Cormac believed her. Gia never thought she’d see the day. Neither could she have anticipated the feeling of relief it would bring. She knew she shouldn’t care what anyone else thought, least of all Mr. Hart’s family. The therapist had emphasized that over and over. You know the truth. That’s all that matters. But she couldn’t help herself. The Harts were part of the fabric of her hometown, and right or wrong, their side of the story had a certain contagion. The way Ruth and Sammie were acting—so hesitant to continue to be her friend—proved it. The last person she’d ever thought would join her side would be Cormac, the dude who’d harangued her at her locker the day the news broke. She hadn’t even had to say much to him tonight, hadn’t even really bothered to plead her case.
She’d assumed it would be futile...
Pulling out the front of the royal blue sweatshirt he’d lent her so she could look down at it, she studied the white “Duke” lettering. She’d been so stunned she’d forgotten her own shirt in the bathroom when she left his house. She figured he’d put it on the fence after the storm passed, just as he’d instructed her to do with his.
She considered taking off his sweatshirt so she could wash it right away. She didn’t want to explain to her parents where she’d gotten an oversized Duke sweatshirt. But the storm wasn’t due to move on until the day after tomorrow, so she had time; she wasn’t prepared to give up the comfort it provided. The fleece was thick and warm, but the fact that this particular sweatshirt belonged to Cormac made it special. It served as proof of what’d transpired tonight, and she wanted to live in that moment as long as possible.
“At last,” she muttered as she let go of it and fell back onto her pillows.
Curious to see if Cormac was still up, she climbed off the bed and went to the window—only to find him standing at his window, staring out at her.
Dropping the curtain, she jumped back. Had he seen her? If so, had he noticed she was still wearing his sweatshirt? Would it seem weird that she hadn’t been more anxious to get out of it?
She had no clue what he might be thinking. She hadn’t known him that well even back in high school. He was a year younger, had been a particularly good baseball player who’d come to a few of her Banned Books Club meetings. That was all.
She thought of the get-together she’d arranged this weekend. Considering the strain in her relationship with Sammie and Ruth, she was tempted to cancel it, but there were a lot more people from the club who were coming.
Besides, she didn’t want to look like a coward. That would only make them believe she was guilty. Because she respected how he’d handled this evening, as well as the incident at his office, she decided to invite Cormac. She couldn’t imagine he’d ever be willing to come. That’d be taking a stand against his own flesh and blood. But an invitation would probably be nice...
Edging forward, she peeked out through the crack in the drapes. He was gone.
Telling herself she was silly to keep wearing his sweatshirt, she finally pulled it off and put on one of her own. But she took it to bed with her and kept looking at it as she got out her laptop. Over the years, she’d tried not to spend much time dwelling on Cormac and his sisters. That only made the past more painful, because then she’d wonder if she could have spared them had she not come forward. The therapist said she’d done the right thing, that someone had to put a stop to that kind of behavior, but she wasn’t convinced he would’ve gone on to victimize other students. What’d happened with her could’ve been the perfect storm.
She glanced at Cormac’s sweatshirt again. What kind of man had he become? He seemed fair, just, kind, honorable. And he was obviously smart.
After navigating to Instagram, she searched for his account, which was filled with pictures of his dog, an old motorcycle he was restoring and various members of his family. She didn’t see any photographs of women, except in a few groups that contained both sexes, which seemed to confirm what Sammie had said—he wasn’t currently dating anyone.
He was thirty-four. Why hadn’t he settled down? He had a lot to offer a woman. He was an educated professional in a town of mostly blue-collar farmers. He already had a home. He’d inherited his mother’s height and regal bearing—her bone structure, too, which made him even more attractive.
He probably wasn’t ready to settle down...
As she surfed around, she found a separate account for his clinic. From the differences between what she found posted there versus his personal account, Gia guessed Louisa handled the clinic’s social media, which was filled with darling pictures of various pets and their owners, Louisa at the front desk or with her kids coming into the clinic, fun facts about animals and memes encouraging people to neuter: Balls are meant for catching—neuter your pets. The Hart Veterinary Clinic also promoted a local shelter and featured a dog or cat that needed a new home on “Adoption Fridays.”
