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But she had no idea what the peculiarities of their house’s floor plan had to do with this conversation. “And? I’m still confused.”
“He got me curious about the room and Harris’s bag. He talked about the instruments Harris kept in there and I wanted to see...”
Elisa didn’t buy the excuse. “You could have asked.”
“I know.” Rachel started a sentence then stopped before trying again. “Honestly, Josh tells stories. He was talking about Harris and this cow.”
Elisa knew. As Harris’s wife, she was very familiar with his work stories. “What does that have to do with the bag and roaming through my house uninvited?”
“Does Josh ever wind you up? It’s like he says things and gets me thinking and I take on his lax boundaries. I can almost hear him in my mind, coaxing me on.” Rachel shook her head. “Anyway, I had just gone in there and then you came in a second later. It was almost as if he’d set me up.”
Elisa glanced at her watch. She’d eaten up most of her buffer time before getting to the doctor’s office. But still, she wanted to hear Rachel out. “Explain the setup part.”
“It sounds ridiculous, but I got the impression he wantedyou to find me.” Rachel exhaled. “For you to think I was searching through your private things.”
All of those thoughts had run through Elisa’s mind. That day she’d made a vow to be more careful around Rachel and to push Shelby for more information on Rachel.
Elisa had half convinced herself Rachel and Josh were engaged in some sort of joint plan to make her think she was losing her sanity. The idea sounded a bit dramatic now that it ran through her mind with Rachel standing in front of her.
“Why not say that in front of him, call him out?” Elisa asked.
“I don’t understand his endgame. It’s almost as if Josh doesn’t want the two of us to trust each other, and I want to know why.” Rachel seemed to hesitate. “We both know he’ll shut down if I poke around too much.”
That sounded like the Josh Elisa knew. “How does any of this help him? He has to know we talk to each other.”
“If I don’t trust you then I won’t trust what you’re saying about him or your doubts about Abby voluntarily running away.”
All those promises about being careful imploded. Enough of this. Elisa wanted Rachel to run. “If you think that, why are you with him?”
“I just—”
“What? Explain it to me.” Elisa didn’t understand the attraction. Maybe two dead wives ago, but not now. “You think he’s manipulating me. You’re doubting his story about Abby. There are dead women in his past, Rachel. Aren’t you worried about becoming another one?”
“I know about Candace and the stairs. He’s convincingwhen he talks about the accident.” Rachel let out a strangled noise. “He showed me the police report that cleared him.”
That’s not what police reports did, but Elisa ignored that part. “Women.Plural.”
Rachel kept right on talking as if she hadn’t heard Elisa’s comment. “He’s great at a lot of stuff.”
What did she... oh.“I don’t really need to hear about that.”
Rachel smiled without any warmth. “That, too, but I mean the boyfriend stuff. He plans these great dates. He listens when I talk. He has this great relationship with his brother and, until recently, with you, which is pretty amazing. It all made him seem... I don’t know, stable? Human. Grounded.”
The idea of being one of Josh’s dating props made Elisa want to heave. “But Rachel—”
“He’s that guy. The redeemed bad boy with a haunted past. You hear about his parents and all the struggles and want to make things better for him.”
Elisa couldn’t deny that part. She’d been lured in by the story of the car accident and impressed that Josh had finally turned his life around.
“I didn’t have a great upbringing.” The words rushed out of Rachel now. “My sister was gone. My mom was absent and disinterested. My parents fought all the time, so there was little room for me. Then my dad got sick.” She gulped in a big breath. “I travel for work, so I don’t really have the time to make friends and cultivate relationships.”
Hearing that made Elisa question her doubts about Rachel. She’d lumped her behavior in with Josh’s, and with good reason, but now? “None of that sounds fair or healthy.”
Rachel’s mouth flattened into a thin line. Her expression looked strained. “I’m not asking for pity.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“I’m just trying to explain why all these women are attracted to Josh, why I was attracted.” Frustration filled Rachel’s voice. “He gives a lot of attention without being suffocating. He opens up and welcomes you in, but in a way that’s hopeful, not clingy or needy. It’s refreshing.”
