Page 18 of The Banned Books Club
“No, I don’t,” she said with a knowing chuckle. “You’re just being kind.”
“You do! Are you still at the high school?”
“No. After teaching for more than four decades, I retired three years ago.”
“You must’ve had fifteen hundred or more students over such a long career. I’m shocked you recognized me, especially since I’ve been gone for so long.”
“I might not have realized it was you, but I was just at the pharmacy, where someone mentioned you were in town.”
Of course. It wouldn’t take long before everyone knew. But she wasn’t doing much to go unnoticed having Sammie send out that email to all of the book club members. She probably shouldn’t have done that—not so soon—but she needed to establish some sort of life here.
“How’s your mother?” Mrs. Milton asked.
“Struggling.” Gia didn’t see any point in claiming Ida was “fine.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
“I’m so sorry.” Mrs. Milton nudged her own cart a bit closer. “I’m glad you can have this time with her.”
Deluged by an onslaught of guilt for not returning sooner, Gia nodded. “Me, too.”
“I was afraid—” she lowered her voice “—I was afraid that what happened before you left might be keeping you away. But I should’ve known you’re too strong to let a few naysayers have the last word.”
“I wasn’t out to hurt anyone,” she said. “I just...didn’t know what to do. Mostly, I wanted to be taken out of Mr. Hart’s class. That was all I was expecting when I told the principal about what he’d done.”
“You were seventeen, Gia. You did exactly what you should’ve done. The rules are there to protect students. He was the one who broke them.”
“But it’s hard to know you’ve ruined someone’s life,” she heard herself saying. “Then there’s Cormac and the girls...”
“If they’re not over what their father did yet, I hope they will be soon. Like you, I feel bad for them. But they were never your responsibility. Evan Hart’s the one who let them down. He needs to apologize and make things right—for the sake of everyone involved.”
That’ll be a cold day in hell, Gia thought. After seventeen years of telling the same lie, what would be his motivation? He obviously didn’t have a conscience. “I doubt he’ll ever do that,” she said. If only he’d owned up to what he’d done instead of claiming she was out to get a better grade, maybe she wouldn’t carry such a deep scar herself.
“It’s never too late to right an old wrong,” Mrs. Milton responded. “Now that you’re back and he has the chance to apologize to your face, I hope he’ll do exactly that.”
Gia had been so defensive when she walked into the store, so primed and ready to encounter hostility, that Mrs. Milton’s kindness had completely disarmed her. “Thank you,” she said. “I—I can’t tell you how much this means to me. What he did was bad enough. But then... Not to be believed...”
The incident with Mr. Hart had lasted only a few minutes. It’d certainly upset her—thrust her into a tailspin—but after she’d come to terms with all that, the doubt and suspicion she’d faced, at least from certain parties, had lingered.
It was still there; maybe it always would be.
Mrs. Milton’s eyes filled with sympathy and concern. “Ibelieve you,” she stated unequivocally. “And I know there are many others.”
But Mrs. Milton and anyone else who believed her had to go on faith—they couldn’tknow. Mr. Hart had used his charm and persuasiveness, not to mention his sterling reputation, to make himself look like the victim, dividing the whole town. The fact that anyone could think she’d lie about something that serious ate Gia up inside. That was why she’d tried so hard to distance herself.
For the most part, when she was in Idaho, working and busy, she managed to forget—except on the odd night when she drank too much or lay awake, staring at the ceiling. Then she could get caught up in the past. But those moments had been limited, especially in recent years. It was returning to Wakefield that dredged up that incident, put it front and center and made it inescapable again.
She wanted to head back to Idaho right away—leave her hometown in the dust as she had before. But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t abandon her mother, no matter what. She’d never forgive herself if she did.
His father was calling. Cormac had just finished with his last patient and was turning off the lights when his cell phone went off. Even Louisa had gone home. She’d brought up the subject of Gia again before she left, but they hadn’t had the chance to say much more. It was getting so late by then that her husband was pushing her to get home. Victor was on a tight deadline and needed her help with the kids.
Cormac stared at his phone, trying to decide whether to answer. He had to talk to his dad at some point; he just wasn’t sure he wanted it to be now. He was starving—eager to get home and have dinner. And Duke was just as excited to escape the office.
He could call his father back in an hour or two, once he’d had a chance to unwind and consider the situation without having to focus on so many other things at the same time. He almost shoved his phone into his pocket. But then he realized that his father couldn’t be trusted not to do something stupid, especially when he was upset, and Gia’s return would definitely upset him.
Hoping to talk him down, if necessary, he answered the call. “Hello?”
“Have you heard?”
Had this been an ordinary conversation, Cormac would’ve taken his dog to the truck, loaded him up and headed home while he talked. But this wasn’t an ordinary conversation, so he remained rooted to the spot. “About Gia Rossi?”