Since there was more to be found on the clinic’s account, Gia took her time scrolling through and eventually found a picture of a slightly younger Cormac, standing shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Tomlin and announcing the fact that he’d be taking over the practice “after working together for almost a decade.”
Bottom line, Cormac had made good, despite what’d happened with his father. She couldn’t help feeling proud of him—for that and for being open-minded enough to consider the situation from various viewpoints. Too bad he hadn’t done that seventeen years ago, but better late than never.
I wish...I wish he didn’t do it, Cormac had said, but he certainly wasn’t the first person to wish that.
With a yawn, Gia closed her laptop, scooted down in bed and pulled Cormac’s sweatshirt up to her nose. It smelled wonderful—like his cologne—and served as proof that he believed her.
For tonight, anyway. She had no idea what would happen tomorrow.
A few days after Gia’s visit, Margot found herself parked down the street from Cece’s house, far enough away that she needed Sheldon’s hunting binoculars, which she’d gone home to get. Anything closer risked exposure, and there was no way she was going to allow herself to get caught spying on him. She wouldn’t be spying on him if she hadn’t tried to drop off the lunch she’d made him—that he’d once again forgotten on the counter—and learned from one of his employees that he’d left claiming he was meeting her for lunch.
He’d never said anything about getting together today. She’d been planning to spend what time she could, until the boys got out of school, with Gia and her mother. She wanted to be with them as much as possible before she had to leave town for good, because she didn’t know how long it would be before she’d feel safe to contact them after. Once she drove out of Wakefield, no one could know where she was. She was too afraid they wouldn’t take the threat she felt seriously.
Her parents, especially, wouldn’t be able to understand why she and Sheldon couldn’t simply separate and then get a divorce. After all, that was what most other couples did. And she didn’t know how to convince them that something about Sheldon was different from other men. The level of control he demanded over her. The complete domination. And how quickly he could lash out for the slightest infraction. He frightened her in a bone-deep way, but she doubted anyone who hadn’t lived with him as she’d lived with him would believe her. Too many people in Wakefield thought they knew him, including her family. And she’d been complicit in making him look better than he was. She’d thought it was her duty as his wife not to criticize him to others, and she knew how he’d react if she didn’t keep up appearances. That meant Ida and Leo would not only be shocked—they’d probably be skeptical. This would seem liked it was coming out of nowhere.
Gia would believe he was an asshole, of course. She’d seen him for what he was from the beginning. But her sister wasn’t afraid of him. Gia’s approach wouldn’t be to run and hide, and anything short of that risked a severe backlash. In the worst-case scenario, Sheldon would use his money and his family’s influence to gain custody of the boys.
Margot was afraid that if either her sister or her parents thought she was going too far, they might feel sympathetic to his parents, who would no longer be able to see their grandchildren, and insist she coordinate visitation with Sheldon and his family for the boys. And if she refused, and they let even the smallest piece of information slip, that would enable Sheldon to find her...
She shuddered. He’d be livid, embarrassed on top of everything else. She knew how vindictive that would make him. He’d do all he could to get revenge.
The only way to avoid having her family and friends make decisions she didn’t want them to make was to keep her whereabouts a secret.
She peered through the binoculars again. She could see her husband’s truck parked down the street, but it wasn’t right in front of Cece’s house. He probably thought he was being sly, that no one would notice and make the connection. But she knew he had no reason to be in this neighborhood—no reason other than his former girlfriend.
She was about to get out so she could creep a little closer. If she could snap a picture of them together, it could possibly help her in the future. She was hoping to slip through the gate into Cece’s backyard and get a picture through a window using her zoom lens. But her phone rang, causing her to hesitate just as she was reaching for the door latch.
It was Gia.
Margot almost sent the call to voicemail. But she was nearly an hour late arriving at their parents’ house for lunch. If she didn’t give them an excuse soon, it wouldn’t be easy to justify why she hadn’t been courteous enough to check in.
