“None of this has anything to do with Ali. Go away and leave me alone.”
I hurried after her. “Just tell me why he bought you a house and I’ll disappear forever.”
“He didn’t.”
Did she think I was a complete idiot? “I saw the payments. They came out of our joint bank account.”
She waved me off. “I don’t know anything about that. Just go away. Please.”
I struggled to keep up. “I’ll tell everyone. I’ll call the TV station where Ali worked.”
Halting abruptly, she faced me. “Ali always said you are very smart. And that would be a stupid thing to do. That’s why you signed the NDA.”
“Why do you think I took the one hundred thousand dollars from you?” She frowned when I answered my own question. “So I can violate the NDA and give back what you paid me.”
Lizzie paled. “You won’t do that.”
“I just want the truth,” I said gently.
I could see her struggling, sizing me up, both fear and panic emanating from her. “You would tell the world that your husband died and left a house to his old girlfriend.”
“That’s right,” I said with a firm shake of my chin. “The Washington gossip columns will have a field day.”
“You would subject your children to that?”
She caught me off guard with that, and she knew it.
“That’s what I thought.” She turned to stride off, veering from the trail. “If I were you, I’d take the trail back to the parking lot. You don’t want to get lost.”
“I hiked all the time with Ali.”
“So did I,” she said, disappearing into the brush. “I’m the one who introduced him to hiking in the first place. When we first met, it was a struggle to coax him outside, but he eventually took to it.”
Stunned, I stared dumbly after her. Lizzie Martins had put her stamp on my family without my even knowing it. The Ali I knew was an avid outdoorsman who got me and the children into hiking. To discover that it all started with Lizzie, to know her likes were so firmly implanted in the family I made with Ali, made me sick. And livid.
After Ali died, I naturally assumed I’d always think of him whenever I wandered into nature. Now I knew I’d never hike again without thinking of Lizzie Martins.
I made my way back to the van, and took an indignantBintifor a quick walk before heading home. I called Nasser whileBintisniffed her way down a park path, being picky about where to relieve herself.
“Was Ali always an outdoorsy guy?” I asked when he picked up. “You grew up with him.”
He paused. “Uh, hello to you too.”
“Sorry, I just saw Lizzie, and she told me that she’s the one who got Ali into hiking.”
“Wait. Back up. Where did you see Lizzie?”
“In Durham. I needed to talk to her. But as usual, I came away with more questions than answers.”
“You drove to Durham?”
“Yes, and I’m on my way back now. Was Ali outdoorsy?”
“Technically, I didn’t grow up with him. I grew up in Youngstown, but we saw each other for weeks at a time during the summer. We played outside like most kids. But by the time we got to college, he was more of a city lights guy.”
“Not a hiker, then. I guess Lizzie was telling the truth.”
“So what? Why does that upset you?”
