Page 68 of Two Couples

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious. Please? For me? For Emily?”

“I’m considering going home. I need to consult an attorney to find out if we can get out of this mess.”

“Please don’t do that. We’ve been friends forever. I know you’ve had great times with them. You’ve say that all the time. You and Keith have… I feel like you consider him a friend.”

“Not now.”

I ignored the pain that pierced my heart. He would come around. It would take time, but I knew he would. “I want to talk to you about Linda.”

He moved, forcing my hand to slide off his arm.

“She told me to keep you away from Jordan.”

He laughed. “I’m not anywhere near Jordan.”

“She seems to think you said something offensive to her. Something inappropriate?”

“Nope.”

“There wasn’t anything that⁠—”

“You don’t believe me?”

“I just don’t understand why she would say that. It made me feel like I don’t know you.”

“Don’t know me, or don’t trust me? You took the word of a nut case and assumed her slander was correct.”

“I didn’t.”

“I think you did.”

I moved closer to him and put my arms around his waist. I pulled him to me hard, pressing my head against his chest. “I want you. I want us, again.”

He put his arms around me, which made the hammering fear in my heart soften.

After a minute or two of quietly holding each other, wondering if we were okay after all, he gently lifted my arms away from his body. “I asked Jordan if she vandalized our vehicle. Is that inappropriate?” He laughed.

I laughed with him, although it felt forced. I hoped he didn’t notice. “Probably.”

“Those two women are unstable,” he said. “I’m sure one of them killed that guy.”

FORTY-EIGHT

PATRICK

It was nice to have my wife hug me instead of treating me like a pariah. But wanting to hold her didn’t mean I wasn’t still upset with her, still felt like I didn’t know her as well as I’d thought. I wondered if she was only doing this because she was worried about the house and her friendship with Emily. Samantha was a peacemaker. Maybe she hadn’t lost her moral center but she’d put it aside to placate her best friend.

I followed her up the stairs to the deck, then went into the house. It was hot, but I needed some exercise. The hike the day before had reduced my stress. Already, it was back. A swim in the cold lake would help. It would even be more effective than the pool at shocking my system.

I started up the stairs to get swim trunks and a beach towel. Before I hit the third step, I felt someone behind me. I turned. Emily stood at the foot of the stairs, smiling as if I was her closest confidante. “I want to make a really nice dinner tonight and I could really use your help. I think it will help move us back to normality.”

I snorted. “There is no normal here and we’re not getting back there, so you can forget that little dream.”

As if she hadn’t heard me, she continued, “You cook all the time at the firehouse, so I know you’ll be able to help spice up what I’m planning.”

“I’m going to the lake for a swim. Even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be cooking dinner. I’m not pretending this is normal.”