“You mean if I’m not in Cherokee?”
“A minute ago, you didn’t sound totally convinced you wanted to live with Steve. Have you changed your mind?”
She hadn’t, because going to the farm would mean leaving Charlotte, and that wouldn’t be an easy choice—if itwasher choice. Maybe Charlotte wouldn’t want to keep her even ifshe didn’t go back to Cliff. “I don’t know what I want to do yet.”
The sound of the door alerted Sloane that Charlotte had just come out of the house. She knew it wasn’t Lilly, not this late. Lilly had taken her e-reader and gone to bed over an hour ago. She was so engrossed in the second book of SarahJ. Maas’s series that nothing short of an earthquake or a fire would make her leave her room now that dinner was over and she had the chance to read. And Julian hadn’t returned after being gone all day. Sloane had been waiting for him to come through the gate. After what she’d just seen, she needed to talk to him.
“There you are,” Charlotte said.
Fortunately, that comment didn’t require a response, so Sloane took a moment to compose herself. She’d been hoping for some privacy until her brother got home, had thought she’d be able to safely find it on the deck. She’d heard Charlotte talking to Cliff on the phone earlier and assumed she wouldn’t venture out again, if only to avoid what Sloane had to say about the part of the conversation she’d overheard—where it had sounded as though Charlotte was weakening and might eventually cave in to his entreaties.
Pulling the lap blanket she’d carried outside higher around her shoulders, Sloane used it to partially shield her face.
“I thought you went to bed when Lilly did,” Charlotte commented.
Sloane kept her gaze on the lights pricking the dark over Amalfi so that Charlotte couldn’t see the tears in her eyes. That picture Ben’s coworker had sent had leveled her. She felt like she couldn’t breathe, let alone explain what was happening, even to her best friend, especially because she sensed that everyone would think she deserved exactly what she was getting. After all,she was the one who’d been unsure whether she wanted to stay in her marriage. “No.”
“Where’s Jules?”
The sea thudded softly below; the air smelled faintly of citrus and stone as a cool breeze ruffled her hair. “He... um... I don’t know,” she managed to say.
Charlotte pulled out a chair and sat to Sloane’s right. “Are you waiting up for him?”
Sloane’s composure was crumbling. She wouldn’t be able to keep up the pretense much longer.
When she didn’t answer right away, Charlotte leaned forward, trying to catch her eye. “Seems like he’s gone all the time these days.”
Sloane drew in a deep breath. “He’s been—” she swallowed hard “—spending a lot of time in Sorrento.”
“Sorrento? Withoutus?”
“He told me there’s a lot to photograph, so...”
“I get that,” Charlotte said. “But it’s dark now. Well past dark. Seems like he should be home.”
Sloane didn’t say anything. It was too hard to speak.
“Sloane? Did you hear me? I said it seems like he should be home by now.”
“What do you want from me?” she snapped, too upset to be able to hold back. “He’s not!”
“What’s wrong?” Charlotte asked, grabbing her arm to get her to turn and make eye contact.
The concern in her friend’s voice broke what was left of the dam holding Sloane’s emotions back. She could no longer speak as the tears began to stream down her face.
“What’s happened?” Charlotte asked again, clearly alarmed.
Sloane figured she might as well show her now. Shoving her phone at Charlotte, she squeezed her eyes shut before covering them with her hands.
“What’s this?” Charlotte asked.
“Can’t you see it?” she choked out, dropping her hands. “That’s Ben!”
“I know it’s Ben, but it doesn’t look like he’s doing anything wrong. He’s got a kid on his shoulders, but he’s not with a woman. He’s just... outside in a parking lot.”
“That’s not just any kid, Char. That’s Colt, the son of the woman his pharmacy hired right after I left. Her name’s Adele something. You can’t see her in the picture because she’s bent over putting groceries in her car.”
“You’re not saying... You don’t think Ben’s having anaffair. Chances are he only met this woman when she started.”
