Corinne’s eyes fill with relief. Emotions trickle through me. Guilt, disappointment, and even resentment. I have just lied on Gabriel’s behalf. Again.
Her stiff posture relaxes and she settles back into the cushions. “Just the one drink?”
I nod.
“Nothing to worry about,” Corinne says with a wave of her hand. She gets up from her seat and comes to sit beside me. “I can see you’re concerned.” She pats my leg. “Don’t be. Everything is fine. It was just one drink. He doesn’t have a problem.”
I hear in her voice how much she needs to believe this. Now I understand, far more than ever before, why she was hard on me the first time we met.
I smile at her. “Thank you, Corinne.”
She asks me about our trip, about my practice, about giving her grandkids. It’s the longest we’ve ever spoken, and the most interest she’s ever shown in me. I can’t wait to leave.
Lying once is hard. Maintaining the lie? Much more difficult.
CHAPTER 22
The ringing phone wakes me.
I grab it off my nightstand, hardly registering the ten digits flashing on my screen. “Hello?”
“Avery? God, I’m sorry.” Gabriel’s voice cracks.
I sit up straight, catapulted to an awake state. “Gabriel?” I look at his side of the bed, confirming he’s missing from it. “What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry,” he whispers again.
“Gabriel, what is happening?” I’m sharp with him now. Terrified.
“I need you to come get me.” His voice breaks at the end.
Weight presses against my chest, my heart, my stomach. Though I dread my next question, I ask it anyway. “Where are you?”
A beat. Then two more, before he says in a garbled voice, “The police station.”
A sharp inhale stabs my throat. I think I knew he was going to say it, but hearing the words is different. They are confirmation of a fear I refused to acknowledge.
“What did you do?” I’m crying now, my voice climbing up my throat, only to tumble down.
“I’d like to tell you when you get here.” He recites the address, his voice hardly louder than a whisper. "I…love you."
All I can say is, “Do you?”
I tap the end button just as I hear his hoarse whisper. “Yes.”
My fingers shake as I pull my jeans up over my hips. I fumble with the zipper so many times that I yank off the jeans and stuff my legs back in my pajama shorts.
I am so beside myself that I end up in a sweatshirt, forgetting it’s the middle of summer. I don’t even crank the air conditioning on the drive. Thoughts of what might have happened consume me, but it’s more of a distraction than anything else. I know what happened. I knew this was coming.
I pull into the parking lot and immediately spot a lone, dark figure leaning on the wall of the police station. Slowing, I put the car in Park and watch him approach.
My husband.
Gabriel opens the door. He stands in the space, hesitating. He shuffles from one foot to the other.
Why is he just standing there?
The pieces fall into place.He’s not sure he’s allowed in the car.His shame breaks my heart.
