“Together?” I decide I need to quit while I’m ahead and not admit to what I saw. “Why would they be together?”
“I don’t know.” She scrunches her mouth. “But it’s kind of a weird coincidence, don’t you think? That they were both there in the last few minutes? It’s not like the boxwoods are a spot people tend to congregate in.”
“Keira, are you worried about Marcus and Hannah?”
She shrugs halfheartedly. “No. I mean, he hasn’t done anything to make me worry. But you always feel vulnerable when you’re married, don’t you? There are so many distractionsfor guys, and so many women who operate like predators.”
“Even though Marcus dated Hannah for only a short time, it might be weird for him to have his brother engaged to her,” I say carefully. “Why don’t you talk to him and see what’s on his mind?”
“When Nick first called and said he was dating Hannah, Marcus told me that he didn’t exactly end things well with her. He ghosted her, just stopped calling, and she later sent him a kind of pissy text. Do you think being with Nick is her way of getting back at Marcus?”
“Marrying someone’s brother seems like a pretty drastic way to get even, but who knows. Either way, Keira, the person you really need to talk to is Marcus.”
She nods. “You’re right.”
We reach the patio, where I grab my notebook and say good-bye. Abandoning the idea of trying to work outside—too many land mines at the moment—I return to the cottage. After making a cup of tea, I settle at the table in the sitting room, which is cooler than outside thanks to the stone walls and closed drapes.
I manage to scribble down only a couple of notes because by now my mind is a jumble of thoughts and emotions. I’m ashamed of myself for almost sending Keira into an ambush. I’m also angry at both Marcus and Hannah for whatever that conversation was about. But most of all, I can’t stand the idea of Hannah invading this family. She’s already messing with our dynamic and throwing the whole ecosystem out of whack.
As I attempt to force my attention back to my play, Ihear the faint buzz of bees permeating the glass of the French doors, and then a few moments later thesnip, snipof flowers being cut. Claire must be back from her trip to the farmers’ market and collecting stems from the garden. Briefly, life here feels back to normal.
And then, as if confirming that thought, Henry bounds into the cottage with a grin on his face.
“How was the dog walk?” I ask.
“Good. Dad had to hold Bella’s leash because she kept wanting to run off the road and into the woods.”
“Where is Dad, anyway?”
“He’s in the house talking to Grandpa and Uncle Marcus. Can I go to the pool? Uncle Blake’s gonna swim with me.”
“Okay, but you can only go in the water if he’s in there with you or watching, okay?”
He shoots me a look that says,I hate being treated like a baby, but then dashes upstairs to change into his trunks.
I deliberate following him to the pool myself, but as soon as Henry’s out the door, I’m nailed by a wave of fatigue, the result of how few hours of sleep I clocked last night. I shift to the couch and stretch out, closing my eyes.
The slam of the front door wakes me. I blink a couple of times and sit up slowly to see Gabe standing in the entranceway.
“So how’d it go? Did—?”
And then I take him in more fully. He looks stricken.
“Gabe, what’s the matter?”
“It’s a fucking mess.”
My heart jumps. “Whatis?”
Rather than join me, he strides into the kitchen, where I hear him yank open the refrigerator. “Is it too early for a beer?” he calls out. He obviously decides it is because by the time I join him in the kitchen, he’s chugging seltzer water from a liter bottle.
“Gabe, please,” I urge. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“That vineyard in Spain that Marcus and I invested so much in? It’s going bankrupt.”
“No,” I say, trying to keep panic out of my voice. “And you just found this out today?”
“Idid, but Marcus has known for over a week.”
