Still…she didn’t think she’d been wrong. Overwrought, angry, unkind? Yes. But not wrong. They were real people, and they didn’t deserve to have their lives, and their hearts, played with like toys.
Jack was waiting for her in the living room. The doors to the library were closed.
“Ah, Lucy,” Jack said with a smile. “How are you?”
Jack had this way of sayingHow are you?like the answer mattered, like the answer was the only thing that mattered.
“Better,” she said. “I wanted to say how sorry I am for getting so upset last night. I was a little—”
“Think nothing of it. Please. This has been a hard week for you. And I’m afraid it might get a little harder before it’s over.”
“Harder?” She glanced at the doors to the library again. Closed. As if someone was in there, hidden away. Someone Jack didn’t want her to see just yet.
Someone she was afraid of.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I invited a friend of mine here. Someone who would like to speak to you, and I think…has a right to speak to you.”
“A friend?” Lucy looked at him. Then she knew who was behind those doors.
It was Sean. Of course it was. The man whose baby she’d wanted to have but lost. He and Jack were with the same agency. It wasn’t difficult to draw a line between the two men.
Jack had promised to make them face their fears. But inviting her ex-boyfriend to the island? She couldn’t believe he would do this to her, but maybe he understood something she didn’t. All she had to do was talk to him, tell him what had happened after she left him. Then it would be over.
This was the game. Lucy had to play it to win.
She opened the door to the library.
A woman was seated on the sofa.
A woman? Not Sean?
When she saw Lucy, the woman stood up. At first Lucy didn’t recognize her. Then the woman smiled a million-watt smile. Bright white perfect teeth. Just like in her picture on the real estate agency web page.
“Angie?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
The woman raised herhand in a little wave.
“Hi, Lucy. Long time no see.”
A heavy silence descended onto the library like a fog. Lucy froze, unsure what to say, what to do, what to feel. At once, she knew. She turned and left without so much as a look back.
“Lucy?” Jack called after her as she brushed past him. “Lucy!”
She reached the stairs. Her gut told her to get away, get to her room, shut the door, and lock it.
She was halfway up the stairs when Jack caught up with her.
“Please, Lucy, I’m an old man. Don’t make me run.”
His hand clutched the railing. His eyes were wide and imploring.
“Why, Jack?” she hissed. What else could she ask? Why would he do this to her?
“Five minutes,” he said. “All I ask. Five minutes to explain. Please?”
Still in shock, Lucy didn’t know how to answer. Her sister was downstairs in the library, the last person on the planet she wanted to see—she would have served Sean Parrish wine from a golden goblet before sitting down for a cozy chat with her sister.
