“Okay.” I stand and pick up the plates. “I’ll clean up.”
He nods and heads toward the back door, pausing with his hand on the handle. He looks back at me, and for a second I think he’s going to say something else, something that will undo the careful agreement we just made.
But he doesn’t.
He just opens the door and steps outside, letting it swing shut behind him.
I stand in the kitchen with the dirty plates in my hands, watching through the window as he crosses the garden. The morning light is golden on his shoulders, catching in his hair, and I force myself to look away.
Everything is back to normal, I tell myself as I turn on the tap and start rinsing the plates. Last night was a mistake, a moment of madness brought on by too much alcohol and too many unresolved feelings, and the mess I made of my life.
It meant nothing.
It can’t mean anything.
I scrub at a plate harder than necessary, the water running hot over my hands, and I repeat the words in my head like a mantra.
Everything is back to normal.
10
Gabriel
I’m sitting on the terrace, laptop open in front of me, staring at furniture layouts for my client’s living room. The late afternoon sun is hitting the water at just the right angle, turning the lake into a sheet of liquid gold. It’s the kind of afternoon that makes work feel criminal, but I’ve been putting off these decisions for days.
The house is quiet. Marshall spent the day working in the garden, but he’s finished up now and gone upstairs.
We’ve settled into a rhythm over the past few days. We wake up, eat breakfast together, and then go our separate ways until dinner. He works in the garden. I work in the house or on the terrace. We don’t avoid each other, but we don’t seek each other out either. It’s exactly what we need after the night of madness we agreed never to talk about again.
I’m working out where to put the deep navy velvet sofa when I hear a motorboat cutting through the water. I look up, squinting against the sun, and my stomach sinks when I recognize Blaine’s boat.
I realize I haven’t thought about him much since the night out with Marshall. I close my laptop and stand, and all I feel is a dull throb of annoyance where the panic used to be.
His boat slows and bumps against the pier. Blaine climbs out and waves. I don’t wave back.
He approaches the terrace, taking the stone steps two at a time with more energy than you’d expect from a man in his fifties. “Gabriel! What luck finding you here.”
“I live here,” I say, my voice flat.
He laughs as if I’ve said something clever. “Of course, of course.” He stops at the edge of the terrace. “Do you have a minute? I’d like to talk.”
“I don’t think we have anything to talk about.”
“I do.” His smile doesn’t falter. “I was hoping to speak to you the other day when we came by with Vanessa, but you weren’t feeling well.”
“Funny how that works.”
“Gabriel.” His voice softens. “I’d just like a chance to—”
“That’s why you brought your wife?” I cut him off. “To speak to me?”
A flicker of irritation crosses his face. “I didn’t want to bring her. She tagged along.”
“It’s none of my business.” I step back, putting more distance between us. “I’d appreciate it if you’d go.”
But Blaine doesn’t leave. Instead, he steps forward, his expression shifting to one of regret. “I’m sorry. I wanted to apologize for how things ended. You deserved better than the way I handled it.”
Another step. I back up until my calves hit the chair behind me.
