She let out a long, shaky breath.“Angry.Tired.Embarrassed.All of it.”
I stayed quiet, letting her choose her own pace.
“Mason cheated,” she said finally.“Or… no.He’d say he didn’t.At theminimum,it is an emotional affair.At worst…” She trailed off.“I’ll never know for sure.He won’t admit to anything physical.But she’s twenty.His personal assistant.And he refuses to fire her.Says she’s the best he’s ever had.Says it’s not worth training someone new.”
Her mouth twisted like the words tasted bitter.“Meanwhile, the rumour mill’s been churning since she started.People talk.I’m not an idiot.And it’s not just the rumours.It’s the way she looks at him.The way she’s always there.Dinner.Lunch.Trips.Gifts.”
My throat was tight.“Clara…”
She shook her head.“He says he can’t live without me, but everything he does says he’s already chosen her.That I am not worth the effort of hiring someone new and training them...I told him if she gets anywhere near Jackson, I’ll fight for full custody, and I’ll win.”She paused for a moment and then let out a rough breath, "Sometimes I wonder if he only married me because I got pregnant in school."
"No, Clara, No.I don't know what happened, but I do know that he married you because he loved you.Everyone could see it."
"I used to believe that too...but now I don't know..."She whispered.
"You must hate me," I choked out.
Clara turned her face to mine, a tear sliding down her cheek."I could never hate you, Cassidy.Our situations are not the same.I know that...do you?"
I couldn't answer her because I felt hollow and horrible.
Her eyes were shiny in the dim light.“Guess we’ve both become the women waiting for someone to choose us.”
Something inside me ached at that.“Guess we have.”
"I just..."Clara turned her face back to the stars, "I don't know how we got here.He has changed.He is not the man I married, nor is he the boy I fell in love with.It is like the more he got, the more he wanted...the more he changed.I don't understand how he can't see that what he is doing is wrong...why can't he see that he's hurting me?"
We didn’t say anything else for a long time, just lay there together, the blanket warm over us, the cool air brushing our cheeks, two sisters bound by blood, heartbreak, and the knowledge that sometimes love wasn't enough and sometimes it didn’t just fail you.
It betrayed you.
Chapter 16
The smell of coffee and bacon filtered into my old bedroom, but it didn’t make me hungry.
It felt like my appetite had disappeared with the other parts of me I had lost along the way.
Sleep had been fitful; every time I closed my eyes, Clara’s voice from the night before...Mason's frustrated words...her tears.They all bled into the memory of Andrew’s, their words tangling until I couldn’t tell which betrayal was whose.
By the time I made it to the kitchen, Mom was fussing over pancakes and Dad was reading the paper.Clara sat at the table with Jackson, her hair up in a messy knot, dark circles under her eyes.We didn’t talk about last night.
“I should head out,” I said after we’d eaten just enough to pretend we weren’t all avoiding something.“I’ve got a shift later, and I need to get home.”
“You’ll be back for Thanksgiving?”Mom asked.
I nodded.“Promise, I will be home to help Dad with the turkey Thursday morning.”
We were halfway down the front steps when a dusty pickup pulled into the driveway.Brody climbed out, carrying a small crate of apples and jars of honey.
“From my mom,” he said, setting them on the porch.His eyes flicked to mine, warm but searching.“She said to tell you not to forget about stopping by soon, Cass.”
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed in my pocket.Once, twice, again.I didn’t even have to look to know who it was.
Chase’s gaze sharpened.“Is it him?”
“It’s fine.”I slid the phone deeper into my coat.“I need to get going.”
“You sure?”
