The Veil

Chapter Sixty-Two

"Ok so we probably shouldn't have come to the store Sky." I whispered to her as we walked away from Teresa Wyatt, the police chiefs wife. 

She'd seen us walk in and her face dropped when she looked at mine, the town didn't know and until it hit the papers I had absolutely no intention of telling anyone what had happened. 

Emma and Joe just knew I was in a car crash and that's why I wasn't at work. 

I was holding out hope that the news wouldn't reach this far and nobody would know. 

Teresa had spent a while questioning me, trying to get something from me, worried. 

I'd reassured her I was ok and shuffled Sky away, claiming I was in a rush. 

I glanced back and she was still watching, I gave her a small smile before pushing my cart to the next isle, out of her view. 

I started to feel more uncomfortable the more eyes I noticed on me. 

If there was a drawback to a small town it was that, everyone knowing everyone's business and getting invasive if they didn't know. 

I needed a distraction and the slow clicks of Sky's nails on the scuffed tiles wasn't enough. 

I pulled my phone out my back pocket before remembering Tom had smashed his phone up. 

I called Greasers hoping he'd pick up and not Tony. 

I was out of luck, it was Tony who answered, meaning Tom was probably too busy to talk. 

"Hey Tony, it's Lily, is Tom there, it's ok if he's busy." I added some flour to the cart. 

"Oh Lily." I knew Tom had told him, more than the car crash, I could tell when his voice got sad and sympathetic. "Hold on I'll grab him." I heard Tony rest the phone on the desk and the noises of drills and metal on metal get louder as he must have opened the little office's door. 

I frowned at the ingredients in the chocolate cereal I usually ate and then added it to the cart anyway. 

The rustling on the phone got louder before a breathless Tom answered, "Are you ok?" 

I rolled my eyes, "I'm perfectly safe." I couldn't say fine to him again. I wasn't fine and he hated the word. 

"What's wrong?" He asked, he knew I wouldn't call him at work unless there was a problem. 

I sighed as I grabbed some less sugar filled cereal, "Ok, I'm in the store and everyone keeps staring at me, I hate it." I kept my voice low. 

"You went to the store alone?" He asked, his voice laced with worry. 

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again. "Yeah, I've successfully done it on more than one occasion." I answered him sarcastically. 

"This isn't funny Lil, you were just in the hospital." He wasn't worried that I'd just been in the hospital, his worry was that I'd been in bed for a week, mentally broken. 

"I'm alright Tom, I just wanted someone to talk to while I shopped, distract me." 

He didn't sound convinced but he started to tell me about the car he was working on, about how it had taken him so long to start because it was such a mess inside. 

He wouldn't tell me who's car it was no matter how much I begged. 

By the time I reached the register with a cart full of groceries and Sky getting bored I almost felt like nothing was wrong.