Page 30 of Unforgivable

“She looked shocked when I showed up on her doorstep, but Jack was there, all pleased with himself and his brilliant idea, and she immediately went with it. I wasn’t sure if it bothered her, that it was me, considering our history, but she never brought it up. I went to her house two hours a day while she stood by the window in her living room wearing a red and gold kimono, her face in three-quarter profile, her eyes looking directly at me. It took two weeks, and you know what? In the end, the portrait turned out beautiful. She loved it. I don’t know what happened, but it’s certainly one of my best works.”

“Where is it now?” Summer asks.

“It used to hang in the living room, but Jack took it down after she left. Threw it in the attic.”

“God, sounds gothic. Is it aging while she stays the same? Have you checked?”

I laugh.

“So why did she leave? Did she meet someone else?”

“Eventually. After she found out that Jack was having an affair.”

“Oh wow. How did she find out?”

“She found a cute loving note in his pocket, then lipstick on his shirt. She couldn’t handle it. Around that time, she got a commission to design the interior for Leon’s house on Mercer Island, and suddenly, they were gone, together, to Italy.”

“That’s so sad. I guess Jack didn’t want Charlie to go overseas with Bronwyn?”

“Bronwyn didn’t want to take Charlie.”

“Really? Why not?”

“Because she has a peanut where her heart should be.”

“Well, that explains it then,” she says wryly. “How old was Charlie?”

“Five, almost six. Jack called me, he needed help. He had to go to work. I took time off from whatever teaching I had and helped take care of Charlie. I found a good preschool for her. I asked Jack if I could move in for a while, so that at least she’d have me around. He was grateful. We spent a lot of time together as you can imagine. One thing led to another, as they say in the classics.”

She nods. “And you guys are happy?”

Happy?“Yes! Of course! We’re very happy. Deliriously happy. I couldn’t be happier.” I rub my hand on my face. “Maybe, I don’t know, not at the moment. Maybe notdeliriouslyhappy, right this second. Bronwyn is very demanding and Charlie is desperate to keep her happy, so I do my best, but Bronwyn uses that, in a way. She never shops for food, never prepares any meals, never cleans anything, not even to put a plate in the dishwasher. She knows I’ll do it.”

“Charming.” She points to the phone. “But seriously, if I’d hazard a guess, I’d say she’s treating you this way to make a point to Jack.”

“What point?”

She shrugs. “She’s making it clear she’s the real woman of the house. So, is it because she wants him? Or because she hates you? Either way, I don’t know how you do it, Laura. If that was my fiancé, I’d have killed her by now.”

“You always say exactly what you think?” I ask.

“Always. Filters are for losers.”

I smile, twirl my drink, clink the ice cubes against the glass. “I think…”

“What?”

“I think maybe she wants to come back for good,” I blurt.

“Come back for good?”

And immediately tears prickle at the back of my eyes. I haven’t voiced that possibility before, not out loud, not even to myself. And now it seems so obvious. Things didn’t work out with Leon. That’s why she’s back, she wants to test the waters, see if she’d like her old life again. And she’s right about one thing. If she told Jack she wanted to come back, he wouldn’t hesitate. I mean, I believe Jack loves me, yes, in a distracted kind of way. I think he loves the little family unit that we are. He likes the solidity of it, the sweetness of it. But what he had with Bronwyn was a whole other level. They were the golden couple. They led the most amazing life together. Would he sacrifice what we have for a chance to do it again with Bronwyn?

“Wow, where does that leave you, then?” Summer asks.

I try to laugh. I sound like I’m braying. I rub a hand over my forehead. “She can’t stay, she can’t get any ideas into her head. But you know, Bronwyn believes in Bronwyn more than anything. The only way she’d change her mind is if she thought Jack was having another affair! Like, right now! Today! She’d be out of there before he’d have time to say, ‘I have no idea whose panties these are.’”

She raises an eyebrow at me. “Interesting concept. You’re wishing Jack would have an affair while he’s with you, so that he wouldn’t have an affair with her. Very twisted. Kind of meta. I like it.”

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