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Laura’s voice sounds tight. I wish I knew her well enough to know with any amount of certainty how she’s actually feeling.
“I thought it would be a good idea to touch base,” I say. I wince at my tone. I sound like I’m about to call a board meeting.
“Should I come over?” she offers quietly.
I sigh. “No, I—I’m sorry, I don’t think that’s a good idea. My son…” I don’t want to say that he doesn’t like her.
Laura’s swallow is audible. “I understand,” she says. “Do you want to come here?”
“The kids are asleep,” I apologize.
Laura’s quiet for a moment before she clicks her tongue. “The phone, then.”
“The phone,” I agree.
Laura deserves better than this. Better than me.
“There must be a way to get out of this,” I mutter.
Laura’s inhale is sharp. “Is that what you want?”
“I want you to not be… forced into this,” I say.
“I think it was me who said the lie,” Laura says. There’s a shifting sound and someone else’s voice—too muffled to hear—makes me sit up straight.
“Is that…”
“Alice,” she answers tightly. “I’ve told her about the… updates.”
“Right.” The fight about Alice knowing about us feels so far away. It feels like a month ago, a year. How could I have cared about anything when I apparently cared so little about locking the damn door?
“I won’t hear any complaints about her,” Laura said. I can hear a door close. “Got it?”
“Got it.” It makes my teeth itch with irritation. I push down on my knee, tapping my feet against the floor. There’s a squeak from upstairs, and I freeze, listening. There’s no second noise, and I decide to let it go.
“Okay, I can talk now.” Laura’s voice is closer and clearer. “Lewis is insistent on this double date.”
I sigh. “I’m not surprised. He always has been… tenacious.”
“I tried to convince him that it would be awkward,” she continues. “And he agreed it would be, but, you know…”
“Right.”
Laura’s quiet. I am, too.
What, really, is there to say?
“Laura,” I ask, clenching my fingers around my drink. “Why did you lie for me?”
I’m not sure Iwant to know why she did it, but I do know I need to.
I wait, petrified, for Laura to answer.
CHAPTER 13
Laura
There have likely been worse days in my life.
