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“I can’t believe we’re finally doing this,” Bekah exclaims.
“I know. And, trust me, I’m never going to let so much time pass between visits again.”
Hadley, who she hasn’t seen in months, is adorable—strawberry-blond and green-eyed like her mom. She toddles along with them to the dining area, where Bekah has laid out an antipasto spread to be enjoyed as they talk.
But they’ve barely sat down when the baby begins fussing, and soon she’s crying at full volume.
“I’m so sorry, but she seems to be teething today,” Bekah says with a grimace.
From that moment on, their conversation and eating happen in endless fits and starts, which is a blessing, Emma realizes. The usually inquisitive Bekah isn’t focused enough to notice her distress. And there’s no way she could unload all this on her friend, not now anyway. How would that even go?Hadley, sweetie, shhh for a sec, okay? I need to tell your mommy that I might have married a cold-blooded murderer.
They have a few minutes of quiet after Bekah puts Hadley to bed, but by then it’s nearly 7:30, and Emma wants to catch the 8:20 train back to Westport.
“Oh god, I’m sorry this was so chaotic,” Bekah says as Emma rises to leave. “I’ve barely asked you a single question.”
“Please don’t worry for a second. It was fantastic to see both of you.”
As they embrace in a goodbye, Emma feels a sharp pang of sadness. Shedidlove being here, seeing her friend so fulfilled at last, but the gulf between them suddenly seems enormous.
Emma is hoping the train home will calm her like the morning’s ride did, but she ends up in a crowded and noisy car, and by the time it pulls into Westport, she feels a weird combination of twitchy and spent. And she’s dreading the idea of walking into the house. Tom won’t have a teething toddler to distract him from noticing how disturbed she is.
Maybe the smartest thing to do is talk it through with him again, to come right out and ask him about the Harvard Club, about Stowe, about everything. But the idea of such a conversation scares her. If Tom’s really behind Derrick’s death, he’s hardly going to confess it to her, and she could be putting herself in danger by letting him know she’s on to him. And if he isn’t responsible—well, then, she could be putting hermarriagein danger with her insinuations. How would they come back from her accusing him of murder?
When her phone pings with a text a few minutes later, as she’s sliding into her car in the station parking lot, she assumes it’s from Tom, wondering why he hasn’t heard back from her. But it’s actually Addison Stark’s name on the screen. After their very awkward breakfast date last weekend, Emma’s surprised to hear from her.
Is everything okay?
Reading the message, Emma groans. Is Addison still trolling for gossip about the investigation—or her state of mind?
Yes, fine, she writes back.How about with you?
All good on my end. I just wanted to check in because I saw all the police cars near your husband’s office.
