Even Mom and Olive had caught flack for what they’d done. Several people had left the party after telling Mom they were disgusted at the way she’d treated her daughter-in-law. It was difficult not to root for Carrie. She was nice, pretty, and such a genuine person.
The only person who seemed unbothered was Madison. She was thrilled with how things turned out. She didn’t even careabout the glares she’d gotten from a few people. She’d just shrugged it off and said they were probably jealous of her. Her utter confidence in the face of obvious disapproval hadn’t sat right with me, but I knew girls had been jealous of Madison’s looks all her life. She was just used to that.
Or maybe I was making excuses for her.
And now I was home, sitting in my driveway and putting off the confrontation with my wife that I knew was coming. She’d said she might not be here, but her car was here. I thought she was probably inside waiting on me.
When I walked in, she was sitting on the couch. She had a glass of wine in her hand, a half empty bottle on the coffee table. She was wearing a slouchy shirt that hung off one smooth, tanned shoulder. One of the recessed lights, set to dim, was reflecting off the golden highlights in her hair. She looked beautiful even though her eyes were swollen. I couldn’t tell for sure that they were red; the lighting was too dim in the house.
I was pretty sure they were, though. And it was all my fault.
“Carrie,” I said as I lowered myself to the couch across from her, “I am so, so sorry. I was going to tell you about Madison…”
“Is she Mads?” Carrie asked, interrupting me.
“What?”
“Mads. The person you’ve been texting so much. You know, the one you said was Maddox Spiller?”
“Oh.” Fuck. I’d forgotten all about that. I ran my hand through my hair and loosened my tie. I couldn’t figure out a good lie. “Yeah. She is.”
Her lips formed a thin line as she nodded. “That’s what I thought. Why did you lie to me about it?”
I watched her cautiously, as if she were a wild animal who could go feral at any moment. She sipped her wine, and I was startled by the empty, blank look on her face. It gave me a sick feeling in my stomach.
I’d put that look there.
“I should have told you. I don’t really have an excuse other than to say I was putting it off. I was afraid you’d think there was something going on between Madison and me.”
She laughed bitterly. “Isn’t there?” Her eyes locked on mine.
Shit. Fuck. Damn. Hell. “No. We’re just old friends.” I kept my eyes steadily on hers. I hated lying to her. Carrie would hate me if she ever found out. I thought of my long lunches and dinners with Mads. All the time we were spending together. The constant texting. The desire to do so much more with her. I might not have crossed a physical line with her, but I had long since moved into dangerous territory.
But I didn’t know if I wanted to leave Carrie. I did love her. And there was something holding me back from committing to Mads. Something tickling at the edges of my consciousness. It was like a little voice inside telling me to be careful. I scrubbed a hand over my face. This would actually be the perfect time to come clean and tell Carrie everything. To tell her I wanted to be with Madison. But I just couldn’t do it.
I just had to sort out my mixed-up feelings. There was so much about Carrie that I loved. She was beautiful, accomplished, smart, funny, and most of all she was kind. But Madison… she was almost like an obsession for me.
“No? You haven’t kissed her? Because the two of you looked pretty damn cozy dancing together tonight.”
“I haven’t kissed her, and I’m sorry again for tonight. I had no idea she could be there until Bryce sent me that text.”
Her head shot up and she frowned. “You didn’t? You weren’t lying about that?”
I shook my head. “Bryce, Celia, and I all thought we weren’t announcing who the spokesmodel was until the launch party. Mom planned it for tonight without telling any of us.”
“Of course she did,” Carrie murmured, rolling her eyes. “You were going to tell me about her before the launch party?”
“Absolutely. I would never have set you up like that on purpose. It must’ve been awful, and I’m just so damn sorry.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you had an ex-fiancée? Dammit, Thatch, you had the whole time we were dating and the fiveyearswe’ve been married!” Carrie yelled.
I stared at her. She’d never yelled at me before. Not even when she was mad. “I… I don’t know. I was going to, but I choked. I feel terrible about that.”
“Youshouldfeel terrible about that. You should have told me about her before we got married. And how many times have you eaten at La Maison with her?”
“A good many times,” I admitted.
“Why would you take her there of all places when you knew I wanted to go there so badly?”
