Page 21 of Uncovering Love: The Wedding

“Here.” I grab a tissue and dab her face. “You’re not alone. You’re never alone. Got that?”

“But I can’t do this without Drew.”

“And you won’t have to. Jon and I are on the case. We’ll get to the bottom of it all. I’m sure it’s simply a misunderstanding. Drew would never—”

“Don’t. Don’t feed me lies.”

“I’m not, Melissa. I swear. You know of the two of us, I’m the cynic. If I had proof he was cheating, I’d tell you.”

“There’s another thing.” She takes a deep breath, her belly rising with the expansion of her chest and then falling with the fear etched in the worry lines of her forehead. “I haven’t told you yet. It’s ... it’s just that I didn’t put two and two together until this week. I’ve been meaning to call you and Jon but ... I guess I’m still in denial.”

“What is it?”

“It’s Drew. He’s been making regular ATM withdrawals, every Tuesday for the past six weeks. For one hundred and sixty dollars. I didn’t notice it the first few times, but since ...”

“Oh, God.” Kate gasps.

“That’s not good, right?” Melissa sniffles back her snotty nose.

“I have no clue what’s going on, but I’m not drunk enough for this.” Carly stands and returns to the refreshments.

“Calm down, Melissa. It’s probably nothing. Just a coincidence.” I rub her arm but she only cries harder.

“We’ll give you a few minutes,” one of the nail techs says, then she and her friend head toward the back room.

Melissa shrugs off my touch and shakes her head. “No. Don’t feed me your bullshit. You do this for a living. If this were any other client—if it weren’t Drew you were looking into—what would be your first suspicion?”

Her eyes dare me to feed her a lie and I almost don’t want to answer. I glance over to Kate, but when my eyes come back to my sister I realize I have to be honest. “That he’s seeing someone.” I bite my lip.

“And the money?” Melissa raises her eyebrows.

“I’d guess they’re going to dinner and he doesn’t want a paper trail.”

She nods, and even though she’s probably come to the exact conclusion, she can’t help but ask one more question. “But since he doesn’t leave her apartment?”

“Oh, God.” Kate shakes her head, most likely discerning the same thing.

“I’m thinking it so you might as well say it,” Melissa murmurs.

I shake my head, because no, I can’t go there. Not when I don’t believe it. Not of Drew. “He would never do that. It doesn’t make sense!”

“He’s paying for sex, isn’t he? He’s probably into some sort of kinky dungeon crap and he has to pay a woman to get him off. She probably does all sorts of twisted shit! God, does he ask her to spank him? I would spank him if he wanted. Is that what he wants? Does he like it up the ass? I can get a strap on. Well, maybe not until after I have this baby because I’m not sure I could fuck him properly with my belly this big—”

“Stop! Stop! Stop! Melissa, we know nothing. Everything is speculation. Trust me when I say we have a good handle on this situation. Jon and I, this is what we do. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just—” The waterworks resume and I wrap my arms around her.

“I know. I know.”

“Hey! Enough! This is a happy day!” Kate claps her hands as if that will somehow fix this mess.

“That’s right. We should drink more.” Carly sets down the entire bottle of champagne and a big bowl of candy. “And chocolate for the beautiful whales.”

A bell chimes behind us with the opening of the front door and I turn to investigate. We aren’t expecting anyone else.

Two uniformed officers step inside. “Excuse me. We received a call there’s been a disturbance in the area.” The receptionist is nowhere to be found, and the nail techs are still taking a break.

“I’m sorry, I’ll go find someone who works here. There must be a mistake.” I stand.

---