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“No, I dropped in. Flashed my badge to make security call and tell her I was there. We had a great talk, and we got into a lot of stuff. And then I went to leave… and all those old feelings were still there. I couldn’t stop myself—we kissed. I mean Ireallykissed her, and if she had offered to go to bed with me right then, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it.”
“But you stopped.”
“She stopped me.”
Danny went on to tell Joey about what Lauren had said that night. What it would mean for his family. For him. And how crystal clear she was about leaving when the album was done.
“Lauren’s never pulled her punches,” Danny said, wishing he had another beer. “Not then, not now. She was right, so I left. But it didn’t make things better. We met up a few times after that, but never at her place. Always somewhere public.”
“Like when I saw the two of you in the park,” Joey said.
“Like the park. Damn it, I really was trying to do the right thing, Joey. To stand by my vows, but no matter what I did or what I said, it wasn’t good enough for Heather. It really hurt that she didn’t trust me. And then when she left and took the boys?”
He looked at his younger brother with a stricken expression. Heather leaving had gutted Danny, and he knew it was splashed across his face. “She walked out on me. Yes, I kissed Lauren. That’s on me. But before Heather left, I hadnotslept with her. Maybe going to Lauren that night was my way of hurting Heather back for taking them without telling me.”
“If Heather believed you right from the start, would things have been different?”
Danny sighed. “I’d like to say yes, but I don’t know. Maybe if we’d talked about it more. Maybe if I’d told Heather how I was feeling. If she’d talked to me more about how she was feeling. We were having problems anyway—this just brought it all to a head.” He let the observation fade away.
“I guess the question is, what now? Like you said, eventually, Lauren’s going to leave.”
Danny considered his answer for a long moment, thinking about Heather and his kids, the rest of the family, his career as a detective. Thinking about what Lucas had said to him earlier that day. He slumped, defeated.
“I don’t know. But I have to do something.”
ChapterThirty-Seven
While Danny endured Sunday dinner—and his heart-to-heart with Joey—the Stone sisters all met at Jackie’s house. Jackie had outdone herself with the cooking, proudly wearing the mantle of domestic goddess. For Lauren’s older sister, life was meant to be lived predictably and by a plan. Six months after graduating from college, she’d married her husband, Chris. Twelve months later—almost to the day—she gave birth to their oldest child, Audrey, who was followed by Kristie, Joshua, and Elijah. Her husband’s role as senior vice president for a well-respected accounting firm afforded them a very nice house and cars that spoke of their upper middle-class status.
Nothing was ever out of place in Jackie’s life, and it was important to her to have the traditional family that went to Mass every Sunday, played by the rules, and was well-respected in the community and the church. Anything or anyone who deviated from that plan—like Lauren—was addressed with stern disapproval.
Jackie and Lauren were about as different as two sisters could be. In fact, most of the time Lauren thought Jackie had a major stick up her ass. Even when they were kids Jackie had always been bossy, taking on the role of surrogate mother whenever she could, and telling all three of her younger sisters exactly what she thought of their behavior. Truth be told, Jackie reminded Lauren a lot of Deb Padovano.
Lauren was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the day was going. The stunner of the afternoon had been Carolyn’s announcement that she was pregnant. Beyond that immediate good news, Jackie’s focus was on Audrey starting her sophomore year at the University of Oregon, vacillating between dramatic complaints that her daughter was so far away and bursting maternal pride over the major scholarship Audrey had won to study chemistry there.
The four sisters were in the kitchen, snacking on the last of the desserts, when there was a lull in the conversation. Then Jackie said, “I need to talk to you, Lauren.”
Lauren pursed her lips—she knew that prim tone.
“This is supposed to be a fun afternoon, Jackie,” Carolyn said. “No serious talk.”
Her attempt to steer the conversation in a different direction went unheeded as Jackie looked right at Lauren with a strict matronly stare. “Lauren, what in heaven’s name do you think you’re doing? I mean, people aretalking.”
All the muscles in Lauren’s neck and shoulders clenched. Oh, hell no. She was not going be lectured by Jackie about her moral failures. Not today, not after all the shit that had gone down with Danny’s mother the night she showed up at the studio.
“Jackie. Don’t.” Lauren stood up straighter and pressed her palms on the island’s smooth butcher block. She wondered if her fingernails would leave gouges in the pristine surface.
“I didn’t want to believe the rumors I’d been hearing,” Jackie said. “Then I saw that picture in the paper of you running around with Danny.” She put her hands on her hips, waiting for an explanation as if Lauren was a wayward toddler to be scolded.
“I’m not ‘running around’ with anyone. His wife walked out onhim.” Glacial didn’t even come close to describing Lauren’s tone.
“They were very happy until you came back.” Jackie’s declaration was full of conviction, as if she had inside knowledge into the state of Danny’s marriage. “Now, suddenly his wife is gone and the two of you are hot and heavy again? Steph, Carolyn, I know neither of you approve of this!”
“Don’t pull us into—” Carolyn warned.
“Really, Carolyn? Don’t tell me you approve of thisinappropriatebehavior?” Jackie heaved a disgusted sigh at Carolyn while Stephanie remained speechless, tears starting to brim in her eyes.
“Okay,Jacqueline.You want to do this? Then let’s do it.” If her sister wanted a fight, Lauren was happy to give her one.
