page32 (2/2)

But if he were to tell her the truth—tell her the deep, dark secret that he’d been keeping for years, then she’d realize she didn’t have to work so hard to be nice to him In fact, she’d probably be anxious to leave the estate and start over somewhere else—just like his sisters had done after the journal had revealed the fractures in their perfect family

“If you ever want to talk,” she said, “I ood listener”

“Sylvie, stop” He didn’t look at her He knew if he did, he’d never get the words out “You don’t understand what’s going on”

“I will,” she said ever so softly, “if you tell me”

“I knew”

The words popped out before he could stop them It was the first time he’d made a vocal admission

Sylvie’s fine brows drew together “Knehat?”

He’d told her this et this over with and let the pieces fall as they itimate”

“Youthe journal?”

He shook his head as he stared blindly down at the“I knew years before my sisters read the journal”

“Oh” Her breathy response was more of aresponse

“As you know, I’ot to stay up a little later thandeal—so that time, I would read in bed” In his ht so clearly that it was as though he were still there “I can’t re but it was one of those that you keep telling yourself you’ll put down and go to sleep after one e”

Sylvie didn’t say a word She didn’tAnd he knew in the end she would look at hihtly so

He drew in an uneven breath “I kneas late Really late And I heard so I was surprised becauseher voice She said yelling wasn’t necessary to get your point across And then I heard a door slam”

He wished he’d stayed in bed—that he’d gone to sleep when he was supposed to instead of shining a flashlight on his book and reading under the covers, because then he wouldn’t have overheard so that impacted so many choices he’d made in his life