Page 29 of Walking the Bird

“He did,” Kennedy began, her heart hammering in her chest as the truth was given life. “Said he failed you or some bullshit.”

Tilting her face to the ceiling, Eleni closed her eyes, allowing the tears she’d kept at bay most days to flow down her face. “I'm the one who failed in this relationship.”

“How?” Rayne challenged. “Cause from where I’m standing, the pair of you are to blame.”

Dropping her head, Eleni cast her gaze on Elli, the only wife who’d remained silent thus far. She’d found a special kindness in Ryan’s wife, less judgement and a strange understanding the others didn't possess. Taking a deep breath, Eleni kept her gaze on Elli as she confessed her inability to give Alex a child, the weight gain and his nearconstant absence.

“Eleni, while I’m certain I speak for everyone when I say how sorry I am you’re struggling with infertility, nothing you’ve mentioned proves Alex is cheating.” Kennedy knew all too well the struggle to have a child. She, like Eleni, chose to suffer in silence about her inability to conceive.

“I found a charge on his credit card to an upscale lingerie store. Alex knows I'm a white-cotton kind of girl. Besides, the last gift he gave me was a new printer for Christmas last year.”

“Was this charge—”

“Yes, I confirmed with the store. It was his signature, and he was in Chicago at the time of the purchase.” Eleni interrupted Kennedy, having played this conversation in her head a million times.

“I was going to ask if the charge to Le Miss was executed in February?”

“Yes,” Eleni admitted cautiously. “How did you know?”

“Because the panties were for me, a last-minute birthday gift from Logan. When my husband went to pay, his card was expired, Alex helped him out.”

“It’s true, Eleni.” Elli pleaded, unable to take the pain on her friends face any longer. “I heard Alex and Logan talking about it on the plane. Logan said something to the effect of not liking the thought of another man paying for something he’d ripped off his wife with his teeth.”

Kennedy smiled at the memory of walking out of their bathroom wearing the panties in question. She knew the second she saw the hunger in Logan's eyes something was getting destroyed.

“Alex mentioned something about you paying y’all’s bills and how he’d assumed you’d already noticed the charge. I tried putting myself in your shoes, so I checked the company credit cards for any unusual charges on Alex’s card.” Elli loved being a stay-at-home mom more than anything, however when the time came to put her twins in preschool for socialization, she’d found herself with a ton of time on her hands. Ryan had suggested she use her skills as a fact checker to organize the company’s calendar, which morphed into paying the bills and keeping records. “Everything matched up with the receipts from February.”

Wiping the tears from her face, Eleni felt a wave of assurance wash over her.

“Now that Alex’s innocence is proven, how about you tell us about the man Alex saw coming out of y’all’s house one morning?”

“What man?” Eleni demanded.

“Nah,” Rayne argued. “I’d rather hear why you flew down here nearly a week before your husband, haven’t bothered to check out of the penthouse and sleep beside your husband.”

“Or how about the rumors you’ve taken up with some dark-hair hottie here at the resort?”

Searching the accusatory faces of the women surrounding her, Eleni opened and closed her mouth several times as she collected her thoughts.

“First of all, the man who came to my house over a month ago is a friend of my father’s. He showed up looking for my dad, and since my parents were out of town and he’s like an uncle to me, I offered to let him stay in our spare bedroom. Secondly, the dark-haired hottie is the resort owner, Mr. Silvers. And yes, I’ve definitely welcomed his compliments, and enjoyed his company more than I should have, but none of you knows what it feels like to have your husband purposely avoid you. Alex stopped coming home months ago, stopped returning my calls, and let’s not even try to guess the last time he touched me. Alex may not be cheating, or perhaps he’s hiding it better than any of you think, but he left me.” Anger coated the latter, the words echoing off the walls and opening the floodgates of sorrow.

Rayne jumped to her feet, separating the distance and wrapped her arms tightly around Eleni’s shaking body. “Let it go, darlin’.” She could feel the pain radiating off her friend's body, see the hurt tearing this woman apart.

“I know exactly what it feels like to have the love of your life ignore you.” A single tear fell down Rayne’s face as she recalled the moment Matt walked out of her life, telling her he didn't love her anymore.

Eleni could feel the heaviness in the room, she’d purposely avoided airing her dirty laundry and ruining what was to be Jordan’s day. Lifting her head, “I'm so sorry, Jordan. I never…”

Jordan was beside Eleni before she could finish. This was not how she wanted the truth to come out, she needed a new plan. One to show Eleni she was still desirable and give Alex a taste of what he was in danger of losing. With Eleni’s emotions raw, she needed to loosen her up, reminding her of the strong woman who’d survived so much.

“Listen, I know I said I wanted to keep today low key, but I’ve changed my mind. I want to celebrate my last night as a single woman.”

Kennedy could see through Jordan’s sudden change of heart. In all honesty, she wished she’s come up with the idea first. “You’re absolutely right. This is a milestone in our group, the last girlfriend to become a wife.”

The last thing Eleni wanted to do was ruin this day any further for Jordan. She also had zero desire to do anything outside of diving back into her work and staying there until the wedding was over. She would, however, put her personal tragedy on the backburner and do whatever Jordan wanted.

“This is your day, Jordan. Whatever you want.”

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