After I found Aubrey’s name on that napkin, I checked the travel history on Ben’s Range Rover and discovered he’d not only been to the bar where she works but her home as well, infidelity seemed like the only logical answer.
Aubrey’s reaction to that accusation made it clear I jumped to the wrong conclusion, but it didn’t change the fact that Ben was keeping tabs on her. And thanks to me, Aubrey suspects Paul Granger and her connection to his case as the possible reason why.
Ben must feel my stare because he leans close. “What’s going on with you?” he asks in a frustrated tone. “You’ve been pouty all night.”
Pouty.
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
He turns away and I close my eyes, wishing I knew what I should do.
Wishing I was brave enough to have an honest conversation with him.
But I’m honestly scared to tell him where my thoughts are taking me. How events from ten years ago are colliding in my mind with recent ones, sending me to a very dark place.
Scared of what he would do if my suspicions are right, because Ben’s got a lot to lose if I am. And the financial hit if I can trigger that prenup clause wouldn’t be the only threat he’d face.
Once Aubrey mentioned Paul Granger’s name and I discovered that wreck had left her an orphan, my mind started making connections that I would never have considered before.
The summer of the accident ten years ago, Ben and I had just finished our sophomore year in college. He had to go back to Corbeau to work, but I was studying abroad in Spain. In a town as small as Corbeau, there’s very little for teens to do, so inevitably people ended up hanging out at places like Paul Granger’s, which is why Dad always made sure Silas and I were gone for those couple of restless months.
I remember asking Ben what happened when I got home and heard the news. He didn’t want to talk about it at all. It was a touchy subject since there were times Ben hung out there as well, and everyone was trying to distance themselves from Paul.
It was the same summer things changed between Ben and me. Before, Ben and I were joined in our frustration with how Dad tried to run my life. We talked all the time about how we were going to distance ourselves from my father and the power he held over me. We promised each other we were going to run off together, leave Corbeau, and never come back, in the dumb way nineteen-year-olds do when it’s all talk and neither of you has any money to follow through.
But things were different when I got back home at the end of that summer. My dad and Ben were different, not only to each other but about each other. Ben had found a new and nauseating admiration for my dad that had not been present before. That change in their dynamic stumped me for years.
Then Aubrey Price muttered Paul Granger’s name and things started clicking.
Paul has always said he wasn’t the one driving his truck that night. At the time, he threw out over a dozen names of people who had been partying at his house that night. Half the people I had gone to high school with were questioned since most of them were home for the summer. Just like Ben was.
I know Ben well enough to know he’d never take Paul’s case, no matter what cryptic truth his mother was alluding to in her posts.
So why is he checking up on Aubrey Price? Does she know something that would help Paul get his conviction overturned? It would be just as important to Aubrey that the right person was behind bars as it would be to Paul.
If Ben isn’t helping the truth come to light, is he trying to stop it from happening?
The video ends and the lights come back up, shaking me out of my thoughts.
Ben leans close, the frustration gone. “You know what I was thinking?”
I shake my head. “No idea what goes through that head of yours.”
He laughs and reaches forward, sliding his fingers through mine. I hate that my first thought is this affectionate gesture is all for show. “I know how much you don’t want to go back home for that church festival, but we both know your dad isn’t going to let it go. I’ve got to be in New Orleans with Hank that weekend for a continuing ed seminar, but why don’t I book you a weekend away somewhere close to Corbeau? Maybe St. Francisville. They always have cool stuff going on there. You can get some content for your account and be close enough to make an appearance for your dad but not have to stay with them.”
This isn’t the first time he’s done this. Made plans for me while he was busy. But for some reason this time feels different. My first impulse is to agree but I decide to take a different approach.
“I don’t know. I may just stay at home. There are a few things I’ve been wanting to do around the house.”
He smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. He may fool a lot of people with his charm and easy demeanor, but I’ve known Ben a long time and it’s easy to see the tells that most people miss.
“I know what will happen if you stay at home. You’ll get bored and then get mad at me that I’m not there. Plus, your dad isn’t going to give up. He’s going to insist you’re there. I’ll book you a room at the inn in St. Francisville. Close to your parents while still feeling a world away.”
A ready solution to a problem I only just learned about. It feels like that rock in my belly just doubled in size. I may not understand why, but it’s clear he wants me out of the house that weekend.
Is it connected to the napkin in his briefcase with Aubrey Price’s name? Or is it something else?
Either way, I know he’s scheming something.
