“Why did he?” Ali had risked our marriage by keeping me in the dark about Lizzie’s house, and he’d risked his professional reputation to help Lizzie’s incompetent brother. It didn’t make sense. Ali never was a risk taker. He took pride in being careful and deliberate. “Why would Ali go out on a limb to get you a job at the firm?”
“Beats me. Now you’re asking me things that I can’t answer. All I can say is that Ali was a good guy.”
But he wasn’t an idiot. And yet he’d gone out of his way to help both Lizzie and Bill Warren—at his own expense. It almost seemed like Ali had felt beholden to Lizzie and, by extension, her brother.
But why?
Chapter Thirty-Six
Before
Bits of the conversation on the back deck drifted up through my open bedroom window.
“Are you ever gonna get married?” I overheard Ben Rodriguez ask. “You’re the lone holdout in our group.”
I assumed he was talking to Ian, because the only other person hanging out on our deck was Ali, who obviously had a wife.
The three friends were out back smoking cigars, a habit Ali picked up after turning forty. He’d have one or two people over, primarily neighbors but also old friends—when their schedules allowed. I usually stayed out of sight on those evenings, not only because I hated the smell of cigars but also because Ali deserved some guy time. He rarely went out with his friends, and I knew how much he enjoyed the occasional relaxing cigar night.
I was reading in bed when the pungent scent of smoke wafted in the open window. I’d crossed over to close the window when I overheard Ben’s question.
“I’m not the only holdout. Nasser isn’t married yet either,” Ian pointed out. “Has he even come close?”
“Not that I know of.” Ali’s voice. “What about you?”
“Not yet,” Ian answered.
“You don’t know what you’re missing,” Ali told him.
“Yeah?” Ian asked. “What’s it like—being married and having a family?”
“There’s nothing like it. Amira’s essentially my best friend. We always have each other’s backs. And the kids”—I heard the love in my husband’s voice—“they just take life to a different level. It’s a feeling that I can’t describe.”
Warmth blossomed inside my chest. I knew Ali loved me and our family, but I enjoyed hearing him say it. He was a man of few words, especially when it came to expressing his feelings.
Ben snorted. “It’s also having no time to yourself, always running after kids, getting no sleep because they’re up at the crack of dawn, and being too tired to fuck your wife at the end of the day.”
I heard Ali’s quiet laugh. “Your kids are still young. It gets much better once you start getting enough sleep again.” Ali had been the first to get married in his friend group. Ayla and Adam were already in middle school by the time Ben got married.
“I thought I came close to snagging ‘the one’ a couple of times,” Ian said. “But it hasn’t worked out yet.”
“Yet?” Ben echoed. “She’s still in the picture?”
“We’ve been on and off for years.”
“Years?” Ben snorted. “I see you’re still having trouble closing the deal.”
“From what I hear, Lizzie is single now,” Ian remarked, in what sounded like an obvious attempt to shift focus away from his lackluster love life. “I wonder what she’s been up to.”
“I heard she hooked up with someone right after her divorce,” Ben said. “But nothing after that.”
“Who did she hook up with?” Ian asked.
“No idea,” Ben answered. “But I think it lasted a little while.”
“How about you, Ali?” Ian’s voice again. “Have you heard anything?”
“Nope.” I could hear the shrug in his answer.
