Sara reached for her wine. “Did you ask her about the house?”
“I tried, but she wouldn’t talk about it.” I blinked back tears. I managed to keep it together most of the time, but now all my emotions were snowballing. “All I know for sure is that she got a house that Ali made payments on from one of our joint accounts.”
“My God,” Sara breathed.
Ben blinked. “That dirty dog!”
Nasser scowled at him. “Watch it, Rodriguez.”
Ian studied me. “Did you have any idea that Ali and Lizzie were still in touch?”
“No.” I sipped the dregs of my decaf coffee to calm my emotions. “Naturally, I have a lot of questions. If anyone here knows anything, please tell me.”
“He seemed so into you,” Ben said wonderingly. “I find it hard to believe Lizzie was still in the picture.”
My heart lifted to hear one of my husband’s oldest friends express his belief that Ali had truly loved me. It gave me a sliver of hope that the caring, faithful version of Ali could still be real.
“I agree,” Sara chimed in after a beat. “I can’t wrap my head around it. Ali wasn’t the cheating type.”
“With all due respect,” Ian said, his tone a little harsh, “all men are the cheating type given the right circumstances.”
Nasser shot him an amused look. “Sounds like someone is speaking for himself.”
“All men and women are the cheating type,” Ian retorted. “It’s human nature.”
“The Ali affair theory has a major flaw,” Ben pointed out.
“Which is?” Sara asked.
“If a man wants to hook up with his sidepiece, he doesn’t buy her a house in another state. He gets her something close by, where he can see her regularly.”
I took a deep breath. “Why else would Ali buy Lizzie a house?”
“Where exactly is this property?” Ian asked.
“In Durham, near Duke University.”
“The last time I spoke to Lizzie, her marriage had just broken up,” Sara told me. “She did mention that she was moving away, but she didn’t say where to.”
“And this was about eight years ago?”
Sara nodded. “About that. Yes.” She paused. “I was shocked to hear she was getting a divorce. I thought that she was happy with her husband.”
I ran a finger around the rim of my mug. “How long was she married?”
“A long time,” Sara said. “Ten, eleven years. We kept in touch back then but, after her divorce, it’s like she vanished.”
Later in the car on the way home, Nasser scolded me. “You do realize that you just violated the terms of the NDA you signed?”
“I didn’t even think about the NDA.” I wasn’t thinking about the nondisclosure agreement because my thoughts were consumed with what Sara had told us. “Lizzie’s marriage broke up about eight years ago. The timeline fits with the purchase of Cozy Glenn.”
I pulled out my phone to see if I could find any details about Lizzie’s divorce. Now that I knew her full name maybe I’d have better luck. “Her marriage breaks up.” I typed her name into my phone as I spoke. “Maybe she was low on money and asked Ali to help her out?”
Nasser kept his eyes on the road. “Without telling his wife?”
“I don’t know if Ali cheated, but we do know that he wasn’t a saint. He lied to me about Cozy Glenn, at least by omission.”
“Please try to remember not to talk about the North Carolina house or its owner in the future. Slipping up like you did could be a very costly mistake.”
