Page 121 of Indiscretion

Remy brought over a dish full of nuts and a tall glass of something. “Water,” he said. “Drink it. And you should put something in your stomach too.”

“You ever fall in love?” I slurred.

“Every other Friday night when I don’t have my kid for the weekend. I go on Tinder and fall head over heels, then get over it by morning and see myself out.”

I snort-laughed. “That’s the way I was. I fucked up, thinking things could be different.”

“What happened? You met some girl-next-door type who promised you a home-cooked meal and love and then banged the pool guy when you went to work?”

“No, I’m the one who fucked up.”

“Can you make it right?”

I caught the bartender’s eyes, though he had four of them at the moment. “The person I almost killed? She was my girlfriend’s sister.”

He whistled. “I’m not sure there’s a Hallmark apology card or a big enough bouquet for that.”

I sucked back the remnants of my vodka soda like it was the water sitting next to it. It no longer burned, at least. Then I pushed my empty glass toward my new friend. “I’ll take another.”

“You sure? It’s always the last one that makes us do something stupid.”

“Stupid is what I’m good at.”

***

I lifted my head, and it felt like part of my face stayed stuck to the dirt beneath it.Wait…dirt?I blinked the rest of the way to consciousness and looked around at my surroundings.Where the hell am I? In a kid’s playhouse?Pushing upright, I squinted at the offensive sun blaring in through a small open door and raised a hand to try to block it. That’s when it hit me. I wasn’t in a kid’s playhouse. I was in adoghouse. And from the look of the brick home twenty feet away, it wasn’t just any dog’s house. I was in Bailey’s yard.

Oh fuck.

What the hell am I doing here?

And how the hell did I even get to Greenwich, Connecticut?

I struggled, thinking back to last night. It was hazy, but I remembered going to some bar. The bartender was Ren or Rowan or…Remy. It was definitely Remy. And fuck, my head was pounding right now. It hurt so much that I lifted a hand to feel around and make sure it wasn’t cracked. But there was no wetness, no blood.

What the hell happened?

I remembered the bartender taking my phone and helping me call an Uber. And I thought maybe he and some guy who’d been watching a horse race might’ve helped me into it. After that, though, I drew a giant blank. And I was pretty sure if I tried to think any harder, I was going to puke.No, no. I’m definitely going to puke anyway.

I crawled to the entrance of the doghouse and made it in the nick of time. Fluids burned my esophagus as I emptied the contents of my stomach all over Bailey’s mother’s grass.Ifit was even her house anymore. I hadn’t been here in years.

I was still dry heaving when I heard a door open and close. A few seconds later, a woman’s shoes walked into my field of vision. I shut my eyes.Fuck.I’m going to wind up getting arrested. Worse, I had no choice but to lift my throbbing head and look up.

Miriam Anderson stared down at me. She didn’t seem too surprised to see me, or at least it didn’t seem to faze her that someone was vomiting on her property. I wasn’t even sure she’d recognize me after all this time.

“Good morning, Dawson.”

I managed to crawl the rest of the way out of the doghouse and climb upright, using the roof to balance. “Hi, Mrs. A.”

“I think you’re old enough to call me Miriam now.” She smiled sadly. “I was beginning to wonder if I should call the paramedics. Are you okay?”

I started to nod, but stopped because it hurt my brain too much. “Sorry about your grass.”

“It’ll wash away. Would you like to come in?”

I hadn’t seen this woman in over a decade, and I’d just broken into her yard, passed out in her doghouse, and puked all over her grass, and yet here she was inviting me in. People didn’t change. “Could I trouble you for some Motrin?” I ran my tongue along the inside of my mouth, trying to find some moisture so I could speak better, but it was like the Sahara in there. “And maybe some water, too?”

She smiled and waved for me to follow her. In the kitchen, she went to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of pills, then held a glass against the refrigerator door and filled it with filtered water.

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