I swallowed. “You don’t always succeed?”
“Well…” He shrugged.
“It’s all right. My entire life has been on display for a couple of years. Some of what I shared with you was private, but much has been made public. A lot of homebuyers were out serious cash. I’ll always regret that.”
“But it wasn’t your fault. I’m certain you think you should’ve seen the warning signs. Why would you? You’d been married for years. Had dedicated your lives to each other. What he did was inconceivable. That kind of betrayal cuts deep. That you’ve come out the other side is admirable.” He popped the last bit of wrap into his mouth, then settled back.
I turned my attention to the street. “I can’t believe you don’t hear the traffic noise—what with being so close to the highway. You must hear the train whistles, right?” He’d said something about that…right?
He nodded. And swallowed. “I’ll admit that took some getting used to. I’m acclimatized now. I don’t even wake up, and I certainly don’t notice them during the day. And yes, things are quiet up here. I have blackout drapes that deaden the sound even more. My little cave helps me sleep at night.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin, then gestured to my container.
I pulled it closer to me. “No way—I’m finishing these fries.”
“Fair enough. Can I get you something else?”
Shaking my head, I grabbed my milkshake and sipped. “I have everything I need.”
“I’ll admit I’d never heard of a maple walnut milkshake.” Again, he tilted his head. “Although I’ve read the menu at Fifties so many times, I must’ve seen it. I guess it just didn’t register.”
“And I’ll admit I would never choose the bubblegum flavor.” I screwed up my face.
“Too childish?” He grinned.
“Too sweet. Or so I assume.”
He held out his drink. “You can always taste it.”
I hesitated. Not because I wasn’t curious—I was. No, my momentary confusion came from the intimacy of sharing a straw with someone. I’d been married for almost twenty years and had never shared a straw with Stephen. “I’m negative.” I blurted out the words.
Slowly, he nodded. “I am, too. Thank you for telling me.”
“I just—” I took a deep breath. “I got tested. After he left. A couple of times. I never would’ve otherwise, but I just thought… Better safe than sorry, right? The police didn’t find a trace of there being another man—but the officer admitted on the witness stand that he hadn’t looked all that hard. I’d killed Stephen—so who cared if anyone else was in the picture?”
“But if he’d been cheating—would that not have been a motive for murder?”
“Right? See, you’re smart like Arnav. I don’t want to speak disparagingly about the police. I mean, they’ve got a tough job. But he just—” I considered. “Sloppy was the word Arnav used over and over. They had theirmanand so didn’t do the work necessary to uncover the truth. Honestly, Arnav said he’d never seen such a horribly put-together case.” With that, I smiled. “Now, he’s a young guy. I think he’s still a little wet behind the ears, but he won the case, so I’m not complaining. And here I am—talking about my ex again.”
“Arnav is on the young side. But also brilliant.”
I cocked my head. “You know him?”
Cody nodded.
“Small town, right?”
He considered. “Do you plan to go to Kink again? On pup night?”
“Depends. Why?”
“Just curious.”
Putting two and two together, I came out with the notion that I might run into Arnav at Club Kink on pup night. Which sort of blew my mind. I understood discretion, though, and wasn’t going to push. “You’ve got me curious, but I kind of need to take a leak.”
He grinned. “I’ll show you to the guest bathroom.”
I arched an eyebrow.
The grin held. “Two bedrooms and two bathrooms. And an alcove they call a ‘den’.” He used air quotes.