“Hey, sorry I’m late.” She sounded winded. Her heart had been pounding since she left Sheldon’s office. But that was okay. She knew she probably came off as rushed, which was what she wanted. “I’ve had so many errands. The line was really long at the bank.”
“Food’s growing cold,” Gia complained. “And Mom’s tired. She needs to eat before her nap.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m still fifteen or twenty minutes away. Why don’t you eat without me? I’ll get there as soon as possible and help with the dishes and do laundry. I’ll even clean the bathrooms or whatever you need.”
“You’re offering to clean the bathrooms when you have me on the hook to do it?”
She’d say anything to make Gia happy so she could focus on what she was doing. “I’m the one who’s late. Consider it my peace offering.”
“Fine. You’re forgiven. But hurry. Dad’s been caught up at work, and Mom sleeps most of the time. I’m getting lonely and bored in this town, and you need me to stay.”
“I do,” she admitted. “Just...hang on. I’m coming.”
As she disconnected, she started to get out again but looked up in time to see Sheldon emerge from Cece’s house and jog across the street on a diagonal to his truck.
He was leaving? Already? Depending on which direction he decided to go, he could pass right by her...
“Shit,” she muttered, but she knew she’d only draw more attention if she tried to drive away. All she could do was duck and hope he didn’t notice their Subaru. A lot of people had gray Subarus, but—
Fortunately, she didn’t hear his motor drawing closer, and when she dared to peek over the dashboard, he was no longer there. He must’ve whipped around and gone the other direction.
She was just pressing a hand to her heart, trying to settle her pulse, when her phone went off.
Assuming it was Gia calling to nag her again, she muttered, “I’m coming.” But it was Sheldon.
She stared at his picture on her screen, wondering what she should do. If he’d seen her, he’d be banging on her door—wouldn’t he?
Taking a deep breath, she squeezed her eyes closed and let her head fall back on the seat as she answered. “Hello?”
“Where are you?” he demanded.
Opening her eyes, she sat up straight. “I—I’m on my way to my folks’.”
“With my lunch? I got a text from Racine a few minutes ago saying you’d stopped by the office.”
That was why he’d left Cece’s in such a hurry. Now it made sense. “I thought you might want it, but she said you were already out to lunch, and I promised my family I’d be over, so...”
“We must’ve passed each other,” he said. “I just went home to pick it up.”
What a liar! There was no way he’d had time to do that. He’d peeled away from the curb and called her almost immediately. “Why didn’t you text me?” she asked.
“Why didn’t you text me?” he countered.
“I assumed you were taken care of.”
“Well, I’m not. Can you come back?”
She didn’t want to see him. She was still trying to determine how his affair might figure into her future plans. Was there any chance he’d let her go? That she wouldn’t have to take the boys and try to make a new life somewhere else, completely on her own? “Sheldon?”
The change in her tone must’ve alerted him to the fact that she was about to ask a serious question, because he sounded somewhat defensive when he said, “What?”
“If...if you’d rather be with Cece, I’ll give you a divorce. You can have the house and the business. I would...I would just need a little money to get a new start—until I can find a job. That’s all.”
Silence. She curled her fingernails into the palm of her free hand, hoping and praying that Cece—and not some desperate attempt to go into hiding—would prove to be her salvation.
“We could share custody of the boys,” she added, to make it even more appealing. She didn’t want to resort to what she’d planned—not if she could do it in a way that would enable her to stay in the community with her family and friends.
“Are you telling me you don’t love me anymore?” he asked. “That you could walk away from me that easily?”
What did love have to do with their marriage? He hadn’t loved her for years; he treated her as though she was the dirt under his feet. “I’m saying I want you to be happy,” she replied, trying to be as diplomatic as possible. “And if I can’t make you happy, maybe she can.”
She held her breath. If she said the wrong thing, he could suddenly decide to call off his trip to go to marriage counseling or do something else, and she was well beyond trying to save what they’d once had. In her view, their marriage had already burned to the ground.
“I’m happy with you,” he insisted. “I would never break up our family. You know how I feel about divorce, what it does to the children. Marriage is forever. That’s how I’ve always viewed it.”
Each thump of her heart seemed deafening. Forever, he’d said—and she didn’t feel as though she could survive another day! “What about Cece?”
