The Lies We Tell Read Free Page B

stopped and spun back. She was staring at him with — was that pity?
    Damn her.
    “My mother won’t be requiring your services any longer. I’m finding another tutor for her. Take your paints, your brushes, all your shit and get out. Don’t ever come back.”
    With that declaration, glad he’d got her out of their lives, Todd went back to his father’s office to continue the hunt for a new tutor for his mother.
    “So, what was that about?” Paul said as Sia walked back into the sunroom.
    Sia wished he wasn’t there. She wished she didn’t have to speak to anyone. That she could just crawl back to her studio, lick her wounds, and try to heal.
    Even though she couldn’t really blame Todd for his anger, it hurt. That he still believed, so fervently, that she was capable of committing a crime. She remembered the first time she’d gone back to school after she’d been found guilty. She’d been ready to defend herself, knowing she hadn’t done anything wrong, but there’d been an unspoken hope that Todd would just understand. That he’d know something wasn’t right, that she hadn’t done it.
    But she hadn’t known that while she’d been in Black Springs, sacrificing herself to keep her family together, Todd Lansing Sr. had died. On her first day back at school, she had been sitting on the bus, back stiff, ready to take everyone’s disapprobation.
    Paul had been first on the bus and he’d glared at her and she’d managed to ignore that, expecting it. Then Todd had got on, with his posse and she’d been unable to look away, silently pleading with him to understand.
    He’s stopped and she’d had a heart-thudding moment of hope. Then he’d leant forward and whispered, “If I ever see your face again, I’ll smash it into the ground and slice it apart.”
    She’d never heard words so laden with hate and anguish and until now, had never been spoken to in that way again.
    She’d not lasted the day at school, and had never returned, her heart shattered that Todd couldn’t sense the truth.
    It felt like her heart was breaking again. Stupid.
    “Todd’s just worried about your mum,” Sia said. “Listen, I’ve got a busy week coming up, so I may not get back again for a while.” That lie would give Todd time and space to find the new tutor without Maria and Paul finding out the truth.
    “Fair enough,” Paul said. “Hopefully with Todd here, I can come next Friday.”
    “I hope so too,” Sia said, although she was sure he wouldn’t. Todd wouldn’t allow any of them to come.
    She trudged down the hill with her belongings. They felt heavier than they ever had before. Her studio, her pride and joy, was the small granny flat under her best friend Mary’s house. Sia flung her stuff on the dining table just inside the sliding door, and then sat heavily at the table.
    She had to put thoughts of Todd Lansing from her mind. She had to put aside the still lingering teenage dream that he’d realise her innocence, take her in his arms and love her.
    The hate he felt for her right now was too strong, too intense, to ever give way to love.
    She frowned. It was a very intense hate. A hate borne from a strong passion. A passion that seemed undeserved.
    Of course he grieved for his father. Of course he blamed the person he felt responsible. But why had Maria and Paul been able to forgive her, when Todd had not? Was it simply because they’d stayed in Oberon, got to know her, seen that she wasn’t that type of person and so decided it was just an aberration? Was that why they felt so differently about her?
    Or did Todd feel differently because the root of his anger was different?
    No more, she told herself firmly. Work. You’ve got this afternoon to yourself — use it.
    She walked into her studio proper — the bedroom of the granny flat. It was a wonderful space — got great natural light, particularly in summer, but could also be closed and lit artificially very well.
    She flicked on the light and stared at