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“No one can help. Everly...” She gulped air into her lungs, shuddering at the effort it took to breathe.
“Let me get you some tea and then you can tell me all about it.”
London set a box of tissues on the coffee table within Zoe’s reach and headed out of the room. With her bout of hysteria fading, Zoe wiped her eyes and blew her nose.
“Here you go,” London said, setting down a tray containing two steaming bone-china cups, crystal sugar and creamer containers, and cloth napkins. “It’s Lavender Earl Grey.”
While Zoe added a splash of cream to her cup, London departed, returning a minute later with a plate of cookies and several strawberries.
The impromptu feast made Zoe smile. “You sure know how to throw a party,” she murmured, nibbling on a shortbread cookie.
“It is what I do for a living, after all,” London pointed out. “Are you feeling better?”
“Much. Tea and sugar helps,” Zoe said. “Thank you.” To her dismay a fresh wash of tears filled her eyes. “Oh, damn.” She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “I’m not usually like this, but it’s just been a terrible day.”
“Earlier you said it’s so much worse than I knew,” London said. “What has been going on?”
Zoe went into detail about her financial difficulties because of the divorce and how they’d affected her store. How Ryan and Susannah had helped. She explained about the video and that Ryan was on his way to break the news to his sister.
“Susannah was so wonderful,” Zoe finished. “I couldn’t bring myself to do anything bad to her or the campaign, but in the long run it didn’t matter. Everly took matters into her own hands.”
“I know i
t seems bad,” London said, “but I can’t imagine that if the affair gets out it’s going to cause Susannah any lasting damage. It’s not as if she was the one caught cheating. In fact, people might feel bad for her.”
“I hope that’s the case, but she’s still going to be devastated.”
“I agree, but it’s not because of anything you’ve done. Or even what Everly did. Her husband is the one who betrayed her.”
“I’m not sure either Ryan or Susannah will see it that way. He’s fully blaming me for the mess.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Whatever else London intended to say was interrupted by a call coming in on Zoe’s cell. She frowned at the unfamiliar number.
“Are you going to answer it?” London asked.
“What if it’s Everly?” Zoe let the call roll to voice mail and then listened to the message on speaker.
“Zoe, this is Paul Watts. Ryan told me what’s going on and I’d like to talk to you about the documents you received from London McCaffrey.”
Both women looked up from the phone at the same time and their gazes locked. In London’s gaze she saw the same anxiety fluttering in her chest.
“Who is Paul Watts and why is he asking about the documents?”
“He owns a company that specializes in cybersecurity, and is Ryan’s best friend.”
A very unladylike curse slipped from London’s lips, but her expression grew resolute. “Call him back. See if he can come here tonight.”
“Are you sure?”
“I think we both need to face up to what we’ve done,” London said. “And if we can take Everly down with us, all the better.”
* * *
In the three days since Ryan had broken the news to his sister about her husband’s infidelity, Susannah had been square in the middle of a media storm. She and Gil had decided to go on the offensive about Jefferson’s affair before the video could be leaked and effectively turned the court of public opinion in her favor.
Susannah’s campaign had picked up dozens of volunteers and the inflow of donations had skyrocketed. As far as her run for state senate went, Zoe and her friends had actually helped his sister. Personally, however, Susannah had been dealt a significant blow.