“I told you. Cece and I are just friends.”
In other words, he intended to keep Margot pinned under his thumb, taking care of his house, his meals and his kids, while he had an exciting sexual affair with his former girlfriend. He didn’t think he should have to choose between them; he believed he should have it all.
“Okay.”
He didn’t speak right away. She got the impression her response—that she’d given in so easily—had shocked him. “Do you want to go to lunch and talk about it?”
“Not today,” she said. “My family’s expecting me. I’m sitting in their driveway right now.” She wasn’t at the house quite yet, but she wanted to make him believe she was so he wouldn’t press her to meet him.
“Our marriage doesn’t mean that much to you?”
How many times had she asked him the same question? But when she’d asked, she’d been sincere, hadn’t been trying to manipulate him. “Of course it does,” she said, scrambling to add some emotion to her voice even though she no longer felt anything. She had to hold her world together for just a little while longer—even though it felt like her life was crumbling through her fingers.
“We’ll talk about it tonight,” he said. “And don’t you dare tell your folks or anyone else that I’m having an affair,” he added, “because I’m not.”
The sight of him emerging from Cece’s house just a few minutes earlier played in her mind like a video. “I would never do that.”
“You would if you thought you could get away with it.”
The things she’d said before—a couple of comments to his mother—were desperate attempts to get some help with him. She’d thought if anyone could encourage him to be a good husband, it would be the woman who’d raised him. But in Peggy’s eyes, Sheldon could do no wrong. So all she’d done was tell him what Margot had said.
“I have to go,” she said and meant more than just getting off the phone. The brief flicker of hope she’d felt when she saw his truck parked near Cece’s was gone. Once again, she saw her options dwindle down to one—disappearing while he was out of town. The only way to protect herself and be sure he wouldn’t take her children away from her was to take them away from him first.
When her phone rang, Gia was shocked to see that Ruth was trying to reach her and immediately thought of Cormac. She was dying to tell both Ruth and Sammie that even Mr. Hart’s son believed her now, but she hated the idea of him suffering a huge backlash just because he was finally willing to open his heart and his mind to her side of the story.
Assuming Ruth was calling to say she wouldn’t be attending the Banned Books Club reunion, after all, Gia started toward the back door. She’d just made vegetarian chili with corn bread and served a bowl to her mother and sister for lunch, so they were within hearing distance, and Gia didn’t want them listening to the conversation. She’d rather not have either one of them pick up on the fact that her friends were deserting her.
Telling them she’d be back in a minute, she walked out by the pool. “Hello?”
“Gia, it’s Ruth.”
Gia already knew that, of course. But she supposed it was a place to start. “What’s going on?”
“Listen, we’ve been friends for so long. I—I don’t want Edith or Louisa to come between us. So... I’m sorry I said what I did at the restaurant.”
“I appreciate the apology, Ruth, but if you think I’d destroy a man’s life over a grade—even at seventeen—you can’t hold too high an opinion of me, so I’m not convinced we could ever be friends again.”
Ruth seemed taken aback that she wouldn’t simply accept the apology. “Well, I just think... I think no matter who was to blame, what happened was unfortunate. I’d rather not even form an opinion on it.”
She was still trying to maintain a connection to both sides; her words made that clear. “Meaning you don’t know who to believe.”
“Meaning I don’t care either way, G. If Mr. Hart did what you said, he’s been punished, okay?”
Gia walked to the fence and peered over. She assumed Cormac was at the clinic, but she couldn’t help looking at his house periodically during the day. She was so stunned by what’d happened there and the sudden shift in her feelings toward him—resentment to relief in minutes. “Because you think there’s a chance I’m lying, and I’m not! How would you feel if you were in my shoes?”
“I have no doubt I’d feel terrible. But have some sympathy for the rest of us. We weren’t there that night, G. We have two people we care about—in my case, you and Louisa—telling us very different stories. I think you’re expecting too much if you think we should base a decision like that on who we love the most. Isn’t that what you’re accusing Edith, Louisa and Cormac of doing? Being blind to the truth because of their love for their father?”
