Lynn Osterkamp - Cleo Sims 03 - Too Many Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page A

Brandi get along?” I asked.
    “Totally,” Maria said with a grin. “Everything’s fun when
Brandi’s around.”
    “But she must be worried about Sabrina too.”
    “Of course she is, but she gets that Ian needs his focus. And
she knows Sabrina can take care of herself. Brandi is really good for Ian. She
keeps him from getting down about his mom. Keeps him thinking positively.”
    Elisa sighed. She wasn’t scowling or looking visibly upset,
but I could sense a lecture on the way. Apparently Maria did too. “Okay, Mom,”
she said exasperatedly. Then, to me, “Cleo, Mom says I need to talk to you
about how people act when they’ve lost someone. She thinks Ian isn’t facing the
situation, that he’s in denial or pretending everything’s fine when it isn’t.”
    “What do you think?” I asked.
    “I think Mom doesn’t get Ian. I know what it’s like to
practice for days, months, years to get to a competition. Mom doesn’t
understand. He needs his focus.”
    Elisa finally lost it. “Maria, look at me,” she said sharply.
“We’re talking about a serious situation here. Ian and Brandi are acting like
his mom is away on vacation. I find that very strange. What is going on? Where
does Ian think his mom is? Apparently he doesn’t think she’s still up at Indian
Peaks injured or lost.”
    “Not really,” Maria said. “After all the searches, they
probably would have found her by now.”
    “So,” Elisa went on, “do Ian and Brandi know something no one
else does?”
    Maria closed her eyes for a minute and took a deep breath.
“You two are both psychologists so you understand confidentiality,” she said
looking us each in the eye in turn. “Everything Ian has told me is
confidential, so I’m not going to tell you anything unless you agree to keep it
that way. Do I have your word?”
    “We can’t make a promise like that, Maria,” Elisa said
sternly. “A woman is missing, your boyfriend’s mother. Why wouldn’t you want
everyone to know everything that might help find her?”
    “It’s not my information to give out, Mom,” Maria said,
sounding close to tears. “I promised Ian to keep his secrets.”
    I thought about how committed Ian and Maria must be to each
other. Two intense focused kids like them could fall head-over-heels in love in
a flash. It reminded me of when Pablo and I met in art class our sophomore year
in college. We were instant soul mates deeply in love for the next three years
until he broke my heart when he went off right after graduation to travel and
find himself. I could imagine the fear Maria might be feeling at the thought of
losing Ian if she betrayed his confidences.
    I put my arm around Maria’s shoulders again and gave her a
squeeze. “It sounds like you’re in a tough spot,” I said. “I wouldn’t ask you
to betray Ian’s trust. Maybe you could tell him your mom is worried? Maybe you
and he could talk to your mom together?”
    I pretended not to notice Elisa giving me the evil eye from
across the table.

Chapter 6
    I lay in bed that night thinking about Maria’s fierce, yet
naive, love for Ian. Ah sixteen—such a romantic age. Again she reminded
me of myself. I was only a few years older than she is when Pablo and I fell in
love our sophomore year in college. We stayed together until we graduated. If
this pregnancy had happened back then, Pablo and I might be married with a
sixteen-year-old child today. Or—given all the ups and downs in our
relationship—maybe we’d be divorced with a sixteen-year-old child. All of
that is hard to imagine now.
    I wouldn’t have chosen to get pregnant at age twenty or twenty-one,
but if I had, I would have had no hesitation about marrying Pablo. I loved him
deeply, trusted him totally, and believed in our future together. I thought of
him as my soul mate until that night a few days after our college graduation.
    When Pablo said he’d saved up to take me to dinner at the
pricey Flagstaff House to celebrate our