Page 91 of Want to Know a Secret?

She shakes her head. “Owen is … He’s Sean’s son from another marriage. His first wife… She died of breast cancer when Owen was a baby.”

I don’t know what to say. “That’s terrible. So much tragedy.”

“It was a long time ago.” She smiles distantly. “Actually, it’s how Sean and I met. He had all these hospital bills to pay, even though his wife died, and he had to drive an Uber to make extra money. He was the one who drove me to the hospital when I started having pain from my fibroids, and he kept so calm when I started bleeding halfway through the ride. He made sure I got to the right place and waited with me until the doctor came. He was a complete stranger, but he was so kind.” She takes another sip of wine. “And then a couple of weeks later, he called me to check on me. We got to talking and… well, you know.”

Maria’s story makes me think of when I went into labor with Tristan. Keith started freaking out about the possibility of my water breaking in his precious BMW. He put down a tarp on the backseat before he would let me get in.

There’s no doubt that Sean Cooper is a good guy. But even good guys sometimes do bad things.

_____

The only reason I ever go over to April’s house anymore is to talk about PTA stuff. Years ago, I used to be there all the time. We used to have coffee together almost every morning. Now I do whatever I can to avoid her.

Today I need to talk about a few details about the upcoming fall festival. Admittedly, she has been invaluable in getting things set up. Everything I have asked her to do, she has done without question.

But when I come in through her back door, I find her in the living room, but she’s not alone. And she’s not with Mark either. I haven’t seen Mark skulking around here in months—maybe she ditched him after that mess with Mrs. Kirkland. Maybe she thought it was too risky. Or maybe she just got sick of him and figured she had taught Kathy Tanner her lesson.

No, the person in April’s living room is Sean Cooper.

I’m not going to lie. Sean is a very attractive man. Attractive in that sort of hot blue-collar laborer way, with the beard and the muscles—the kind of guy who doesn’t even know or care that half the women on the block are slobbering over him. Not that I personally find him attractive. I never liked that type particularly. Also, I might be dead inside after so many years of plotting to get out of my wifely duties with Keith.

April finds him attractive though. It’s painfully obvious. Now that she’s done with Mark, she’s set her sights on Sean. She’s always giving him that coy smile and forcing her various fattening treats onto him. It’s sickening, considering the man is her neighbor’s husband and she’s married herself.

Anyway, I don’t catch Sean and April in a liplock. Thank God. He’s standing on a stool in her living room, changing a lightbulb while she watches him. But then he sees me walk in, and he gets this sheepish, guilty look on his face. He knows this doesn’t look good for him.

And April, of course, winks at me. Every time that woman winks at me, I want to strangle her.

“Sean is helping me with the lightbulb,” she explains to me. “He’s so much taller than me. It’s much easier for him… I don’t want to break my neck.”

“Of course,” I mutter. Even though I am only an inch taller than April, and I’ve changed every single lightbulb in our house dozens of times.

Sean finishes screwing in the bulb, and the living room lights up. April reaches out to touch his shoulder. “Thank you so much. You’re my hero.”

Sean glances at me and rubs the back of his neck. “It’s just a light bulb.”

“Let me get you those brownies I promised you before you go.”

April hurries off to the kitchen, leaving me and Sean alone in the living room. He shoots me a look. “I was just changing her lightbulb.”

“Sure,” I say.

He grits his teeth. “Don’t look at me that way, Julie. You know I love Maria. I would never—”

“Right,” I say. “Except I’m not the person you need to convince.”

He heaves a sigh. Part of me is hoping he’ll refuse April’s brownies, but he takes them from her before he leaves. I’m disappointed in him. One day it’s brownies, the next they’ll be in April’s bedroom. It’s a slippery slope. He just doesn’t know it yet.

Chapter 46

Maria notices something going on between Sean and April too.

At first, she laughs it off. But about a week after the blown lightbulb, I come over to Maria’s house in the morning and find her fuming mad. “Sean is over there again. At April’s house.”

Even I’m angry at Sean now. Why can’t he just say no to her? “Why?”

“She thought she saw a mouse.” Maria lifts her brown eyes. “Am I being paranoid? I feel like she’s just making things up to get him over there.”

She is absolutely not being paranoid. I don’t want to fan the flame though. “April’s husband doesn’t help her much.”