I watch as she reaches up and lays a hand gently on Nick’s cheek. He attempts to shrug it off with a flick of his head, but she places it there again, and this time he doesn’t resist.
Move, I command myself. However intense my curiosity, I know it’s inappropriate for me to be watching this. Before I can inch backward, though, Nick shifts slightly so I can see more of his face. And I realize that it’s notNickstanding there with Hannah’s hand resting on his cheek.
It’s Marcus.
8
Oh boy. I turn away immediately, being careful not to slosh my espresso onto the grass, and start toward the path, still holding my breath. I’m in such a discombobulated state that I soon realize I’m heading back to the house even though that wasn’t my intention.
What the hell did I just witness? I’ve wondered since Friday night whether Marcus has a lingering romantic interest in Hannah, and their heated conversation and body language suggest my instinct was right.
And it doesn’t appear to be a one-way street. The way Hannah laid her hand on Marcus’s cheek looked very intimate.
When I reach the patio, I set my notebook and cup on the table, so lost in thought it takes a minute to notice that Keira’s appeared, dressed in a bathing suit and cover-up.
“Morning,” she says.
“Oh, hi, good morning.” I swallow hard, thinking about the scene playing out not all that far from us. “Going for a swim?”
“In a minute, yes. It’s so warm today. Have you seen Marcus, by the way? He came downstairs earlier, saying he was headed to the pool.”
My heart sinks. Should I tell her what her husband is up to? I’d certainly want her to cluemein if she spotted Gabe in a tête-à-tête with a woman he used to have sex with.
Before I can respond, she moves her gaze over my shoulder toward the cottage path, as if her attention’s being drawn there by an unseen force.
“Um, I thought I saw him a minute or two ago,” I blurt out. “Near the boxwood grove.”
“Overthere?” she says. “Okay, I’ll track him down. See you in a bit.”
She crosses the patio and steps off onto the path in that direction, and I stay glued to the spot, stunned by what I’ve done. Yes, it’s only fair that my sister-in-law know the truth, but it’s really not my business to orchestrate the revelation, especially in a way that could humiliate her. I have to catch her before she walks into the glade.
I rush across the patio and hurry up the path, trying to come up with a little white lie to tell her, maybe that I think I just heard Marcus’s voice coming from the pool area.
But I’m too late.
When I spot Keira, she’s many yards ahead of me and walking purposely toward the grove, her ponytail bouncing. Before I can call to her, she disappears into the center of the boxwoods. I feel like I’ve pulled the pin from a hand grenade and it’s about to explode.
But a second later, she emerges, her expression intent rather than crushed or livid. Marcus and Hannah must havemoved on. I exhale with relief. Maybe I won’t burn in hell after all.
“No luck?” I call out from the path.
She shakes her head as she strides in my direction. “How long ago did you see him?” she asks.
“A minute or two before you and I spoke. He might have gone back to your room since then—or he’s down by the pool now.”
I realize as I’m standing there that I’m barely thinking straight and left my notebook on the patio. “Are you going that way?” I add. “I need to get something.”
She nods, but now she looks puzzled. Has she grown suspicious of Marcus this weekend?
“Or maybe he went to look for Gabe?” I volunteer as we start up the path. “To connect before the meeting with Ash?”
She doesn’t answer but abruptly stops and cocks her head.
“Marcus wasn’t in the glade, butHannahwas.”
“Huh,” is all I manage.
“Do you think they’d been in there together?” she asks.
