My jaw falls open as Beth makes air quotes with her fingers.
“And guess what? No surprise—Matt failed. I could tell he wanted that woman as soon as I started messaging him.” Beth sighs. “Then, I needed to see how far Matt would take it. And maybe I got carried away.”
I gape at Beth. “Carried away?” I shout. It was the same expression Beth used when she ordered too many books on Prime Day. I stare at her in horrified shock. “You tricked my husband into leaving me!”
Beth scoffs. “Matt left you because he wanted to. All he needed was an excuse. Why would you want to be with a man who would leave you the second a younger woman came onto him? I was only helping you see that.”
Her words hit me like a punch to the face.Is this really the same Beth I’ve known almost my whole life?
Beth averts her gaze to the wall, and I want to clench my hands around her throat.
“You were always jealous of Matt, ever since we were dating,” I tell her. “You’d complain that he was controlling when he wanted to spend time with me without you. But you’re the controlling one.” I jab my finger toward Beth’s chest. “Thinking you have the right to break up my marriage. Why? So that I would need you the way youneedme?”
Beth returns her gaze to mine. “I get that you’re upset right now. But trust me, Palmer, you’ll thank me some day.”
I glare at Beth in disbelief. Does she really expect me to just get over it?
“Stop acting like you were being my friend. You wanted Matt toleaveme.” I shake my head, half smiling at the absurdity of it all. “In some sick way, you wanted me to end up just as alone as you.” I want to spit. Beth’s betrayal is so tangible I can almost taste it.
“You’re not seeing things clearly right now, Palmer. I get that you’re mad at me, but Matt is the one who betrayed you—not me. I only helped to show you who Matt really is. He lied, by the way, when hesaid nothing happened with that girl in Denver. They had sex in the bathroom at the bar. He told me in those messages.”
“You think that’s going to allow me to forgive you? Because I don’t. As soon as we get off this boat, you’re dead to me. Forever.”
“Maybe I went too far, okay? But Matt’s leaving was just as much your fault as it was mine.” Beth inches closer to me, her finger pointed at my chest. “Ever since that hike, you stopped letting people in. Matt told me how you were always pulling away, busying yourself so you wouldn’t have to spend time with him after the girls went to bed. Blame me all you want, but if you’d been a better wife, Matt might not have needed someone else so badly.”
It feels like a grenade has exploded inside my chest. I surge forward, fists clenched. “Get out. And stay away from me, youlying bitch!”
I slam my cabin door in Beth’s face. My chest heaves as I think of how close I was to grabbing Beth by her neck. I double over, resting my palms on my knees.
I find Beth’s phone on the bed and throw it against the wall.
“Ahhh!”
How could she?I sink onto the bed and bury my face in my hands as I break into a sob.
Minutes later, the door flings open. I recognize Beth’s outline in the doorway. I haven’t felt this enraged since that night I punched Courtney. I’m tempted to rip the flashlight from Beth’s hand and club her over the head with it. Over and over until blood streams down her face the way tears do mine.
“I told you to leave me alone,” I seethe. “Jump in the ocean for all I care. Just stay the hell away from me.”
“Palmer, I need you,” Beth breathes, her voice coated with panic. “It’s Emma. She won’t wake up.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Memorial Day Weekend, 2005
“Why are we stopping?” Emma called from her raft after she’d paddled it into the shallows.
Beth and I rowed toward her.
“Courtney fell out,” I yelled.
Emma’s eyes bulged. “When? Is she okay?”
Emma shifted her gaze to Gigi, alone in her raft as Beth and I made it ashore.
“We haven’t seen her,” Beth said. “We have to go back.”
Emma dipped a leg over the side and into the water. “Where did Courtney fall out?”
