“You look wonderful.” She smiled as Chat came down the stairs to the foyer. He looked just like him.
“You do clean up well,” Bill added, polishing off a glass of whiskey. They were both tipsy by now, grateful Chat was driving.
“Right back at you both. Though here’s our real star,” Chat cooed as he scooped up Max.
Danika walked to them and leaned in to kiss Max’s cheek. Then, she turned to look at the three of them—herself, Chat, and Max—in the mirror at their side. For a moment, as she studied their reflection, she allowed herself to travel to an alternate life: one where Chat reallywasTrey. Where the child he held was theirs. One where death had not been licking at their heels.
27
The Crawleys hadn’t yet arrived, and Augie had no choice but to get back to work. She reluctantly helped Zami rotate the crackling pig, the meat so hot it made her sick, and tried to imagine what she would say to Chat. It was pointless to prepare. There was no time to rationalize—only to act.
Above all, Augie wondered what Chat knew. Part of her hoped he was clueless—that Danika was the one lying about everything. She wouldn’t let herself think he was the bad guy in all of this. Not yet. If he was, Augie would never trust her judgment again.
She had to find him.
Augie continued filling trays, clearing tables, and fetching drinks with her head on a swivel, but there was still no sign of them. It wasn’t until she started up the stairs to the Club to grab supplies from the kitchen that, as she reached the top step and turned to the party from above, suddenly, there they were.
Augie swore the world slowed as the Crawleys entered in a cloud of white. They looked like royalty. Even Max and Cooper seemed like celebrities in their tiny linen shirts.
Augie rushed inside, feeling overwhelmed.
The party took on a new atmosphere from there. And as Augiereturned to the grill station, she kept watching them out of the corner of her eye. She could barely focus as she thought about how to approach Chat. She went to the lower clearing station at the base of the pool, practicing a script in her mind. Yet as she reached the cart, there he was, appearing beside her.
“Augie,” Chat said, his voice focused. Above them, string lights swayed in the breeze, and to their side, kids squealed and played a duck toss game. The combination of lights and noise made the space between them feel even smaller and more intimate.
Augie stared into the bin of dirty glasses, ignoring the way her pulse pounded in her ears.
“Augie.” Chat put one hand on the cart, maneuvering to try to look in her eyes. “Please, talk to me. Why haven’t you messaged me back?”
Augie pinched the fake flowers around her neck. Finally, she turned to him.
He looked even more handsome than usual—his hair and eyelashes darker in the late light, his irises ablaze with copper, his white shirt and pants perfectly fitted yet loose.
“I need to talk to you,” he said.
Augie felt suddenly desperate. “Chat. Are you lying to me? What isreallygoing on?”
His face collapsed, taken aback. “What do you mean?”
“I know, okay?” Her voice grew louder. “About your uncle and Danika. That they were together, or in Latvia, or... I don’t know. You tell me. Please, just tell me what’s going on.”
Chat went still. “What?”
“And did Trey go to hockey camp with Lyle?” She squinted. “I truly don’t understand why you would hide something like that. Clearly something is going on between you and Danika. What are you not telling me?”
Augie hated to witness the guilt and terror now seeping into Chat’s face. She felt lightheaded. Maybe she really had read him wrong.
“Augie.” Chat reached out to her, but she pulled away. “I can explain. You have to listen to me.” Yet, just as he started talking, Cooper rounded the corner—making them both jump.
“There you are,” Cooper said between licks of an ice cream cone, the chocolate dripping down his wrist. “I need you to help me with the duck toss, please. It’s so, so hard.”
He tugged at the bottom of Chat’s shirt with his free hand.
“I can’t, Coop, I can’t right now,” Chat said as Cooper kept yanking him forward.
Chat looked at Augie, pleading.
“Can you meet me at the cage?” he said. “In ten minutes? I promise I’ll tell you everything.”
