Free Secrets Everybody Knows by Christa Maurice

was he kidding? Chatting with James more would just be an excuse that would be removed if Elaine wasn’t there.
    Kathy walked over to James and started flirting with him. Elaine had worried that Kathy would become exactly what she was. James was backing up from the onslaught, and Kathy was only half dressed. He kept glancing at Beth, who was entangled in the conference with Lily and Elaine. Johnny considered sending one of the boys over to rescue James, but Elaine attacked first. In a Beth Wilson-style outburst, she grabbed her sister and jerked her backward. Behind him, he heard a few gasps from the stands as the battle between Elaine and Kathy became a lot more interesting than the Little League game. Beth got between them and sent James away. Lily closed in on the three of them and the huddle tightened. If he had stayed around fourteen years ago, he could have kept Kathy off this path. He could have made sure she didn’t run with the wrong crowd and saved Elaine this aggravation.
    But he would have had to make Elaine a pariah in the process. Even as a lesbian, she had a better reputation than as the girl who got screwed by Johnny McMannus.
    The conference broke up. Kathy sauntered toward him with high color as Lily and Elaine headed back toward the parking lot. Beth stayed in the middle for a minute before following Kathy.
    “Well, you are a tall drink of water,” Kathy murmured, stopping in front of him. “I don’t think I know you.”
    Johnny swallowed hard. He had to remind himself that Kathy must be around thirty by now and no little girl, but the fact that she was Elaine’s little sister still hung in his mind. “Johnny McMannus.”
    “Johnny McMannus. My, my. You left town a long time ago.”
    Beth walked past, glancing at them. Johnny felt his face heat, but Beth didn’t seem too shocked.
    “I’m so sorry about your father.”
    “He’s going to be fine,” Johnny said. This conversation felt like flypaper.
    “Are you running your dad’s garage now?”
    “I am.”
    “I think I might be developing a mysterious knock in my engine.” She turned that smile on him and Johnny wished he’d rescued James when he had the chance.
    “Fill up with high grade next time.” Johnny folded his arms.
    Kathy ran her hand along his forearms, squeezing lightly the way she might test melons in the grocery store. “Oh darlin’, it might be a bigger problem than that.”
    “Kathy, you do realize you’re in Ohio and not the deep South.”
    Kathy snatched her hand away. “Nobody calls me Kathy anymore. It’s Kitty.”
    “I’m sure they call you a lot of things, Kathy.”
    “Jerk.” She stomped away.
    Johnny watched her go. He was a bigger jerk than she knew, but he came by it honestly.
     

 
    Chapter 6
     
    Elaine walked into the bus garage wondering if Teri was working at the grocery store today. She was out of ice cream again. The Bailey’s experiment had worked, but nothing soothed the savage beast like Chubby Hubby. The results of her experiments were starting to show on the scale too. Elaine wished she was one of those people who exercised when they were depressed. Maybe she should try it. Alcohol and ice cream didn’t fill the void anymore. A temporary patch, but nothing more. Once the festival was over and she didn’t have one of Lily’s lists to get her through the day, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do.
    She’d burn that bridge when she came to it. Right now she had an eight-by-eleven piece of paper forcing one foot in front of the other. At the top: Make sure the buses were running or find buses to borrow.
    George seemed very sure whomever he’d asked to fix it was up to the job. She had called him last night and he said something about a part. . .blah, blah, blah. Elaine had carefully blocked any knowledge of cars from her memory, and she was quite pleased to discover that it did indeed sound like Greek. The only thing that sank in was that the person doing the repair had gotten the