Page 96 of The Last Mrs. Parrish

“There’s no one there that seems to be hanging around him more than usual?”

She shook her head. “Not that I can think of. I’ll keep an eye on him for you, though, and let you know if I think there’s anything you have to worry about.”

I knew she’d keep an eye on him—and maybe more than that. “Thanks, Amber. I feel so much better knowing you’re there looking out for me.”

She put her hand on mine and gave me a steady look. “I would do anything for you. We have to stick together. Soul sisters, right?”

I squeezed her hand back and smiled. “Right.”

Sixty-One

It was easy to arrange. He had been looking forward to seeingHamlet, and I knew he wouldn’t want to waste the valuable second ticket. Bella wasn’t really sick, but I purposely bowed out of the show, hoping he’d invite Amber. He was furious that I’d missed it. My phone rang that night at midnight.

“Don’t you ever do that again; you hear me?”

“Jackson, what’s wrong?”

“I wanted you with me tonight. I had plans for you after the play.”

“Bella needed me.”

“Ineeded you. The next time you break plans with me, there’ll be serious consequences. You got it?”

Apparently Amber had no idea about his bad mood. She called me the next morning with just the right things to say.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Daph, it’s me.”

“Hey. How was the play?”

Rustling papers on her end. “Amazing. My first Broadway play. I was in awe the whole time.”

Her Pollyanna act was getting old.

“I’m glad. So what’s up?”

“Oh, well, I just wanted to let you know that by the time we got out, it was late, and so we stayed at the apartment.”

“Oh?” I made my voice sound appropriately on guard.

“Jackson insisted that it was silly for me to go all the way home when I had to be back so early in the morning. I took the sheets off the guest room bed and put them in the laundry room so the housekeeper would know they needed to be changed.”

Clever of her. She couldn’t come out and state that she’d stayed in the guest room, or she’d be implying that there was a chance she’d slept with my husband, but she was letting me know that nothing had happened.

“That was thoughtful. Thanks.”

“And I borrowed your red Armani suit, the one with the gold buttons. I hope you don’t mind. I obviously hadn’t brought a change of clothes.”

I tried to figure out how I would feel if I still thought she was my friend. Would I have minded?

“Of course not. I bet it looks great on you. You should keep it.” Let her see that it meant nothing to me, that Jackson’s wife had so much, I could afford to give her my castoffs as if they were no more significant than a pair of gloves. A sharp intake of breath came over the line.

“I couldn’t. It’s a two-thousand-dollar suit.”

Did I detect just the slightest bit of reproach in her voice? I forced a laugh. “Did you google it?”

A long moment of silence. “Um, no. Daphne, are you angry? I think I’ve upset you. I knew I shouldn’t have gone. I just—”

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