Page 68 of Out Of A Fix

“My guess is Caitlyn’s friends knew she was going to divorce you and go and live with Conti in San Francisco even before she confessed her plan to you.”

“I have no doubt they knew before me. She told Ronnie, Kara, and Shelly everything. I mean, Shelly is her oldest friend, has been since we moved to this town before Griff was born.”

“Where did you and Caitlyn meet?”

“In Seattle. I came here from Maine on a job, she was here for school. Once I met her, I decided to stay.”

“Romantic.”

“I suspect you’re the romantic.”

“Never been called that before,” I assured him.

“No? You and your big, soft heart? Never been called a romantic?”

Big, soft heart? “No, but listen. Turns out Caitlyn filled Shelly’s head with you and Tatum, and Shelly thought you two were going to be hers.”

He was quiet a moment, but I saw the exact second my words sank in.

“I’m sorry, the fuck did you say?”

I coughed softly. “See, Caitlyn had Shelly believing that⁠—”

“You’re assuming this, or you know?”

“She told me. Shelly did. So yeah, I know.”

He stood up and started pacing. “My ex-wife promised her best friend that when she left, I was hers for the taking. Is that what you’re saying to me?”

“Yes.”

“Did she lose her fuckin’ mind?” he roared, pacing faster, longer, farther, needing the space, I was guessing. “What the fuck?”

“I think it originally came from a good place of wanting you and the kids to be taken care of once she left, but Shelly has a thing for you, which Caitlyn knew, so it makes what Caitlyn did very much not okay.”

He froze, then wheeled around to stare at me.

“She does,” I reiterated. “And it’s not new.”

“No.”

I nodded.

“For crissakes, Nash, I would never have asked her to check in on my kids if⁠—”

“I know,” I soothed him.

“That’s not me. I’m not that guy. I would never take advantage of someone’s feelings.”

“I know,” I repeated, my voice gentle. “Really.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“Don’t make me say I know again.”

He huffed out a breath. “I can’t believe her.”

“Again, I think she wanted you all to be looked after.”