Paige waited silently in her room, trying to figure out how she was going to approach Camille, but she knew she had to handle her with kid gloves. She had to console her, make her see that she believed she was innocent, even if Pierce didn’t, and that she would stand by her until the end. Paige lingered in her room a few more minutes and then walked out to the top of the staircase. She heard Camille bawling loudly and knew it was time she went to her. When she made it to the main floor, she watched Camille pacing back and forth, wiping colossal tears from her eyes and stroking her hair from front to back. She was a nervous wreck, and Paige pulled her sister into her arms. Camille hugged her back and wailed even louder.
“I’m…so…sorry…you…had…to…witness…that…fiasco…between…Pierce and me,” she said between deep breaths and sniffles.
Paige caressed her back with both hands. “Honey, please don’t do this. You have to stop crying, okay?”
Camille sobbed even more, but finally after a half hour she quieted down and was able to speak.
“I just don’t understand what’s going on, because I have no idea what Pierce is talking about. I’ve never emailed anyone by the name of William in my whole life.”
“Of course you haven’t, and even if Pierce doesn’t believe you, you know I do.”
Camille took a couple of steps back and grabbed her sister’s hands. “Thank you so much for that, Paige. Thank you for believing in me. And I’m so glad you’re here, because I really need you right now.”
“I’m glad I’m here, too, and I’ll be here for as long as you want.”
“You know what?” Camille said, suddenly leaving Paige standing where she was. “I haven’t even checked my computer, because when I glanced through all those email messages, they really did have my email address on them.”
Paige followed her up the stairs and into her office. Camille sat down and signed into her AOL account. She immediately searched through all of her new mail, old mail, and sent mail, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary or anything with the name William on it. She even checked her folder of deleted messages, and still there was nothing—although Paige could have told her that there wouldn’t be. Not when she’d carefully removed all traces of her masterful scheme.
“I just don’t get it,” Camille yelled. “I don’t understand how this could have happened.”
“Sweetie,” Paige said, standing behind her sister and rubbing her shoulders. “Please try to calm down. There has to be some sort of an explanation for all this, and the truth will prevail. It always does.”
“I have to call Pierce,” she said, reaching over and lifting the cordless phone from its base and dialing his cell number. Paige had a feeling he wasn’t going to answer and knew Camille was wasting her time. But she stood there supporting her efforts in silence. When his voicemail answered, however, Camille left him a message. “Baby, this is Camille. Where are you? I’m so sorry about all of this, but as God is my witness, I don’t know any William, and I never sent anyone those emails. Please call me, and please come home. Baby, I’m freaking out here, and I don’t want to lose you. I love you so much, so please, please come home, Pierce.”
Camille pressed the end button. “Mom and Dad should be bringing the children home pretty soon. They took them out to dinner, and I’m so glad they weren’t here a little while ago.”
“I’m glad they weren’t either. But what are you going to say to them if Pierce doesn’t come back tonight?”
“He’ll be back.”
Paige wasn’t so sure about that, and to be honest, she was hoping he wouldn’t. She was praying he’d checked in to a hotel and would only return tomorrow for the rest of his things. If she was lucky, he’d already decided to move out for good.
“Maybe I should have given up all of my outside activities. Remember, I was just telling you about all that a couple of weeks ago.”
“I know, but why should you have to give up doing things you love? Things that give you fulfillment. You’re well-educated, outgoing, and you should be able to do whatever you want.”
“Maybe. But my husband should have come first. I should have been a lot more mindful of that.”
“I agree with you, but only to a certain extent.”
“And why is that?”
“Because every husband should want his wife to be happy. He should want her to be just as happy as he is. Both inside of their home and outside of it.”
“Still. If I could do things over, I wouldn’t get involved in nearly as many activities or attend so many meetings. And I’m going to do everything I can to make things up to him. I can’t and won’t lose my husband over something this silly.”
Paige knew it was time she raised the bar and placed a bit of doubt and suspicion in her sister’s mind, too. “Yeah, but if you think about it, Camille, Pierce never should have accused you of messing around just because you weren’t at home the way he wanted you to be. It’s almost like he became paranoid for no reason. And as much as I hate saying this, when people accuse you for no reason, it’s normally because they’re the ones who are guilty of something.”
Camille looked at Paige, her forehead wrinkled. “You don’t really think that, do you?”
“I’m just sayin’. Because it’s not like he’s ever accused you of having an affair before now, has he?”
“No.”
“Then why would he all of a sudden start accusing you last month, and now he’s gone as far as thinking he has proof of it. For all we know, he could have been the one who sent those email messages.”
“But why would he do that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe so he could justify messing around himself.”
Camille stood up, clearly defensive. “I don’t think so, Paige, and I wish you wouldn’t say things like that about my husband.”
Paige hurried to soften her accusation. “Camille, I didn’t mean any disrespect, and you know I love Pierce. But at the same time, you’re my sister, and I’m always going to look out for you more than I will for him.”
“I know, and I appreciate that. But Pierce would never play games like this. He would never have sent those emails.”
“I’m sorry,” Paige said quickly. “I guess my imagination sort of got the best of me, and I never should have said those things. Please forgive me.”
“It’s fine,” Camille said, walking out of her office. “It’s been an upsetting evening for both of us.”
“If you want, I can go downstairs and wait for PJ and Crystal to get home, and you can go lie down.”
“You don’t mind?”
“No, not at all.”
“If Mom and Dad come in, just tell them I wasn’t feeling well and I’ll call them tomorrow.”
“I will. And Camille, I really am sorry. There’s no doubt that Pierce loves you, and you love him. And when he gets back, the two of you will be able to sit down and figure this all out.”
Camille exhaled deeply. “I sure hope so.”
Yeah right. You can hope all you want, but sweetheart, your marriage is over.