Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - BOOCarz

ever was. I don’t know—there was just something
unspoken between the two of you.”
I didn’t know how to respond. Was he jealous of
me?
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you’re my son, and I don’t want you to get
hurt.”
“Hurt how?”
He paused. Outside the clouds shifted, the last rays
of daylight throwing our shadows against the wall. I
got a sick feeling in my stomach, like when your
parents are about to tell you they’re splitting up, but
you know it before they even open their mouths.
“I never dug too deep with your grandpa because I
was afraid of what I’d find,” he said finally.
“You mean about the war?”
“No. Your grandpa kept those secrets because they
were painful. I understood that. I mean about the
traveling, him being gone all the time. What he was
really doing. I think—your aunt and I both thought—that
there was another woman. Maybe more than one.”
I let it hang between us for a moment. My face
tingled strangely. “That’s crazy, Dad.”
“We found a letter once. It was from a woman
whose name we didn’t know, addressed to your
grandfather. I love you, I miss you, when are you
coming back, that kind of thing. Seedy, lipstick-onthe-collar
type stuff. I’ll never forget it.”
I felt a hot stab of shame, like somehow it was my
own crime he was describing. And yet I couldn’t quite
believe it.
“We tore up the letter and flushed it down the toilet.
Never found another one, either. Guess he was more
careful after that.”
I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t look at my
father.
“I’m sorry, Jake. This must be hard to hear. I know