanted you to hurt as much as I did.”
    I closed my eyes and leaned back on the nearby tree. Now his guilt was mine. I’d caused Beth’s pain.
    Since we were getting everything out in the open, I asked, “You had a girlfriend?”
    “Carrie,” he said frankly. “She was from a small town and we had a lot in common.”
    “Pretty?” That was a dumb question. Turner was as hot as they came.
    He lifted his shoulders quickly in a dismissive gesture. “Sure.”
    “Why’d you break up?” Now I was crossing the line into none of my business territory. If he didn’t answer, I wouldn’t press him. It wasn’t like I wanted to talk about Kalen or Scott.
    “She wasn’t you.”
    Looking up into his lovely eyes, I saw the pain again. “I should hope not,” I teased. “If I had a twin that my parents didn’t tell me about I’d be pretty pissed.”
    He laughed, and my joke to ease the tension worked. Turner however wasn’t done with his confession. “In the end we wanted different things. She wanted the house and all the trappings. Small town life made her dream of grander things.”
    “Nothing wrong with that,” I said playing devil’s advocate.
    “It wasn’t that. She was into the things .” He punctuated that last word.
    I lifted my head in acknowledgment. “She was materialistic.”
    “Exactly. She just didn’t want a bigger house. She wanted the biggest house on the block so she could flaunt her success to everyone she left behind.”
    That was one way of losing him, I thought to myself. “She didn’t know