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Back Their Last Secret
Chapters (97)
  1. Cover
  2. Back Cover Text
  3. Praise
  4. Booklist
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. One
  8. Two
  9. Three
  10. Four
  11. Five
  12. Six
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Twelve
  19. Thirteen
  20. Fourteen
  21. Fifteen
  22. Sixteen
  23. Seventeen
  24. Eighteen
  25. Nineteen
  26. Twenty
  27. Twenty-One
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. Thirty-Nine
  46. Forty
  47. Forty-One
  48. Forty-Two
  49. Forty-Three
  50. Forty-Four
  51. Forty-Five
  52. Forty-Six
  53. Forty-Seven
  54. Forty-Eight
  55. Forty-Nine
  56. Fifty
  57. Fifty-One
  58. Fifty-Two
  59. Fifty-Three
  60. Fifty-Four
  61. Fifty-Five
  62. Fifty-Six
  63. Fifty-Seven
  64. Fifty-Eight
  65. Fifty-Nine
  66. Sixty
  67. Sixty-One
  68. Sixty-Two
  69. Sixty-Three
  70. Sixty-Four
  71. Sixty-Five
  72. Sixty-Six
  73. Sixty-Seven
  74. Sixty-Eight
  75. Sixty-Nine
  76. Seventy
  77. Seventy-One
  78. Seventy-Two
  79. Seventy-Three
  80. Seventy-Four
  81. Seventy-Five
  82. Seventy-Six
  83. Seventy-Seven
  84. Seventy-Eight
  85. Seventy-Nine
  86. Eighty
  87. Eighty-One
  88. Eighty-Two
  89. Eighty-Three
  90. Eighty-Four
  91. Eighty-Five
  92. Eighty-Six
  93. Eighty-Seven
  94. Eighty-Eight
  95. Eighty-Nine
  96. Acknowledgments & A Personal Note
  97. Excerpt

“Good. I ask because it turns out our sitter and her family are moving to Calgary, where her dad’s been transferred. Do you think your daughter would be interested in watching our son and daughter?”

“Absolutely.”

And that was how Janie came to babysit for the Tullocks in their house at the edge of town, the one with the front lawn almost as big as a football field and the four-car garage. Janie was overwhelmed when she stepped into it with its grand piano, chandeliers, plush carpet and expensive-looking furniture. She got along with Neal, a polite six-year-old, and Linda, who was five and very cute. They had an endless supply of toys but seemed lonely.

Their mother, Connie Tullock, was unlike any woman Janie had met. She spoke in a fake accent, like she was from England, even though everyone said she’d grown up in Moose Jaw. She was involved in a local theater group that put on plays. Janie thought Connie Tullock was weird and also nitpicky.

“You must be extremely careful around the pool,” she told Janie that first time they met.

Then she had Janie prove she could swim by having her put on one of her teenage daughter’s swimsuits and complete a full length of their in-ground pool.

Then she gave her a list of what foods Neal and Linda could have, what TV shows they could watch, when to take their vitamins, what time they had to go to bed, a list of emergency numbers, including Connie’s and Roy’s cellular phones.

Alone with the kids, Janie walked through the Tullock home. She played Chopsticks for them on the piano. Then she studied the framed family pictures. Torrie Tullock was sixteen and pretty. Janie wondered why she was so much older than Neal and Linda, and why she lived in Winnipeg.

“Mom and dad say Torrie’s sick,” Neal said. “We see her at Christmas.”

Neal and Linda liked Janie, so did Mr. Tullock, and she became their regular sitter that spring. Things went pretty much all right except for when it came time to pay Janie. She soon learned that despite their wealth the Tullocks were tightwads. Mr. Tullock never seemed to have enough cash on him, leaving it to his wife to either pay Janie, or top off what he thought he’d already paid her.

It got confusing and soon became common for Janie to be shortchanged. In the early days, whenever she tried to raise the issue, the Tullocks would wave off her concern, saying they’d pay her what they owed next time and include extra. It never happened.