Page 97 of Fresh Canvas
I laughed. “That’s a firm no. No one is getting murdered.”
“You’re no fun.” Her two heavy braids swung across her sports bra as she shook her head. “I just don’t get Val. Brandon, I understand, unfortunately. Playboy through and through with not an honest thought in that pretty head of his. See? Nowhe’sthe type to hit it and quit it.”
The class lowered into child’s pose, so I plopped down and attempted to fold myself in half. After a moment, I said, “Let me be clear, no one...uh…hitanything.”
“You’re telling me that after almost two years of not being with a guy, you and Val didn’t?—”
“No.” I was glad that my flaming face was hidden against my mat. “I’m amom, Kate. He hadn’t even met Anthony yet.”
“Oh.” Kate’s incredulity softened. “That makes sense. Sorry, I didn’t realize... I guess I’m much more…”
I turned my head toward her, pressing the side of my grin to the mat. “What?” I goaded. “You’re more…?”
She smiled, coughed a sheepish laugh, and said, “More...free spirited, I guess.”
I laughed. “No judgment. I’m all for supportingfree spiritedwomen.”
“Thanks?” She chuckled. “Anyways. Even I could see that Val was crazy about you. How do you flip a switch like that overnight? And why would Val hire someone so fast? And Brandon of all people? Like, comeon.”
Val had interviewed for months, refusing to hire everyone he met. I still didn’t know why—I had never thought to ask himabout it. Brandon himself said he’d interviewed weeks ago, but Val needed him to start the exact morning after he ended things with me?
Kate said, “Brandon let it slip that Val told him to tell everyone that they need to come to Brandon if they need anything. Not Val.”
“So it sounds like you and Brandon did find some time to catch up then?”
“I digress.”
I quietly absorbed the information. Val didn’t want to talk,clearly. But barricading himself behind someone else? The knife in my chest twisted. What on earth could I have done that warranted this distance between us?
“I think Val’s hiding something,” Kate announced.
“What do you mean?” Ignoring the rest of the participants, I plopped my rump down, snatched my water bottle, and shot copious amounts of cold water down my throat.
Kate sank onto her yoga mat and crossed her legs beneath her. “Come on, Amantha. No one ghosts someone without a good reason. Besides Brandon, that is.”
A sickening suspicion leeched into my thoughts. Could Val be hiding something? Ryan had had a change of heart too. A big one.
I immediately refuted the thought. Val took relationships seriously. He wouldn’t cheat.
However, I couldn’t shake the sensation that I had missed something—like a warning alarm resurfacing after I pressed snooze too many times.
Our whirlwind romance had ended almost as fast as it began. It wasn’t the first time I had crash-fallen for someone. After all, how quickly could a person truly know another? Had I really known Val? Whatcouldhe be hiding?
In an instant, I knew.
I fought it, willing myself to think of something else.Anythingelse. Flashes of memories assaulted me, jigsaw pieces of scattered kisses and conversations. I willed myself to stop.
He wouldn’t do that to me.
Val had stopped me from talking to the press.
That was for the safety of our jobs.
Told me to keep the forgery quiet.
He was protecting me.
Val’s keycard had fullaccess.
