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I only relaxed when Alina’s musical laughter filled the room, and she said, “Oh no, my life is in the city. My job. You know, everything I’ve had to work for.”
She nodded with agreement, and Charlie, beside her, joined in, listening to the story himself without so much input or curiosity.
“Do you miss the city, Alina?”
“Yes and no. I haven’t had a proper coffee since I got back. Oh, and Benji’s BBQ, I miss strolling down the street to get an order of those smoked ribs.” A little moan escaped Alina’s mouth when she recounted the restaurant.
“Oh, God, yes, Benji’s,” Simone said, giggling along, licking her lips for dramatic effect.
“Wow, this dude really has you swooning. Maybe I should be jealous.” Charlie glanced from his wife to Alina and back again. “Is he really that good?”
“Oh, you have no idea,” both women answered at exactly the same time, then burst into giggles at the effect.
“You’ve been to Benji’s too, Sim? When were you in the city?”
Their faces dropped, with a guilty hand-caught-in-the-cookie-jar look.
“Remember when she was doing her degree? She didn’t get it from a Wheaties box, Cal,” Charlie volunteered quickly.
“So, this BBQ place, it’s like a franchise or something? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it,” I asked.
They all notably shuffled in their seats and avoided eye contact.
The pit in my stomach grew with each passing second. I was missing something, like when our pup had been hit by a car when we were growing up, and Dad told us he’d run away. I’d spent weeks looking for that dog.
“Ah, no. I don’t think so.” Simone’s eyes shifted from me to Alina and nervously back again before she dropped her glass on the table clumsily.
“What a coincidence, then. You were both in the same city at the same timeandeating at the same restaurant. What are the odds?”
“We weren’t there at the same time,” Alina defended the precise moment in which she realized the admission she was making crossed her face as obvious as a car heading the wrong way down a one-way street.
Noisily, I pushed the chair back as Alina tried to backpedal.
“I mean, we would have seen each other had we both been there at the same time,” she rushed on.
“Yeah, I suppose that is true.”
Her face relaxed, but the truth had already been revealed. I turned to Charlie, a look of smug innocence on his face.
“And you, Charlie, how long have you been keeping the truth from me?”
I almost enjoyed how quickly his face dropped. They all thought they’d been so clever, running around behind my back and keeping the secret from me.
“What?”
His act of offense was almost Oscar-worthy.
“How many times did you see Alina in the city without telling me? Once, twice? A dozen times? Or was this a regular catch-up for holidays, birthdays, and special occasions?”
“Callum, it wasn’t like that,” Alina tried to explain, but I didn’t want to hear it.
Charlie had been there to witness firsthand the devastation losing Alina had caused. When it’s possible, they’d been in contact with her for years and never once said anything. Talk about the ultimate betrayal.
I pivoted on my heels and stormed from the room, taking my aggression out on the screen door, leaving it violently banging after I clambered down the stairs.
I was so consumed by hurt and rage I didn’t hear Charlie until he pushed me in the back, forcing me to stagger a couple of steps before I caught my balance and turned to face him.
“You knew where she was this whole fucking time, and you didn’t tell me?” I pushed him with my clenched fists, his feet sliding in the loose gravel, but he didn’t fall.
