A knock sounded at the door and then the front door opened. Her mother’s voice, then Jasper’s. Henry and Jack came out of their room, hugged him, and left again. They were both teenagers, now, nearly adults and didn’t show as much excitement about him visiting as they used to. Of course, he had just been here a couple of weeks ago as well.
“Jasper,” she said with a smile and hugged him. “It’s so good to see you. I didn’t know you were coming.”
He glanced at her mother and smiled. “Well, I talked to your mom,” Jasper said. “You’ve been back for almost two weeks, and you won’t talk about what happened in Key West. Why you came back.”
“I think you know. And there’s nothing to talk about.”
“Lizzie.” Her mother’s voice was gentle. “You barely eat. You don’t sleep. You sit here staring at your computer and don’t write anything.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.” Jasper leaned forward. “I know what happened. So does your mom. We’ve seen the stories. I’ve talked to Carlos. But I don’t know your side.”
Lizzie looked at her laptop.
“Tell us what happened,” her mom said. She sat beside
“We were together,” she said. “Me and Sarah. Not just working together. Together together.”
Her mother didn’t look surprised.
“I was thinking about staying. Transferring schools or doing remote learning. We talked about me getting my own place, working part-time at the hotel. We had a plan.” Lizzie’s throat tightened. “Then the reporter called and I said the wrong thing and everything fell apart.”
“What did you say?”
“The reporter told me Sarah had been with other women. That she knew Sarah and I were together. She made a snide comment about our age difference. I got flustered and…And I—I got defensive. I said I wasn’t half Sarah’s age and that there weren’t other women. Which was basically confirming we were together without actually saying it.”
Jasper and her mother exchanged a look.
“And Sarah blamed you,” Jasper said.
“Yes. I should have told her sooner. I tried but I didn’t have time to speak to her because the story came out the day after the reporter called. I didn’t know it was coming out so soon or I would have said something sooner. I was… I was…Sarah was so mad.” Lizzie wiped her face. “She told me it was my fault. That I should have just said no comment. And she was right. I should have.”
“Sarah has a hard exterior,” Jasper said. “I’ve known that since I first met her. But Carlos told me she feels badly about blaming you. Her world was crashing down and she took it out on the one person who was close to her. We all do that sometimes.” He looked at Lizzie’s mother when he said it. Something passed between them. Understanding.
Lizzie realized with a jolt that her suspicions had been right. They were working on getting back together. Or maybe they already were.
“What else have you heard?” she asked.
“Derek Mitchell is making everyone’s life miserable. Carlos and Esmeralda are fighting him but it’s not easy.” Jasper turned his mug in his hands. “The Key West board is trying to influence the national Barnes Hotels board to turn against Sarah too.”
Lizzie felt sick. If she’d had any food, it would be making a second appearance by now. “Can they do that?”
“I don’t think they’ll succeed. Sarah’s always been popular with the national board. Billy made sure of that. But it doesn’t look good for the Key West side of things, or the lawsuit. Jonathan’s lawyers are using the article to build their case that the marriage was fraudulent. But it’s all just allegations. Nothing’s proven.”
Lizzie looked at her hands. “I wish there was something I could do. To help her. To prove all those lies wrong.”
“There’s always a paper trail,” her mother said. “If everything Sarah told you is true, it can be proven.”
“How?”
“If she was legally emancipated, there’s paperwork for that,” Jasper said. “Some of it might be sealed because she was a minor, but there should be a record. Court filings are public.”
“And if her parents are really addicts, they would have been arrested at some point,” her mother added. “There’d be records. Police reports. Court cases.”
Lizzie sat up straighter. “The neighbor. Mr. Patterson. The one who was hit by the car. He might remember the truth. He might be willing to say something now.”
“Carlos and Esmeralda have known Sarah for years,” Jasper said. “They were there when she and Billy were together. They could make statements. Corroborate that Billy knew about her sexuality, that the marriage wasn’t a secret arrangement.”
