Page 108 of Married With Lies

In a weird twist, Baylor has been trying to get in touch with me for weeks. The only reason why I’ve answered him today is because whatever he has to say might have something to do with Sadie. During Vinny’s funeral service I texted him to say I was in town and available to meet this afternoon. Now here I am, on my way to a dump of a diner fifteen minutes away. Frankly, I’m surprised Baylor Wingate is willing to be seen with me in public.

When I arrive at the diner, Baylor is already sitting at a table by the window. He doesn’t see me right away so I have time to observe the way he’s crushing a napkin in his right hand and jiggling his leg. He’s nervous. Or else he needs to take a piss. He kind of looks like shit.

I clear my throat to announce my arrival.

He quits shaking his leg and throws me an anxious smile. “Looks like you got caught in the rain.”

“Nope, I ran through some sprinklers.”

He raises an eyebrow over my suit. “Did you just come from a funeral or something?”

“Yes.”

“Shit.” He blinks. “Who died?”

I shake out a cloth napkin and ask a passing waiter for coffee before answering Baylor’s question. “His name was Vinny Tello and you didn’t know him so let’s leave it alone.”

Baylor leans back in his chair. “Not the guy you called Uncle Vinny? You used to talk about him.”

I suppose I did. I’m just surprised that Baylor remembers. I would have thought such information would have gotten crowded out by political campaigns and crap.

The coffee arrives and I tell the waiter to leave the whole pitcher at the table. Baylor orders a pastrami on rye sandwich but the idea of food makes my stomach lurch. I gulp back a cup of caffeine in the hopes it will clear the haze from my brain.

“I guess you heard about everything,” Baylor says.

He’s playing with his fork now. His cheeks show patches of peach fuzz beard growth. His clothes look as if they’ve been worn for several days straight. There’s even a ketchup stain on his shirt.

On someone else these oversights might be meaningless. But Baylor has morphed into an uptight plucked and pressed kind of guy ever since he went corporate.

I set the coffee mug down and fill it to the top again. “What should I have heard?”

He glances around like he’s fearful of being recognized. “There were some videos leaked. They went internet viral. A threesome in my office after dark. The two women are on the Dukes staff. The campaign is finished. And my father suspended me from the office for three months. He says I can expect a hell of a demotion when I return. Asher Wingate has no problem with cheating and lying. To my father, the worst sin is getting caught and I got caught. That’s what he can’t forgive. You really didn’t hear about any of this?”

“Nope.” I’ve been too preoccupied to track any news of Baylor’s scandals. Another time I probably would have laughed over his downfall. I have no urge to laugh right now.

“And Talia left me,” Baylor says. At this point he’s practically sinking into the cheap vinyl seat. “The divorce papers have already been served.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that,” I tell him.

I still hold some grudges against Baylor Wingate. Yet there’s now joy in kicking a man when he’s down. Besides, he’s Sadie’s brother. If she was here, she’d show him compassion.

Baylor heaves a sigh and gazes at me with a troubled frown. I toss back more coffee and wait for him to sort out whatever is on his mind.

He drums his fingers on the table and finally speaks. “I’m the one who’s sorry, Cale. We didn’t just drift apart. I let bad opinions get in the way of our friendship. If it matters at all, I never found a better friend than you. And I don’t expect your forgiveness. I just wanted you to know that I’m aware it was all my fault.”

He’s being so earnest for once. I don’t know whether to believe what he’s saying but maybe for now I can give him the benefit of the doubt.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I say. “Nothing you can do about the past.”

His mouth stretches into a grim smile. “Yeah, I’ll just add it to my long string of failures.” The smile falls. “Recently I’ve had a lot of unwanted time to think and I keep coming to the same conclusion. What bothers me more than anything is how I’ve failed Sadie. When my little sister needed me, I was too much of a coward to stand up for her.”

“Yeah, you were. Luckily, Sadie is strong enough to stand on her own.”

“She hates me, doesn’t she?”

“Sadie doesn’t hate anyone.”

His pastrami arrives. He shows no interest in his plate. He stares out the window instead.

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