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“I know what happened and that you weren’t good friends after that, but you weren’t sworn enemies either. So it made sense, at the time, that you might have said it. In passing. A confession to an old friend who knew… all the complications.”
“You do realize you’re not making any sense, right?”
“I’m fumbling.”
“I see that,” I say.
“Fumbling because I’m looking back, wondering how I could have been so stupid, and realizing that you’re going to wonder the same thing, which does not help my case at all.”
“Okay. I’m going out on a limb and guessing Sadie said something to you. She claimed I said something. Confessed it.”
He doesn’t answer, which is an answer.
I soften my voice. “Was it about me being bi?”
“What?” He looks over sharply. “Uh, no, Laney. I’ve known that since I was, like, twelve.”
“I don’t mean that I confessed to be bi. That’s hardly a secret. But did she say…” I take a deep breath. “I know we talked about it, in the early days. About what it meant for me being married to a man. Would I be missing something? Would I want—need—an open marriage? I said no, and I meant it. If I married a woman, I’d have felt the same. It’s about the person for me. Did Sadie say I confessed that I missed women? That it wasn’t enough, being with you?”
He shakes his head. “I’d have known that was bullshit. If you felt that way, you’d have talked to me, and you wouldn’t be confessing it to her.”
“Okay, so whatdidI supposedly confess?”
“It was about… Well, notaboutGarrett but—”
He keeps talking. I don’t hear it over the blood pounding in my ears.
A confession. About Garrett. Something Kit shouldn’t have believed, but he did. A lie Sadie told.
A lie about the fact that I’d confessed. But a lie she believed to be true.
And so had Kit. At least for a while.
No. Oh God, please no.
When Kit left me, he made excuses. So many excuses, most of them mumbled and half intelligible, and maybe it seems like I should have demanded answers, but I’d been too hurt to chase them. He didn’t want me. That was all that mattered. He’d changed his mind and no longer wanted to be with me.
When the pain faded to a dull ache, when my pride slunk back, I thought about asking for that answer. We were divorced, so it couldn’t sound as if I was begging him to come back.
I had considered the possibility there was more to it than falling out of love. The way he’d left, the way he’d thrown Hemlock Island in my lap and tried to heap more gifts on it, I’d seen guilt.
What if he’d had a pandemic fling? Restrictions had eased, and we’d been cooped up together so long, and yes, I hadn’t minded the closeness, but maybe he did, and he had an affair. Hell, maybe a one-night stand.
This had been the real reason I’d wished I’d insisted on an answer. If he had a fling, we could have worked it out. Extenuating circumstances—quickie marriage, pandemic anxiety—would have made me a whole lot more forgiving than I might otherwise be.
But what if that wasn’t the answer? What ifthiswas it? If Sadie said I confessed that I’d lied about Garrett… and Kit—myhusband—believed her?
“Laney?”
I see his mouth moving. He’s in front of me, holding my arms, his face swirling with panic and worry. But it’s not his voice I’m hearing.
“Laney!”
Madison? Why is Madison—?
Shit! Madison has been out here the whole time. In the chaos, I’d been thinking she was in the house, safe. I’d forgotten she’s with Jayla looking for Sadie… who is out of her mind and dangerous.
“Madison!” I whirl, searching for her.
