Page 49 of All the Promises We Break

Wes rubs out the back of his neck and chugs down on his wine. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Gabi’s brother is a client of Wes’s, but they were a couple for a while, back in the day. Did you connect while you were there?”

“We met for dinner, yes. Just to catch up. She finally left that asshole boyfriend she had. He was never good enough for her.”

Hayley

When the tea is spilled it sure fucking runs.

I should win an award, hell a string of awards, for not showing how I feel about this revelation. I point-blank asked about Gabrielle and he didn’t tell me. I asked who she was. Oh, just a sister he says. No big deal, he says. Lying is a huge deal.

I pick at my food enough to pass for eating and not having to answer questions. I insert myself in the conversation enough to show I’m listening without having to say too much. All I would have to offer right now is a running commentary on how much lies suck or snarky things I can’t explain away. Offering to clear the dishes is yet another way to get me out of the conversation and away from Wes.

I’ve told him his past is past. That’s true, but when I point-blank ask, don’t lie to me. All that does is beg the question, how many other things has he lied about?

“Dylan and I are going to hit the hot tub for a bit. Anyone else care to join?”

“No thanks, Eli. I think I’m going to turn in early. Skiing took it out of me.” He’s going to see right through that answer, but I don’t know how else to say it.

“Okay. Are you sure? You’ve been quiet since midway through dinner. Do you feel alright?” Eli asks.

“I’m all right or I will be. A bit of quiet and sleep and you’ll see a whole new me in the morning.” I can feel Wes’s eyes staring at me from across the room.

“Okay, kiddo,” Eli kisses the top of my head, “I’ll check on you later.”

“Thank you.”

I give him a small smile before he leaves to join Dylan. I can still feel Wes’s eyes. I beg over and over in my head for him to gain the insight to just stay away from me.

Usually I’m careful in the way I load a dishwasher. Today there are no fucks to be given. Every glass is slammed. Every pot rattles. Every piece of cutlery forcefully goes point down.

“Hayley, stop,” Wes begs.

“Stop? Stop what? Stop being angry? Stop being hurt? Stop wishing you’d just grown a set and told me the truth, instead of using me and being a pussy? So you’ll need to be a bit more specific.”

“Don’t you think I know I’m a pussy? Seriously? But using you… Jesus Christ, I would never and could never. That’s not what happened here.”

“If nothing happened with Gabrielle, then why not say ‘Hey, Hayley, guess what? I had dinner with an ex on my road trip. It was nice to catch up.’ Fuck’s sake, I told you all you had to do was be honest with me and you couldn’t even do that.”

“What do you want me to say? I’m sorry. I mean it. I am sorry. I don’t want this to change anything.”

“Too late. It already has.”

“Why? Why does it have to change a damn thing?”

“You said no lies and no promises. Here’s the problem with that. You did make promises, they may have been silent, but they were there. I did too. Then you broke the no lies rule every which way. I’ve never been anything but honest with you, even when it made me totally vulnerable. Now I regret it.”

Wes rebounds backward like he was physically punched in the stomach. “Is that how you really feel?”

When all is said and done, I don’t know the answer. I can’t and don’t respond. He takes my non-answer as a yes and slowly backs away. “Well, in case you were curious, I don’t regret anything.”

He disappears down the hallway to our side of the house. I hear a couple of things tossed against a wall then silence. The silence is louder than the tears that follow my sobs over the sink.

Chapter Twenty

Elijah

“How would you feel about moving?” I ask.

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