She had a point, although Cormac was no longer doing that. Maybe she was expecting too much of her friends, especially when they had to continue living in Wakefield and bump into the Harts at spin class and other places in town after she returned to Coeur d’Alene. “Fine,” she said. “We’ll leave it in the past.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry that...that I can’t give you more support.”
She could live without Ruth’s belief and trust, she told herself. She was strong enough on her own. She just needed to be able to get along with everyone while she was here; she was all for anything that made that easier. “No problem.”
“I appreciate you trying to understand. But...that isn’t the only reason I called.”
Gia rolled her eyes. “Let me guess, you can’t make the Banned Books Club reunion...”
This response met with silence. Then Ruth said, “I’m still coming to the reunion, G.”
“Won’t you have to answer to Edith at spin class if you do?”
“I’m trying to be fair to both sides,” she reiterated.
Maybe she was. But Gia knew it was going to cost her. She no longer felt as close to Ruth as she did before, and if Ruth attended the reunion and continued their friendship, Edith would no doubt feel the same way. It was sad that what’d happened so long ago still had such an impact on the present. The ripples seemed to go on and on, which was exactly the reason Gia had been loath to return. “Got it. Okay. Sorry. So...what’s the other reason you called?”
“I hate to tell you this when you’re already going through so much, but...I think your sister’s husband is having an affair.”
Gia had heard the same thing from her own mother. Tongues had to be wagging all over town for news of it to have reached Ruth. She was hoping for an opportunity to broach the subject with her sister, but so far, they’d just been visiting with Ida and having lunch.
Hoping for more information, Gia acted surprised. “You think that idiot’s cheating?”
“That’s what I hear.”
“With whom?”
“Cecelia Sonderman.”
The same name her mother had given her, of course.
“He used to date her when we were in high school, remember?” Ruth went on. “She married some dude who was a friend of her cousin’s. They moved to Chicago, where he’s from, but have since divorced, and now she’s back with her son, Ashton, who’s in sixth grade at Wakefield Elementary.”
Where Ruth taught third grade... “Do you have any idea what caused the divorce?”
“Apparently, Ashton’s father decided he’d rather travel the world than support a family. He’s in Thailand or Tibet or somewhere else far away. That’s what Linda Pugh, Ashton’s teacher, told me. She also said he came to school in a Wakefield Trucking cap the other day.”
“That doesn’t mean he got the hat from Sheldon. At least twenty people work for Wakefield Trucking—”
“But none of them have been seen in the car with Cece when she comes to pick up her son from school. He has.”
Gia tightened her grip on the phone. Sheldon had so little respect for Margot he’d make it that blatant? His own boys went to Wakefield Elementary! “How often has that happened?”
“More than once, I take it. He thinks he’s being cautious by having her park a block away and staying in the car, but Linda is good friends with another parent who lives nearby. Maxine McConkie has seen him twice and mentioned it to Linda.”
Gia kneaded her forehead as she tried to decide what she should do. Did Margot know? Was she ignoring it, hoping it was only a brief affair that would go away on its own when Sheldon grew bored? If so, where was her self-respect? Or was Sheldon’s involvement with Cece what Margot was about to confide the other night? “I’m surprised Ashton isn’t the one talking about it. If he’s in sixth grade, he’s got to be...what...eleven? That’s old enough to know something’s going on.”
“Ashton’s autistic, only spends one day a week in Linda’s class. The rest of the time he’s in special ed.”
“I see. So as long as they fool the neighbors, they don’t have to worry about her son.”
“Exactly.”
Gia cursed under her breath. No wonder Margot had wanted her to come home and take care of Ida. She was dealing with some serious issues in her own life.
But then...why was she always defending Sheldon? Insisting he was wonderful? “Thanks for telling me,” she said to Ruth.
“You bet. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”
“I’d rather know the truth.”
“Me, too. So what are you going to do? Are you going to tell Margot?”
Gia wanted to confront Sheldon, blast him for being the douchebag she’d assumed he was when he married Margot. He’d just proven her right. Maybe she’d tell him that eventually. But first, she needed to talk to her sister.