Page 60 of In Plain Sight

My heart dropped to my stomach. I knew the dish she was talking about. It was a clay ashtray I’d made at school when I was in the first grade. The thing was clunky and ugly, but she loved it and used to put her wedding rings in it when she took them off.

That dish had sat empty since our dad passed away eight years ago.

“What?” I scraped out.

“A diamond ring.” Jade chewed on her lip and twisted a hank of hair around her finger. “It has to be from Eddie, right?”

“Probably,” I said, still in shock. “I can’t see her buying herself a diamond ring. I mean, it’s possible, but that doesn’t sound like her. Have you seen her wear it?”

She shook her head.

I blew out a breath and tried to sort out the mess of emotions roiling through me.

“Do you think she’s afraid to tell us?”

I nodded. “Yeah. She’s probably trying to protect us.”

“I don’t know how I feel about this.” Jade shot me a helpless look.

“Me either,” I said. “I want to say it’s too soon, but I think she might have lied about when they got together.”

“What do you mean?”

I grabbed my empty beer bottle off the table and picked at the label, needing to keep my hands occupied. This had been bothering me for a while, but I never said anything to my sister because I didn’t want to stress her out with my theory, especially if it turned out I was wrong. Now seemed like a good time to tell her. “She said they started dating six months ago, but they met two years ago, right?”

Jade nodded.

“I think that’s when they actually started dating.” I scraped my nail against the paper label absently. “I don’t have any proof or anything, but I remember how she talked about him when they were becoming friends. How hard he tried to win us over back then, and how he was always around. I think they were dating, but she didn’t want to tell us until things got serious.”

Jade nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah. I always thought that was weird too. I guess they’re definitely serious if they’re engaged.” She pursed her lips. “I’m so conflicted. I want to be happy for her, but it feels like a betrayal, you know.”

I nodded.

“Like, I get why she’d lie to us if it’s true, but it still hurts. And Eddie’s great, but he’s not…”

She didn’t have to finish her sentence because I knew exactly what she meant.

Our dad had been gone for eight years, and he would have wanted Mom to move on and find someone who made her happy. But knowing that and accepting it were two different things.

Eddie was a good man. He adored our mother, and he treated her like a queen. I liked him, and it was nice to see Mom so happy after everything she’d been through, but I was having trouble wrapping my head around her being married to anyone but our dad.

Jade pulled her knees up and hugged them against her chest. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to pretend like I didn’t see what I saw. I can’t just ask her about it, but waiting for her to say something is going to drive me nuts.” She shot me a hopeful look. “Maybe you can talk to Eddie.”

“What?”

“You know, have a man-to-man chat where you ask him what his intentions are with Mom and get him to tell you. Or maybe it’ll make him ask for your permission or whatever.”

“Yeah, because that’ll go over so well when she hears about it,” I pointed out. “That kind of stuff doesn’t fly with her. And she’d know something was up because in what universe would I ever grill her boyfriend about his intentions with her.”

“True.” She chewed on her lip. “Thank god they’re going to visit his kids for the weekend. I need a few days to process everything before I see her again.”

“Did they already leave?” It was after ten, but Eddie’s kids lived in Seattle, so it was possible they hadn’t left yet.

She nodded. “Just before I came over.”

“Are you going out?” I finally had the mental wherewithal to take in her outfit and her perfectly done hair and makeup.

“Yeah. I’m meeting the girls at Prism soon.” She huffed out a laugh. “Thank fuck because I need a distraction after that.” Sheeyed my sweatpants and ratty tee. “What are you up to tonight? Meeting Dean and the guys?”

---