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“Britt wouldn’t hear of it. She told them it was cheating and if they did it, she wouldn’t be their friend anymore. Ultimately, they didn’t do it.”
I don’t like the sting of pride fighting with the anger in my stomach.
He takes one look at my face and finishes. “I’ve known Britt a long time. She might be vulnerable to her mom’s games, but what she did is not the same as what Annemarie did. It’s not even in the same universe.”
“It’s the lie, Adam. We spent the whole weekend together, and she never said a word.” I think about how she acted those days, the way she left so abruptly Friday night. “She knew she was doing wrong.”
“You’ve heard that saying, ‘To forgive is divine’?” He squints up at me.
“And you’ve heard the saying, ‘Fool me once’?”
His lips press together, and he nods. “Yeah, but Britt’s not like Gwen, and she’s definitely not like Annemarie. She’s sweet, she’s serious, and she cares. If anyone deserves a second chance, it’s her.”
I finish my drink, ready to be done here for the night. “I’ve had enough of second chances.”
“So you’re going to lose a girl, one who made you smile for the first time in five years, because she didn’t rat out her mom?”
Standing off my stool, I point at him. “Saying it that way makes it sound like it’s no big deal.” He chews the side of his lip, but to his credit, he doesn’t say it. “I’m not going to hold somebody in my arms, trust her with my son, if she can’t be honest.”
“Everybody makes mistakes.”
“Some mistakes are harder to forgive than others.”
CHAPTER24
BRITT
“Ithink I’m going to die.” I’m lying on my couch with my head in Cass’s lap. “Everything hurts. It’s like a sinkhole has opened in the middle of my chest, and it’s swallowing me whole, crushing all my bones.”
Six days ago, my life was practically perfect. I had a great job, my own place, I was home again, and I had a gorgeous man to hold my hand, calm my fears… and give me incredible orgasms.
Then on the seventh day it all went to hell.
I can still feel his soft hair in my fingers, his lips on my breasts, his mouth claiming mine. I can still feel the warmth of his palm against my inner thigh as we descended from heaven on the Ferris wheel.
We should’ve stayed in Eureka on Sunday and had sex. We should’ve gone to the beach with his brother and Owen.
I should’ve told him when I had the chance.
Every day this week Doug has been upbeat and cheerful, expressing amazement at my work and complimenting me on how smart I am for putting together a theory based on all that’s missing.
Then every night, I would come home and lie on the couch and cry. Or eat. Or drink.
Finally, this afternoon I went to Gran and told her I should go back to Greenville. As expected, she forcefully rejected the idea.
“You’re going to stay right here and do the job I hired you to do. A killer is on the loose, and you have to help us find him.”
Blinking down to my lap, I fought the sting of tears in my eyes. “I hurt him, Gran.”
My voice was just above a whisper, and she was out of her chair, circling her desk to pull me into a hug before the first tear could fall. Resting my cheek on her shoulder, I closed my eyes as the pain twisted my chest.
“I’ve always tried to make the right decisions. I was the good girl, the straight-Astudent.”
“You made a mistake, child.” Her soothing voice did little to ease my pain. “Love can be tricky when family grudges are there. But I made peace with Andrew Stone. His son is a good man, if a bit closed-minded, and I bet you can help him with that.”
“I can’t help anything. I only screw everything up.”
Holding my shoulders, she smoothed her hands in the sides of my hair. “It was your first time being put in that situation, but you’re learning.”
