But then the couple starts talking.
“I can’t believe I’ve never been in here before.” The male voice is crystal clear now, unmistakably Levin as he takes a sip fromsomething. Ice cubes clink against a glass. I freeze in place and press my ear to the door.
“That’s because you’re such a goody-goody.” Meg laughs and taps her glass to his.
“You sure it’s okay we’re here?” he asks.
“Of course,” she says. “They told me I could come in here whenever.” Comfort spreads throughout my chest. It’s Levin and Meg. It’s no big deal. But why would Stu and Mellie let her in here?
Levin chuckles then sighs. “I never should have let you go last summer. I’m sorry... about everything.”
“Byeverything, do you mean the whole asking me to move to New York with you but then freaking out when I got laid off from the startup that promised to pay for my visa?” Meg’s voice is sharp and I suck in a mouthful of air. I had no idea that’s what happened at the end of last summer. I thought she went back to England.
Levin sighs. “You know I regret that. All of that.”
Meg makes some sort of reluctant noise and takes another sip of her drink. “You’re lucky Mellie and Stu took me in.”
I shake my head, wondering if I misheard.
Cal texts again and I finally look back at my phone.
I knew I recognized your friend! The British one. Took me a bit to place her, but I definitely saw her one time at Applebee Grocer in the fall. Head down being all secretive and shit. Now this???? FUCK.
I have no idea what he’s talking about so I tap back over to the email and open the file. It’s a photo of a newspaper clipping with a headline proclaiming something about a small new park over by Grandee’s.
But there’s also a photo of a bunch of employees standing behind the mayor as he cuts the ribbon with an oversize pair of scissors. It’s hard to make out any faces since the photo is still pixelated, all different shades of gray. I scan the caption and find a list of names. My heart quickens when I see the nameSally Burkesandwiched between Heller McConnell and someone random. I start to scroll up to the photo to try to see where Heller is and where she could be standing. But it takes a while to load.
“I’ll never be able to repay them for helping you out,” Levin says. “At least you still could come down on the weekends.”
Down?I think.From where?
“Until you told me not to come anymore,” Meg says, her voice small.
“I regret that, too. It was a shit year.”
Finally, the photo comes into focus and I zoom in, enlarging the image as much as I can. But it doesn’t take long before I find Heller and Sally. And when I do, I nearly drop my phone.
Because I’d recognize that woman anywhere.
Sally Burke is Meg.
I bring my hand over my mouth to keep from making noise, to calm everything that’s on fire inside my body.
How is this possible?
In the main room, the couch groans and it sounds like Meg is walking over to the back door. “At least all that time in Roxwood made me learn a few things... like how they keep all the good booze inhere,” she says in a playful voice.
My eyes go wide as I start to put the pieces together, trying to untangle all the things I’ve just learned:
Meg got laid off and her visa ran out.
Meg came to Mellie and Stu for help and they sent her to Roxwood. But she didn’t tell anyone she was here.
Meg changed her name to Sally Burke and got a job at the clerk’s office—right next to Heller.
Sally sent him a letter that saidI’m so sorry.
She betrayed him in some way. Did she... want him gone?
