Sara Shepard - Stunning

“Are you sure?” Isaac asked, grabbing Emily’s hands.

“Positive.” She peered at their entwined fingers. They looked so nice together. Did the baby’s hands look like a combination of theirs? Did the baby have Isaac’s smile, Emily’s freckles? A lump formed in her throat.

“Okay, well in that case, there was actually something I wanted to ask you about,” Isaac said, looking serious.

Emily swallowed hard, suddenly worried he could read her thoughts. “Yeah?”

Isaac looked into her eyes. “Do you want to go with me to Tom Marin’s fund-raiser ball tomorrow? It sounds fun, and my dad’s company isn’t catering it.”

“Oh!” Emily said, unable to hide her surprise. She’d intended on going to the fund-raiser alone, especially since she was only going in order to help the girls steal Gayle’s phone. Bringing Isaac would be tricky. What if Gayle said something? What if she took one look at Isaac and knew, somehow, he was the father?

But Isaac was looking at her nervously, like he’d be crushed if she said no. And before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “Yes!”

“Great!” Isaac said, looking relived. “It’s a date.”

Emily forced a bright smile on her face. She’d never felt so many things at once. Freaked, definitely. Pleased, too—she did want to see Isaac again. But she also hated herself for everything she wasn’t telling him. She was playing a very dangerous game.

It was their turn to order, and they stepped up to the counter. A motorcycle engine revved, and she glanced at the street out the window. There, across the wide avenue, backlit by the neon sign of the Hollis Liquor Store, stood someone in a black hood, staring at her. At first, she thought it might be Derrick, but this person was smaller, thinner. Emily shot away from Isaac and wound around the tables to get a closer look, but by the time she was at the glass, the figure was gone.

Aria stood at the window of Ella’s house in Rosewood, peering out at the dark street. She felt a hand on her shoulder and smelled Ella’s familiar patchouli perfume. Her mother wore a paint-spattered artist’s smock and chopsticks in her hair. She’d recently gotten inspiration for a new painting series, and between her new boyfriend, her job at an art gallery in Hollis, and her time in the studio, Aria barely saw her.

“What are you and Noel up to tonight?” she asked, perching on the paisley wing chair she and Byron had bought at a flea market a million years ago. “That’s who you’re waiting for, right?”

A lump formed in Aria’s throat. Truthfully, she was hoping Noel wouldn’t show up for their date. That way, Aria wouldn’t have to break up with him.

A’s note had tortured her all day, and she’d debated saying something versus keeping quiet. If she kept the secret, she’d have to end things. On the other hand, if she outed Noel’s father, Noel would hate her and probably break up with her anyway. And how the hell had A found out? How did A know everything?

Aria had no doubt that A would spill Mr. Kahn’s cross-dressing secret if she didn’t act soon. It was bad enough that she still felt like she’d ruined her own family—

she couldn’t ruin Noel’s, too. Only, could she really dump Noel after all they’d been through? She loved him so much.

She looked up at her mom and took a deep breath. “Do you still blame me for what happened between you and Byron?”

Ella blinked hard. “What do you mean, still ?”

“I kept it a secret. If I would have said something to you, maybe you could have . . .”

Aria’s mother sank further into the chair cushion. “Honey, your father put you in a horrible position. You should have never had to make the decision to tell or not to tell. Even if you had told me sooner, it wouldn’t have changed anything in the end. It’s not your fault.” She laid a hand on Aria’s thigh.

“I know, but you got so mad at me for not saying anything,” Aria mumbled. Ella had kicked her out of the house, and she’d had to live with Sean Ackard, her then-boyfriend.

Ella cradled a knitted throw pillow between her hands. “I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I was just so blindsided, and I had to lash out at someone.” She looked up. “I’m sorry, too, honey. You shouldn’t dwell over this. Things happen. And we’re all happier and healthier now, right?”

Aria nodded, feeling a knot in her stomach. “But if we were to do it all over again, would you rather I told you sooner?”

Ella thought about this for a moment, running her finger over her bottom lip. “Maybe not,” she said. “I think I needed to be in the dark, at least for a little while longer. I needed to get strong enough to know what I wanted and realize that I was capable of living on my own. Moving to Iceland, figuring out a new country, that really helped me, but it was because of your father that we went there. So, actually, Aria, if I had known earlier, I never would have gotten that experience. In a weird way, I’m glad I found out when I did.”

Aria nodded, working this over in her mind. “So you’re saying that if you know a secret about someone, but you also know that someone else isn’t ready to hear it, you should keep it to yourself?”

“I guess it depends.” Ella wrinkled her brow, looking suspicious. “Why? Do you know a secret about someone?”

“No,” Aria said quickly. “I was just speaking hypothetically.”

Her mom’s cell phone rang, saving Aria from having to explain further. But then she peered out the window and saw Noel’s Escalade parked at the curb, and her stomach clenched. Ella’s advice made perfect sense, but that meant she had to break up with Noel.

Swallowing hard, she waved good-bye to Ella, zipped up her denim jacket, and stepped out the door. Her heart broke when she saw Noel’s smiling face through the window. “You look gorgeous, as usual,” he crooned when she opened the door.

“Thanks,” Aria mumbled, even though she’d worn her ugliest jeans and a big, bulky sweater that was one of her first knitting projects. She wanted to seem as unattractive as possible to soften the blow.

“So where do you want to go?” Noel shifted into drive and pulled away from the curb. “Williams-Sonoma for cooking supplies? I hear next week we’re making popovers.”

Aria stared at the passing streetlamps until her vision blurred, keeping her mouth shut. She was afraid that if she said anything, she’d burst into tears.

“Okay, not in a Williams-Sonoma mood,” Noel said slowly, turning the steering wheel. “What about that cool coffee bar we found in Yarmouth? Or hey, we could go back to that psychic shop by the train station. Where it all began.” He nudged Aria playfully. He was referring to how they’d bonded at a séance at the shop last year.

Aria fiddled with the zipper on her jacket, wishing Noel would just be quiet.

“Last-ditch effort,” Noel said cheerfully. “How about we go to Hollis and just get really drunk? Play some darts and beer pong, act like idiots . . .”

“Noel, I can’t,” Aria blurted.

Noel came to a stop at a light adjacent to a big strip mall. “Can’t what? Drink?” He grinned. “C’mon. I saw you drink plenty in Iceland.”

She winced. Iceland just twisted the knife more painfully—it was yet another secret she was keeping. “No, I can’t do . . . this .” Her voice cracked. “Me and you. It’s not working.”

A frozen smile appeared on Noel’s face. “Wait. What?”

“I’m serious.” She stared at the glowing red clock numbers on the dashboard. “I want to break up.”

The light turned green, and Noel wordlessly swerved into the other lane and turned into the strip mall. It was one of those monstrous shopping plazas that contained a Barnes & Noble superstore, a Target, a warehouse-size wine shop, and a bunch of upscale salons and jewelry boutiques.