Page 51 of Circle of Strangers
My thoughts are laced with indifference.
Once again, I refuse to let her take up residence in my head, not when I’ve got bigger fish to fry.
But for some insane reason, I program her number into my phone anyway.
39
Sozi’s planted next to me at my kitchen table the next morning, her hands wrapped around the mug of coffee I handed her a minute ago. The steam curls up between us, but it does nothing to thaw the cold knot sitting in my chest.
After several days of skipping our walk—and being left out of a handful of conversations—I reached out today to invite her over. I didn’t mention her inexplicable distance, nor did she bring it up. It’s as if we’re picking right back up where we left off. For now, I’m chalking it up to the fact that people get busy and her life doesn’t revolve around mine ... nor mine hers.
“So, what were you and Mara talking about the other day?” I ask, feigning casual amusement as I stir my latte. “Couldn’t help but notice the two of you giggling like schoolgirls and glancing toward my house. Care to share?”
Sozi’s brows lift, though I can’t tell if she’s surprised I noticed—or surprised I’m asking.
She tucks a silky dark wave behind one ear, then swallows. “You really want to know?”
I bite back my annoyance with a casual grin. “Why else would I be asking?”
“Okay. Um. We were talking about Will.”
I blink, slow. “What about him?”
She leans in, as if we’re coconspirators in some great secret. It’s a move I’ve seen her do with everyone at this point. She’s a bit of a whore for pot stirring and has her schtick down to a science.
“Between you and me, I’m worried Mara’s obsessed with him,” she says. “She told me you told her to stay away from your family. She thinks you’re overreacting, but if you ask me, she was the one making a big deal about it. It’s all she could talk about. And the fact that she’s talking to me about it of all people ... it clearly bothers her. And why else would it bother her?”
The air shifts. “She’s the one who faked her disappearance and yetI’moverreacting?”
“Right? Make it make sense.” Sozi gives me a sympathetic look. “She thinks Will is being more reasonable about the whole thing. Said he told her you’d calm down eventually.”
The coffee in my hand feels too hot, the ceramic burning against my skin. A red haze settles behind my eyes as the words echo in my head.
Calm down eventually.
It’s one thing to suspect Mara is still indulging in her little schoolgirl crush, but it’s another to hear that Will is downplaying my concerns—talking to her, reassuringherbehind my back on top of all the other things he’s been doing.
“You look upset,” Sozi says, her voice soft and tinged with worry. “I shouldn’t have told you.”
“No, I’m fine.” I sip my coffee as if it’s any other day. “Just surprised my husband would say that is all.”
Will was supposed to be on my side. We agreed Mara was trouble, that we’d keep our distance. And yet here he is, making me out to be the unstable one, the irrational wife who needs time to “calm down.”
His behavior lately reeks of Jacqueline, the way she schemed to tip me over the edge back in San Diego, to make it seem likeIwas the irrational one when all I was trying to do was protect my children from the monster who raised me.
Is Will planning the same thing?
They say apples never fall far from the tree ...
I nip the inside of my cheek, hard enough to taste blood.
“Honestly,” she says, “I think it’s good you’re keeping an eye on Mara, and I hope I’m not overstepping my boundaries with any of this. Something about her doesn’t sit right with me. Not since the party. And knowing her history ... I’d just hate for her to come between you and Will.”
If Mara wants him, she can have him—as soon as I’m finished.
40
“How much longer are we going to dance around this?” Will asks as he crawls into bed tonight.
