“From the look in your eyes, I’m gathering it wasn’t only studying that you did together.”
I could feel the fire on my cheeks. “Yeah. One day, we’d finished studyin’ early an’ went down to the river to swim. Somehow he’d gotten a six-pack, and we went to a spot ain’t no one was gonna be able to see us drinkin’. We finished that beer, and next thing I know we’re naked and humping each other.”
“Let me guess. He told you to keep it quiet but that you could keep meeting after school.”
“Yeah. And we did. Almost every day. We swore we were gonna be together. He went off to college but came back when he graduated.”
“And I’m sure you started right back up where you left off.” There was no mistaking the edge in Harlan’s voice. He thought I’d been played a fool.
“I understood he and I couldn’t make our relationship public and that he had to be seen with girls. My daddy wouldn’ta put up with it neither. It worked for us. But Bobby made it clear how much he loved me—I knew he did. And I loved him.”
“How long did it go on?”
“About ten years. He worked for his father—his family had ownership in several oil companies.”
I hated the sympathy in Harlan’s eyes. I wasn’t a fool. I knew what I was doing, being with Bobby. My stupidity was in believing he loved me enough.
“Ten years.” Harlan whistled low. “That’s longer than many marriages.”
“We made plans. When we hit thirty, we’d leave town. He wanted to stay in Texas and live in Austin. I pushed for New York or San Francisco. Either way, we were gonna be together.”
“What happened? Or can I guess?”
Thinking about Bobby again brought back all the hurt I thought I’d left behind in Texas. Guess betrayal never really goes away.
“You probably can. I’m gonna get some water.” My throat felt awful dry and scratchy with all this soul-baring, and I got up and went to the kitchen. “Want some?” I held up a glass.
“No. So here’s how I see it. You and Bobby were together for years, but he was also screwing women because, hey, he had to keep up appearances, but once he got everything settled, the two of you would be together. At least that’s the story he told you. Then Big Daddy probably started wondering why the hell Bobby-boy wasn’t getting married and put the question to him. Bobby panicked and dropped you like yesterday’s news and found some sweet little thing to have his babies. Am I right?”
I ran the tap and collected my thoughts while I filled the glass and drank it down. There was nothing I wanted to do less than rehash my last time with Bobby, but with Harlan baring his truth to me, I could hardly tell him it wasn’t his business.
“Not completely. Yes, Bobby’s father kept the pressure up for him to get married, but that wasn’t what happened to end our relationship.” I rejoined him on the sofa.
“Oh?” Harlan tucked his feet under him and gazed at me expectantly.
“I knew Bobby dated women, but he swore to me he wasn’t sleepin’ with them. He said he needed to make sure his father didn’t suspect anything.”
Harlan nodded, his face grim. “In some warped way, I can understand that.”
“Yeah. I did too. But we still saw each other as much as possible—at least four times a week. His father had a pool house where we’d meet. My job at the sheriff’s office ended around six, but he didn’t get off work until around seven-thirty or eight, so I’d go there and wait for him. If he had a date, he sometimes didn’t show up until eleven or close to midnight, and I’d fall asleep waitin’ for him.”
“I presume,” Harlan said with an edge to his voice, “you didn’t spend your time together talking sports.”
My cheeks heated. “No. That night I undressed and got into bed. When someone came in, I thought it was him, but it turns out it was Heather, one of the women he was datin’.”
I could still see her face now. The hate and disgust. And then, the cunning, calculating look in her eyes that turned one of the prettiest women I’d ever seen into the ugliest.
“You. I always knew there was something strange about you. And now I’m gonna tell everyone who you are.”
I grabbed the sheet and wrapped it around me to hide my nakedness.
“What’re you doin’ here?”
“I had to know where he disappeared to, why he always had someplace to go that he couldn’t stay the night with me. I never thought it was you.”
“Heather. Stop it.”
We both turned at Bobby’s voice. He stood framed in the doorway, his face washed pale under his tan.
