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Shaun doesn’t look as happy about this as I thought he would. “What?” I ask. “What’s wrong?”
“I did see Eve that day,” he says, kicking the dirt with his boot. “We were friends. Sort of.”
“Friends?” I ask in confusion. “You and Eve?”
“Eve was looking for her sister that afternoon, so we drove around looking for her. I told the police all about it. They checked my alibi. You believe me, don’t you?”
“Of course I do, but why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, floored by this revelation.
He shrugs. “I thought you probably already knew and didn’t want to discuss it. I could see how much it hurt you to talk about Eve. I didn’t want to make it worse for you.”
I reach for his hands; despite the hot weather, they are cold and clammy.
“We drove to the caves,” Shaun says, rubbing my knuckles. “And we found her sister.” Shaun goes on to tell me about seeing Nola with the knife, the dog, the blood.
“That’s awful,” I murmur. “Did you tell the police this?”
“I wanted to, but Eve made me promise I wouldn’t. I dropped her off and drove away. Next thing I know she’s dead. I thought for sure Nola did it, but then nothing happened. Her mother vouched for her and no one was arrested. The longer I didn’t say anything, the easier it was to keep it a secret.” I know exactly how he feels.
“It was easier to pretend that it was just some crazy person who killed her, that nothing I could do or say would help the police.” Shaun looks at me helplessly. “I’m so sorry.”
“I know.” I lean into him. “It’s okay.”
Shaun lets out a breath of relief. “What about Nola and the dog? She didn’t see me but she saw Eve. That’s why I thought Nola might have killed her. It was awful, seeing her kneeling over that dog, its stomach all torn apart. Could she have done it? Killed her sister?”
“No, it wasn’t Nola,” I say. “Don’t say anything to anyone about this,” I tell him. “It isn’t relevant anymore.”
“She’s crazy though, isn’t she?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I say. “She is.”
We begin to feel the sting of mosquitoes and know it’s time to go inside for the night. We walk to the truck and Shaun drives us back to the house. We spend the rest of the evening in front of the television watching sitcoms and eating the pie we never got to eat at Dad’s.
Shaun keeps one hand atop my belly hoping to catch the baby moving. He’s in luck. Little Johnnie is in rare form tonight. Rolling and kicking and punching her little fists into my ribs.
Just for tonight, I’m not going to think about Eve or Nola or Cam Harper. Just for tonight I’m only going to think of Shaun and the baby. Nothing else
