the road ahead of us. “I don’t have any secrets.”
“Everyone has secrets,” I objected.
Her soft, pink lips curled up with mischief. It was all I could do to keep from reaching out to touch her when she hinted, “Okay, maybe I do have one or two...”
9
Violet
To be fair, Oliver already knew one of my secrets, since he’d heard that blasted audiobook start-up at one of the worst possible moments. Since I didn’t want to ever speak of that with him again, I decided not to point it out.
We needed something to break up this monotonous drive, though. Besides, he had admitted to me that he couldn’t drive. It had to be somewhat embarrassing for a big, strong, and tough guy to admit to a woman, who was currently chauffeuring him to Maine, that he had never picked up the skill.
Since we didn’t have a big enough need for public transportation in Brunswick Bay Harbor, driving had been a necessity for everyone who wanted to travel any distance. Not driving had never been a viable option, so failing to get a driver’s license seemed like a foreign concept to me. I simply couldn’t imagine it.
“Spill,” he suggested, prompting me to share a secret with him.
Not wanting to get too personal, but hoping to make him feel better about his embarrassing admission, I said, “My front teeth are fake.”
“What?!?” He sounded more scandalized than I would have expected.
Turning to glance at him, I nodded in confirmation. I smiled and pointed at my perfectly straight, white smile before saying, “This is a dental bridge.”
I quickly turned my eyes back to the road, but not before I caught sight of his gaping, stunned expression. His strong reaction to the news surprised me.
It was a secret I’d never shared with anyone before. My family and friends from home all knew what had happened, and it had never seemed like anything I needed to share with anyone from the city.
“What?... How?... When?...” He seemed to be at an utter loss for words, so I decided to fill in the details for him.
“My senior year of high school there was a big blood drive, due to a major shortage at the blood banks. I wanted to do my part, but I’d never had a draw done before. I thought everything was fine, until I stood up after donating. The nausea immediately overwhelmed me. I passed out and face-planted onto the school’s wooden gym floor.”
A quick glance in Oliver’s direction confirmed that he was still staring with wide eyes at me, so I continued. “Dylan, my late husband, never forgave himself for not making it to my side in time to catch me.”
It felt strange to be talking to this man about my husband. A significant part of my mind wanted to keep the two males in completely separate compartments, but Dylan was my entire past. It would be impossible not to mention him.
Oliver remained quiet, so I finished my story. “The fall knocked out my two front teeth and fractured my jaw. My jaw had to be wired shut for six weeks to let it heal. I survived that time by eating only blended soups and milkshakes.”
He failed to comment when I paused, so I added, “In our senior prom pictures, I’m making a goofy closed-mouth grin because my teeth were wired together.”
I was certain this news would startle him into speaking, but it was as if he didn’t even hear me tell him about my jaw being wired shut for over a month during high school. Instead, he was completely focused on my teeth. In a disbelieving voice, he pointed to the front of his own mouth and said, “So, all of this is fake?”
Chuckling over how shocked he was, I nodded, before saying, “Yep, I’m a toothless monster. Would you like me to stop the car and let you out?”
I had, of course, been joking, so I was surprised when he gulped and said, “No, I think I can handle it.”
“Oh, it’s not that bad.” I smacked his shoulder lightly before adding, “Lots of people have fake teeth.”
He shook his head as if he still couldn’t quite comprehend what I had revealed to him. Finally, he said, “That was a huge secret. My inability to drive is nothing compared to that.”
I smiled as I turned my head to the left to check the car’s blind spot before changing lanes. Smoothly angling the car over to pass a semi, I said, “Well, then, I guess you