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“You do, though,” Gigi says.
Matthew tells Gigi that he’s on his way to Logan; he’s running late, and it’s snowing like crazy. “I had a conversation with Hollis before I left the house.” There’s a long pause. “I’m conflicted about things.”
“Conflicted?” Gigi says. She assumes Matthew is having a crisis of conscience—this happens from time to time. He must feel guilty about leaving Hollis at Christmastime and about missing their party.
“I’m not sure I can do Paris, Gigi,” Matthew says.
This,Gigi thinks,is what you get when you sleep with a married man.She says, “Do you want me to meet you in Leipzig?” Even an overnight would be better than nothing.
“Hollis is calling,” Matthew says.
“That’s fine,” Gigi says. “Do you want to call me back?”
“Gigi,” he says. She doesn’t like the tone of his voice. It sounds like he’s maybe going to tell her…
“I want to work on my marriage,” he says.
There’s a moment when neither of them speaks, though Gigi can hear the quiet pulsing of another call coming in on his phone.
“Are you… breakingupwith me?” Gigi asks.
He sighs. “It’s not fair for you to be somebody’s number two when you deserve to be somebody’s number one.”
“No,” Gigi says. “You don’t get to make it sound like you’re ending our relationship out of concern for me.” She hears the rub of his windshield wipers—back and forth, back and forth.
“You’re right,” he says finally, and there’s a clicking noise. Turn signal? “I want to be at home for Hollis. I’m going to cancel Leipzig.”
“You’re kidding me.” Matthew is canceling a conference where he’s expected? Or is he just telling her that so she won’t ambush him at the hotel?
“I love her, Gigi.”
“She’s your wife,” Gigi says. “And I’m someone you met at an airport bar who can be broken up with over the phone ten days before Christmas.”
“I’m sorry, Gigi. For all of it. Be well.”
Gigi says, “He must have crashed not long after we hung up. I didn’t learn he was dead until I saw the announcement on your website.” Gigi stands up. “I’m sorry, Hollis. I know you won’t see it this way, but I lost someone too. And I sought out the one person who knew how I felt.”
Matthew had decided to cancel his trip? He’d told Gigi he wanted to work on his marriage? Hollis wants very badly to believe this—but Gigi could be making it all up in order to soften the blow of the affair. Hollis can’t trust a word that comes out of Gigi’s mouth.
Gigi rises from the chair. “You should also know that I’ve had a wonderful time. You’re very lucky to have such an accomplished daughter…” Gigi’s voice cracks; she clears her throat. “And to have friends like Tatum, Dru-Ann, and Brooke. So as twisted as this sounds, I want to thank you for including me. I’m not sorry I came.” With that, Gigi heads up the stairs.
“Hold on,” Hollis says. Maybe it’s all the camera equipment around her, but she feels like an actress in a movie. But why is she stopping Gigi?Let her go!Hollis certainly can’tforgiveher. “Can you please just wait? I want to check one thing. Would you sit down here for a minute? I’ll be right back.”
Slowly, Gigi comes back down the stairs—though why, she isn’t sure. She should leave before the others get home. There’s no way Hollis is going to let her stay tonight.
Is there?
Hollis heads upstairs to the library, opens her laptop, clicks on the folder labeledMM, and among all the documents—the death certificate, life insurance, transfer of deeds—she finds the accident report.
What is she looking for? She’s not sure.
Driver’s name: Madden, Matthew
Hollis scrolls down toFATALITY OR INJURED. TheFATALITYbox and theDRIVERbox are both checked. Hollis tries to steady her breathing. She scrolls down a little farther.
There’s a diagram of the road, marked with lines. The legend tells her the solid line is before the crash, the broken line is after the crash, the twox’s indicate the deer—the mama and baby. Hollis traces the broken line: it swerves sharply before the vehicle veers off the road into the field and flips. Hollis’s hands are clammy; she feels nauseated. There’s a reason she’s never looked at this.
She reads the description of what she’s looking at:Vehicle heading southeast on Dover Road.
