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“I think I’m in actual shock,” Anna said after we’d polished off the carafe of mimosas. “Likeliteralshock. I would’ve understood if it’d been LT—she’d make sense. ButSamantha?”
“I know,” I muttered as I played with the remainder of my food, my shoulders lifting heavily. “I still don’t know how to wrap my head around it.”
“What are you going to do?” She waved half a strip of bacon at me. “Are you going to press charges for everything she did?”
“No.” My head shook as I explained, “Chase and I already talked about it. If she does anything else, we’ll do something then. Get a trespass warning or a restraining order against her—something, I don’t know how it all works.” An incredulous breath fled from me. “Just so crazy to even be talking about things like that for her. She was going to be my maid of honor.”
“I know, friend. I’m sorry,” Anna said sadly. “So unreal. Honestly, no offense or anything, but if she wouldn’t have confessed to it, I wouldn’t believe that any of it had been her.”
“No, none taken,” I said quickly, waving off her words. “I’m right there with you.”
“Not entirely sad LT’s gone though,” she murmured, making a face as if she wasn’t sure if she was saying too much too soon.
I tried to voice one of my go-to reprimands, all while fighting the urge to laugh.
When the laugh slipped free, Anna pointed at me. “See? You agree.”
“I don’tdisagree.”
“Knew you didn’t like her either,” she said victoriously.
“It wasn’t that,” I said in LT’s defense, even though I had absolutely no reason to defend her. “I just didn’t love that she was always hitting on Chase, even if I knew there was nothing to worry about.” When Anna continued watching me, waiting because she knew that wasn’t all, I conceded, “Fine, I never liked her.”
Anna smacked her hand on the table. “I knew it!”
“She made really good pastries though,” I added, my mouth falling into a pout because I was going to miss getting free bread and other baked goods on the regular.
“Ugh, she did,” Anna said on a groan, then scooted her chair back and gave me a sarcastic look as she stood. “And in the words of LT,‘I have to pee.’I might also need an Uber becausewhoa.” She gave me a knowing look as she took a second to make sure she was steady before leaving me there.
Fighting another laugh.
Feeling lighter than I had since the bomb had been dropped and capable of getting past the shocking betrayal and loss of my best friends.
* * *
“That isn’t your car,” Chase said when the Uber pulled away from our house a while later. Expression all adoring bemusement as he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close for a kiss that was slow, lingering perfection and had me swaying into him even more.
“Mimosas,” I said in way of explanation as I pushed up on my toes to steal another kiss.
A confirming sound rolled up his throat as a smile hinted at the edges of his mouth. “That right?”
“Anna had most of them,” I said as he turned, leading us up the driveway. “But I still had maybe three...” I drew out the number, smiling mischievously as I did and laughing when he playfully dug his fingers into my side.
“And how’d it go? Telling her everything.”
“She was shocked, obviously,” I said with a shrug. “Wanted to make sure I was okay and asked what we were going to do, but it was good. You know how Anna is, she finds a way to laugh at every situation, and she did the same with this. It made me feel better overall. Made me feel ready to mentally deal with it and move past it.”
“Good,” Chase murmured, but I could still see that worry lingering in his eyes. See that whisper of his misinterpreted guilt. As if he’d had any hand in it...as if he’d been the cause of everything Samantha had done.
And I hated that those false memories still had that pull on him.
“You’re still trying to work around what you thought happened and what actually happened, aren’t you?” I asked when he brought us to a stop in the garage, where he’d been when I’d gotten home.
“Feels like both are real sometimes,” he admitted as he pulled me close again, one of his hands lifting to gently trail across my jaw and down my neck and sending a shiver of heat through me. “I can remember what happened, but then I’ll get this drop in my stomach like I’m still fucking terrified because I’ve done something. Like I’m terrified for when we find out.”
“But you didn’t do anything,” I reminded him, and he subtly nodded.
“I know.” His shoulder lifted. “Might take time to go away the same as it took time to remember.”
