Page 22 of Twice in a Lifetime

She rocked back on her heel, my answer clearly not what she’d been expecting to hear.

The coffee machine sputtered before beeping, letting me know my coffee was finished, and I didn’t hesitate to pick it up and take a sip.

“I—um . . . I’m sorry.”

My smile was a tad more genuine thanks to the hit of caffeine. “I am too. It’s not much fun finding out your entire marriage was a lie.”

I waited anxiously to see if she’d take the bait. I couldn’t just dump everything on her, and I knew this wasn’t the time to push for her story, but maybe if she saw there was some common ground between us, she’d feel safe letting me in.

I let out the breath I’d been holding as soon as she asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Bingo.

Her eyes widened as soon as the last word passed her lips, like she worried she was being nosey or something. “You don’t have to, of course. It’s your business. I just thought?—”

“I found out shortly after my husband died that he’d been having an affair,” I said, letting her off the hook with the truth. “That was bad enough, but I couldn’t shake this feeling that I was missing something, so I went to a friend and asked him to do some digging. I found out yesterday that it hadn’t just been an affair. He had a whole other family I never knew about. They had two kids together.” I let out a bitter laugh, the pain from the day before having calcified into anger at some point. “It had been happening most of our marriage.”

Ten years, to be precise, starting around the time I’d gotten pregnant with Avett.

“Oh, Blythe.” She took a step closer to me, her brow furrowing as sadness filled her eyes. It was the first time she wasn’t trying to hide herself away, and I couldn’t help but notice how strikingly beautiful she was. “I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you. It goes to show that things aren’t always what they appear to be from the outside. I mean, we were married fifteen years. Together even longer. And he still turned out to be someone I don’t even recognize. I guess there’s no time limit on finding out the person you thought you knew best was something completely different.”

She cast her eyes down. “No. I suppose there’s not,” she said quietly.

Deciding that I’d said enough, and silently hoping the seed I planted would take root, I headed for the exit, stopping beside her and placing my hand on her forearm. “Thanks for listening. Talking about it helps. Makes it feel like I’m not so alone.” I gave her arm a gentle, comforting squeeze before I passed her on my way out. “I’ll see you out there.”

I caught Merritt’s gaze more than once as the day progressed, noticing she was studying me in a way she hadn’t before. A tiny niggling of hope bloomed that she might open up to me as well, and I might actually have a chance to help her.

Shortly before lunch the door opened, and I smiled my first real smile of the day as Sunny came waltzing in.

“Hey. This is a pleasant surprise.” I raised my brows playfully. “Wait. You don’t have an appointment scheduled, do you?”

She sucked in a dramatic gasp, her eyes scanning over the artful pictures of pregnant women hanging on the walls of the waiting room. “Don’t you dare put that devil on me.”

Where I’d actually enjoyed being pregnant, it had been different for Sunny. She’d developed preeclampsia with herdaughter, Brynne, that led to bed rest, and my best friend had never been one to lie around. Growing up, she’d always been busy. If there was something to get into, her name was written all over it. She’d been a cheerleader, not to mention student council president, and prom queen our senior year. She was always on the go, so bed rest had been her own personal form of torture. Poor Aaron had developed a nervous tic, having to put up with her. It had taken a few years and much bribing on her husband’s part to talk her around to one more child. Fortunately, things had been a little easier with Cooper.

She made the sign of the cross then began waving her hands in front of her like she was trying to ward off bad vibes or negative energy. “Now I’m gonna have to sage myself when I get home.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at my friend’s antics. It felt good to actually laugh after the day I had prior, and if there was anyone who could do that for me, it was Sunny. She could do a really good job of living up to her full name sometimes. She could be a ray of sunshine when she wanted to, but there was also a side of her she wouldn’t hesitate to throw down for the ones she loved.

“What brings you by?”

She bent at the waist and rested her elbows on the counter between us. She blinked three times in rapid succession “No reason. I had a free day and thought I’d come by to see if you want to grab lunch.”

I narrowed my eyes, knowing that blink was a precursor to a lie. “You just happened to have a free day, huh?” I asked suspiciously.

She let out an exasperated huff. “Okay, fine. I needed to see for myself that you’re okay.” The earlier humor disappeared, her eyes now swimming with concern. “Let me take you to lunch, B. We can hit Evergreen or Muffin Top. Your choice.” She lowered her voice. “Just let me make sure you’re okay. Please.”

I nodded, my chest swelling a bit. It was only fair I give her that, seeing as I would have done the same exact thing if the shoe were on the other foot. I wasn’t surprised that she knew. I trusted that Lincoln and Rhodes would remain professional and keep their word about not sharing, but this was a small town, and small towns—especially this one—fed on gossip. Things managed to slip through no matter how tightly you tried to keep the lid on. It felt good to be back where my support system was. Sunny had been there for me as best she could after Elliott died. She called regularly to check up on me and even flew to Indiana shortly after it happened, staying until after the funeral. Now, being in the same place meant the shoulders I had to lean on weren’t temporary or over the phone.

“Okay. And I choose Muffin Top. The only way I’m making it through this day is if I can get a cup of coffee the size of my head.”

By the timeI finished relaying to her everything Lincoln had told me, Sunny’s face was so red she could have stood at the intersection in the middle of downtown and acted as a stop sign. My best friend practically vibrated with rage as her fingers tore at the uneaten croissant on the plate in front of her, shredding it into teeny-tiny pieces.

“That motherfucker,” she hissed, mindful to keep her voice low, seeing as Muffin Top was a family establishment. “If he were alive I’d castrate the cheating fuckhead. No, you know what? I’m stopping by the library on the way home. Maybe they have some books on witchcraft or something that’ll teach us howto raise a person from the dead so I can cut his pecker off and kill him all over again.”

I snorted up a bit of my coffee at her colorful threat. “Jeez, Sun... don’t hold back or anything.”

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