“I’d better go check on the husband. Shine the light on the steps, would you?”
She retrieves a small leather suitcase from beside the door and is soon walking towards the trail.
It’s only when she’s gone, and my breathing has returned to normal, that I realize what an idiot I’m being.
I can’t just let her leave. Bradley’s waiting for me—and for all I know, he’s planning to seduce me again. What if he's playing romantic music and has poured me a nightcap? If Grace finds him like that, it will all be over. She knows he’s not expecting her, and I’m wearing makeup and a nice dress. It will be all too easy to put the pieces together, especially for someone who thinks about crime and betrayal for a living.
I stand, momentarily paralyzed, before launching down the steps and running along the path. When I get to the driveway, I scream as loud as I can.
“Grace!”
She’s not far away—but the scream isn’t for her, it’s for Bradley. With any luck, he’ll be able to not only get changed buthide all the other evidence of our time together. The food, the wine, the dishes. Who knows what else?
“What is it?” She turns back to me, annoyed. She looks like an actor who’s left the stage and is tired of performing. I wonder if that’s what it was, back in my cottage. Just another performance by someone who sees no difference between life and art.
“Your book,” I say. “I read it.”
“Yes?”
“Um, I loved it.”
She gives me a withering look. “You have terrible taste. Stick to birds, Brie-like-the-cheese.”
I watch helplessly as she continues towards the house, and it’s only when Bradley arrives at the door fully clothed that I allow myself to relax. They hug, and then she pulls him in for a kiss. To my mind, it’s not just any kiss, either. It’s a let’s-have-sex kiss.
I watch for a moment, astonished at how well he is pretending, and as I turn to walk back to the cottage, I wonder how he’ll get out of it. Will he pretend to have food poisoning? Will he say that he had too many glasses of wine? Or will he just say he’s got a headache?
But then the thought hits me: He won’t get out of it. Not unless he wants to bring up the divorce tonight, and he’s already made it clear he’s not going to do that. I feel winded, but I tell myself I need to stop being an idiot. He’s a married man, so what did I expect? That he’d never touch her again?
Anyway, I told him I only wanted to be friends, and I meant it.
I get inside, kick off my shoes, and make a cup of tea. When it’s ready, I sit on the edge of the bed and reach for my Kindle. I need to distract myself.
But that’s when I realize what an idiot I’ve been. Bradley wasn’t the one acting when they kissed on the doorstep—Grace was.
Because right next to my Kindle is a box of condoms.
And next to that, an empty wrapper.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
She saw it. There’s no doubt in my mind.
How could I be so stupid? I cleaned the whole house, but I left the condom wrapper there, like a trophy, waiting to be discovered.
I walk to the door, then pause. I saw her shine the lamp at the bed. But would she automatically think I’d used it with Bradley? I told her about Neil, after all. The simplest explanation for the condom is that Neil came over and we fooled around.
The more I think about it, the calmer I get. It was dark, even with the lamp. And though it kills me to think about it, if Bradley sleeps with her tonight, she’ll have no real reason to believe it was him.
Still, it’s a mistake. How many more am I going to make before the summer ends?
I think about leaving, but I know that my situation hasn’t changed. I still don’t have any money or anywhere to live, and I still have an obsessive ex-boyfriend who wants me back. I don’t want to go back to my old life. Something about Pine Ridge, and the way these people live, their unbelievable freedom—I want that for myself.
I go back inside and lie in bed with my Kindle. I browse through my library. Without an internet connection, I can’t buy any new books, which leaves me with a bunch of old thrillers and nonfiction books about animals, or Grace’s book.
The Last Date.
I finishthe novel in the early hours. It’s about an undergraduate, Carli Cross, who spends her summer working on a farm in the Midwest. The farm is owned by a beautiful couple. After a few false starts, Carli has an affair with the husband, Chad.
