Down In Flames – Chapter 1
Tierney tried to juggle everything as she stood at the front door.
Usually, her new mom came to pick her up if something went wrong. Instead, Tierney had to wrestle a sick four-year-old into the back of a cab.
Today, she’d had to leave early because Sean had a fever. When he came home sick, she missed the rest of her day, too. With an irritated huff, she struggled to get the key into the lock with one hand while balancing a cranky, too-heavy-to-hold-like-this kid on her hip with the other. It was a skill she’d not expected to have at twenty-one.
Raising a child on her own sucked, but it beat the alternative.
Inside, the house was blessedly quiet. She set Sean down and he immediately beelined for his toys, suddenly happy. Suddenly not sick? she wondered. But his daycare was strict. His temperature had been above ninety-nine. So, she’d had to come get him right away.
With another sigh, she headed down the hall to get the medical supplies from the closet. She was pawing through the bottles of baby cough syrup and teething medications looking for the child’s Tylenol drops when she heard the moan.
Jolted to action like any mom, she ran back to check on Sean. He’d found an old teething ring and was trying to put it over the head of a toy pony.
The moan came again.
Someone was in the house.
Grabbing one of the silver candlesticks off the mantle, Tierney headed toward the base of the stairs. She stopped at the bottom, the heavy piece choked up like a baseball bat, deciding whether to check it out or leave the house.
Was the sound even human?
It came again and she breathed out a disgusted sigh as the candlestick fell, swinging at her side in her now limp grasp.
Someone was upstairs having sex.
The house was supposed to be empty. Mr. and Mrs. Doyle—her “mom” and “dad”—were running errands or showing up to the bar to cover for the fact that she’d left early. Snafu was open far too much, Tierney thought, but she didn’t complain. This was a better outcome for her and Sean than any other option she’d had.
Had the folks come home for a nooner?
Did they do that a lot? Maybe. She wasn’t supposed to be here now either. When she called to see if they could pick her and Sean up at the daycare, they hadn’t answered. Maybe this was why. She had to get her own place.
Listening to the sounds from upstairs only made her more determined to save up faster!
She went back to the medicine box she’d left on the counter—thank God she hadn’t dropped it for Sean to play with the bottles. Being a mom was juggling a thousand moving pieces. Being a teen mom had meant doing it while everyone else went to parties and proms. Now, everyone else was in college, but that wasn’t an option for her either, not with her shitty ID.
Tierney picked out a fever reducer and turned on the TV so she didn’t have to listen. She told herself to act surprised when her parents came down.
Twenty minutes later, she heard steps on the staircase and turned around. She didn’t have to act surprised.
“You head out, I’m just going to get in the shower. We shouldn’t be seen together anyway.”
That wasn’t Mrs. Doyle.
Tierney felt her heart drop.
No.
No.
That was Siorse.
And that wasn’t Ronan.
Tierney turned around in time for her sister to let out a bloodcurdling scream.
“Jesus, Tierney! You’re not supposed to be home!”
Siorse didn’t even still live here. Apparently, she just showed up sometimes to shag … whoever. Tierney didn’t even know him.
“Sean got a fever. They sent him home.” She said it calmly, though her heart pounded. Her initial fear had turned to anger.
Siorse was fine most of the time, but … there were things Tierney knew, things she didn’t like. Things she couldn’t tell—or warn—anyone about. Especially Siorse’s husband Ronan.
This was the worst one yet.
Her older sister’s eyes narrowed at her. Her perfectly manicured fingers clutched the silk robe shut, as if Siorse had suddenly become modest. “You don’t say a word.”
Tierney knew there was only one answer here. She was screwed.
Eyes at the ground, she shook her head no. She wouldn’t say anything. She couldn’t.
But her older sister stalked over close, she leaned down, putting her mouth close to Tierney’s ear, but she wasn’t quiet. “I’ve kept your secret. You’ll keep mine.”
Tierney still looked at the old nubby carpet that had been here when they all moved in. The Doyles weren’t rich, they hadn’t been able to upgrade the house much. Tierney knew she was part of the reason why. So, she nodded.
If there was one thing in her life that mattered most, it was Sean. The secret Siorse kept for her protected him. So, Tierney would keep this one, even if it ate her inside out.
