Read A Family Affair: Summer: Truth in Lies, Book 3 for Free Online

Tess had to look away. “You signed a non-compete clause.”
    That brought Tess around—fast. “So?” She’d signed it as a matter of course, back when she and Melanie had first met, before they became friends. A non-compete could be treacherous, but Tess had never felt threatened by its existence because she’d never considered leaving a job she loved. Then again, she’d never considered losing that job either.
    Melanie cleared her throat. “Yes, well, I’m going to enforce it. You can’t work for a competitor for six months.”
    “You can’t be serious.” This was her friend? The woman who had asked her to be her child’s godmother?
    “It’s only because I care about you. It’s for your own good. Don’t look at me that way. I could have said a year, like the contract does, but I’m only enforcing six months.”
    “I can’t believe you’re doing this.” Numbness settled in the middle of Tess’s chest, spread through her body. Friends didn’t do this. Friends looked out for one another. If she hadn’t gotten close to Melanie, she might have seen this coming, might have been able to protect herself. But how? Maybe they weren’t really friends at all. What kind of friend conjured up a make-believe family, like Tess did? As if the real ones had never lived, or breathed, or left their mark on her? Melanie kept talking, her glossy lips moving, her white teeth gleaming.
    “I’m doing this for you, because if you don’t step back and reassess your life, you’ll be fifty and have no life .” Her voice shifted to a soft plea. “Just give yourself six months. Okay?”
    For what? To reassess a life she’d been running from for eight years? No, thank you . Melanie would never understand. How could she when she had a husband who loved her and a baby on the way?
    “Tess? Please try to understand. You’re on the fast track to burnout. I see it, even if you don’t. Consider this a second chance. Go back to that quaint little hometown you once told me about. Rest. Relax. Watch the flowers grow. ”
    Return to Magdalena? Hardly. It’s not like she ’d left on good terms. She’d been responsible for the animosity that split the town in two—one side supporting her, the other siding with Cash. The town had been more than happy when she’d packed up and disappeared. Maybe they’d forgiven her over the years, but who knew? A semi-annual crate of lipstick for The Bleeding Hearts Society and a special package of “Poppy Perfect” to Lucy Benito until the year she passed were not exactly a peace treaty.
    There were too many years and too many ill-spoken words to simply move on. Besides, Magdalena wasn’t the kind of town that turned a page as though nothing had happened. Oh, they’d forgive, but not until they had their say, and the “say” would be brutal and demand the truth.
    Why did Tess refuse to even talk to Cash when he was acting in accordance with police rules and regulations?
    What if the gun in JJ’s pocket had been loaded?
    And what if JJ had fired it?
    After all, he’d been high.
    Should Cash have stood there and waited?
    Gotten himself killed because the kid robbed the convenience store on a dare?
    Well, should he?
    No, she could not go back and face Ramona Casherdon who must despise her for accusing her nephew of cold-blooded murder and driving him from Magdalena. And Bree and Gina? She’d dodged the calls and visits from the two women she called best friends. And then there was Pop Benito, the Godfather of Magdalena. He would certainly have a lecture ready, stronger than the high-test coffee he drank every morning. She couldn’t go back and face them because deep down, she knew she’d been worse than wrong, knew she’d driven Cash away, ruined their chance at happiness.
    That was why she drove herself through work, why she didn’t slow down until she was near exhaustion, and why she had no life. She didn’t deserve one, not after what she’d done. The town would agree and they