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“Apologize?”
“Yes!”
There was so much I wanted to say, but I didn’t. I swallowed my pride and went to find Bronwyn in the living room, where she was relaxing on the sofa, flicking through a magazine.
“I’m sorry,” I said, about as convincingly as Henry the Eighth to Anne Boleyn after swinging the axe. Then I added, “About what I said yesterday.”
She didn’t even look at me. Just kept flicking her magazine. “Why do you hate me so much, Laura?”
“I don’t hate you,” I scoffed. “That’s a ridiculous thing to say!” But beneath the makeup I could see the fourteen-year-old girl who had spread vile rumors about me and made my life miserable and I thought,okay, maybe a little bit.
She closed the magazine and put it down beside her. She was wearing a pearl-colored silk shirt and a gray tweed skirt, and she crossed her legs in a way that looked so elegant, so feminine, with her legs parallel, her knees angled to the side and her hands resting together loosely on her right hip. I felt frumpy in my weekend clothes—sweatshirt and jeans and sneakers—whereas Bronwyn looked like she’d just returned from deportment school.
“Tell me, Laura. How long did you wait before fucking my husband?”
Oh God. That didn’t take long. “It didn’t happen like that.”
“Really? You weremyfriend, you came tomyhouse, this house, and now you’re getting married to him? It’s a little fast, wouldn’t you say? You can tell me, I don’t care anymore, I’m just curious. Were you fucking him when we were still together?”
I bit the inside of my cheek.Don’t get your buttons pushed, Laura.“It wasn’t like that. Never. Jack’s not like that. And neither am I. Also, you left, Bronwyn. You can’t resent me for falling in love with Jack after you left him.” I bit my fingernail. I’m thinking she can absolutely resent me, and probably does. Bronwyn sets the parameters of resentment, as I know full well. It has nothing to do with logic or her own actions or even the truth.
She shook her head slowly, like I just didn’t get it.
“I didn’t know you were a couple, you know.” She glanced at her magazine again. “I knew, vaguely, that you were around. I assumed you were the babysitter, earning money on the side, until Jack told me you were getting married.” She turned to me again. “By the way, is he still screwing other women behind your back? I’ve often wondered about that. That’s what he used to do to me, remember?”
“He’s not like that.”
She smiled at me and for a moment she looked like she almost felt sorry for me. “How do you know? Oh wait, don’t tell me. You’re the one who’s going to change him, is that it?”
I could feel my stomach drop with every passing minute. I’d come to apologize, and instead we were rehashing history, old and new. I knew I should just shut up, say my piece, walk away, but instead I found myself defending him.
“Maybe he was unfaithful, back then,” I said, even though I didn’t believe it for one second. “But that’s a long time ago. He’s been through so much, he cares so deeply for me and Charlie. He’s not like that anymore, Bronwyn.”
For some reason, I thought she was going to laugh, but instead she just smiled, and in a soft voice she said, “Whatever you say, Laura.”
I was turning to leave when she sighed. “He’s deeply depressed, you know.”
“No, he’s not!”
“You must be joking. Have you looked at him lately?”
“He’s a bit down, of course, because…anyway, look, he’s fine. We’re doing fine.”
“If you say so.”
“I say so. So anyway…I just wanted to apologize. About yesterday. That’s all. I’ve done that now, so I’m going to…” I waved vaguely in the direction of the door and again turned around to leave.
“He won’t stay with you, you know? He’s just using you, until someone better comes along.”
“I’m not listening to you,” I said.
“I’m only trying to help. And I probably should let you know, since you…live here, that I’ve decided to extend my stay by a few weeks.”
“A few weeks?”
“That’s right.”
“And then what?”
