Page 28 of This is Why We Lied

When Sara looked back at her life, what she saw was a woman who was constantly moving forward, always making sure that everyone was okay.

Until now.

Sara looked at her open suitcase. Will had downloaded all of her books on her iPad. He’d updated the podcasts on her phone. Her sister had packed exactly what she needed down to the right toiletries and hairbrush. Her father had included one of his hand-tied fishing lures and a list of very bad dad jokes. Her aunt had donated a large straw hat to protect Sara’s ghostly pale skin from the sun. Her mother had given her a small pocket Bible, which had felt a bit overbearing at first, but then Sara had realized that a page was bookmarked. Her mother had used a light pencil mark to highlight a section from Ruth 1:16:

… for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people … thy God will be my God.

Reading the passage had sent Sara over the edge. Her mother had perfectly captured Sara’s feelings for Will. She would go wherever he took her. She would lie with him wherever he chose. She would treat his family of choice as her own. She would’ve even pretended to like camping if that’s what it came down to. She was totally and completely devoted.

Which was how weeping had given way to crying, crying had given way to sobbing, and she had sunk down onto the bed like an overwhelmed Victorian. Sara couldn’t help it. Everything was too perfect. The wonderful wedding ceremony. This beautiful lodge. The gifts from her family. The thoughtfulness Will had put into everything. He’d even asked for her favorite yogurt to be put in the small fridge in the kitchen. Sara had never felt so well-cared for in her life.

“Come on,” she chided herself. Falling apart time was over. Will would be back soon.

She found the box of tissues on the back of the toilet so she could blow her nose. There was a small selection of bath salts by the deep soaking tub. For Will’s sake, she chose the least perfumy one before turning on the tub faucet. She checked herself in the mirror. Her skin was red and blotchy. Her nose was practically glowing. Her eyes were bloodshot. Will was going to come back from the main house expecting steamy bathtub sex and find her looking like an escaped lunatic.

Sara blew her nose. She let her hair down because she knew that Will liked it that way. Then she went to the bedroom and finished unpacking their clothes. Her little sister hadn’t been completely altruistic. Tessa had jokingly packed a sex toy inside the bottom of the suitcase. Sara was zipping it back in the bag when she heard a loud voice outside the front window.

“Paul!” a man called. “Would you wait the hell up?”

Sara walked into the front room. The windows were open. She stayed in the shadows as she watched two men arguing on the path below. They were older, very fit and clearly frustrated.

“Gordon, I don’t care what you think,” Paul said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

“The right thing to do?” Gordon asked. “Since when do you care about the right thing?”

“Since I saw how she fucking lives!” Paul yelled. “It’s not okay!”

“Hon.” Gordon wrapped his hands around the man’s arms. “You’ve got to let it go.”

Paul slipped out of his grasp. He started jogging down the path toward the lake.

Gordon ran after him, yelling “Paul!”

Sara pulled the sheers closed on the window. That was interesting. On the hike in, Keisha had said that the app guys were named Gordon and Landry. Sara wondered if Paul was another guest or someone who worked at the lodge. Then she made herself stop wondering because she wasn’t here to figure other people out. She was here to have steamy bathtub sex with her husband.

Husband.

Sara felt herself smiling as she walked back into the bathroom. She had seen the look on Will’s face when she’d called him her husband for the first time. It had matched the absolute delight she’d felt when he’d called her his wife.

She looked out the large picture window behind the tub. No sign of Gordon and Paul. The cottage was at a much higher elevation than the path. She couldn’t even see the lake. The view was trees and more trees. She checked the water temperature, which was just right. The tub was going to be full a lot faster than she’d anticipated. Sara was a plumber’s daughter. She knew her way around water flow. She also knew her husband. She might just manage to distract him from the fact that she’d been crying if Will found her nude and waiting. Which was exactly what happened when he walked into the bathroom five minutes later.

Will dropped the pillow he was holding. “What’s wrong?”

Sara lay back in the tub. “Get in.”

He glanced out the window. He was shy about his body. Where Sara saw the lean muscle and sinew, the contour of his gorgeous abs, his beautiful, strong arms, Will only saw the scars he’d carried since childhood. The puckered, round cigarette burns. The hook of a wire hanger. The skin graft where the ripped tissue had been too damaged to heal.

Sara’s eyes started to sting from tears again. She wanted to go back in time and murder every single person who had ever hurt him.

“You okay?” Will asked.

She nodded. “Just enjoying the view.”

Will didn’t stop to test the temperature. He slipped into the tub across from her. They almost didn’t fit. His knees were several inches above the rim of the tub. Sara shifted around so she could rest her head on his chest. Will wrapped his arms around her. They both looked out at the treetops. There was a mist hovering over the mountain range. She liked the idea of listening to the rain on the tin roof.

She said, “I have a confession.”

He pressed his lips to the top of her head.

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