Page 64 of The Restaurant on Plum Island
“Shaun didn’t like to talk about his family,” Carly told him and glanced at Alex. “He did dote on his older sister, who he called Anni, by the way,” she clarified. “But he told me she’d died before we met and that his younger sister ran away from home at sixteen or eighteen.”
“Interesting,” Alex said. “Do you know who Shaun’s mother was?”
“He didn’t speak about her much,” Carly said. “All I know is that Shaun hated drugs as his mother was an addict who overdosed.”
“Huh!” Alex said, and something in his eyes caught Carly’s attention.
Before she could comment, Ethan got a phone call. “It’s my father.” He looked at her apologetically. “Sorry, I have to take this.”
“Sure,” Carly said with a smile.
They had a lot to discuss, and while she’d had her doubts, Carly realized that Ethan had been just as much in the dark about Beth’s family as she had been about Shaun. She was about to ask Alex more questions when his phone rang too.
“It’s the police.” Alex turned and walked off with another word, leaving Carly and Jennifer gaping after him and how rude he’d been.
“I know this is going to sound a little biased,” Harriet said, intent on defending her lifelong friends. “But Alex isn’t as horrible as he seems.” Her eyes narrowed as they watched him walk out the front doors of the hotel. “Or at least he never used to be.”
“Why don’t we get you home,” Jennifer suggested to Carly. “Open a bottle of wine, order some pizza, and talk about what just happened here.”
“Good idea,” Harriet agreed, and they looked at Carly for confirmation.
“Sure,” Carly said, nodding. She needed to clear her head and make sense of what was going on. She glanced toward where Ethan had disappeared. “That sounds good.”
An hour later, Jennifer, Harriet, and Carly were seated in Carly’s living room. Their faces were etched with concern, and shadows danced across their expressions from the lamplights that lit the room with a soft glow. The night air carried a chill as it gently teased the curtains that hung over the open windows.
Carly’s voice was low as she recounted the turmoil of three years ago, her gaze distant as the memories played through her mind.
“I should’ve known it wasn’t Ethan,” Carly murmured, unraveling the tangled web of deception that led to her public fall from grace. “I was barely home when the story of me being fired from the show hit the media, which only twisted the knife deeper, spinning tales of alleged affairs that I’d never had.” Her hands trembled slightly, a physical manifestation of the emotional storm raging within.
As she spoke of Shaun’s betrayal, a bitter laugh escaped her. “And who can forget the best performance my ex-husband has ever given—the heartbroken husband. That was a performance worthy of an award.”
“I’m watching that now,” Jennifer admitted. “He even shed a few tears.”
“Jennifer!” Harriet admonished. “That’s not very sensitive of you to watch that trash while Carly’s pouring her heart out to…” Hereyes widened when Jennifer showed her the video. “Oh! Wow. What a freakin’ snake.”
Carly’s voice was laced with irony as she told them, “Shaun claimed to be shattered by my alleged affairs with Ethan and then Parker, all while he was the one who strayed throughout our marriage.” She shook her head. “Do you know why I didn’t go forward to discredit that performance of his?”
“No!” Jennifer and Harriet said, watching her intently, and Carly could see they were genuinely interested.
“Shaun basically bribed me into not going forward with the truth.” Carly pursed her lips and nodded. “Paige was all set with a strategy that would’ve knocked him and the Blackwells off their pedestal.”
“Paige was going after the Blackwells as well?” Harriet asked in alarm.
“I was under the assumption that Ethan had started all the rumors about me,” Carly told Harriet, who nodded in understanding. “Paige is not scared of anyone.”
“No, she is not!” Jennifer agreed, admiration flashing in her eyes. “I’ve recommended Caroline to her.”
“That’s good,” Carly said, nodding. “You can’t ask for a better entertainment attorney or PR firm than hers.”
“It’s so clever that Paige combined her legal practice with a PR firm,” Jennifer said. “If you think about it, they’re both fixers.”
Harriet and Carly nodded in agreement before Harriet turned to Carly, “Why didn’t you retaliate?”
“I got a visit from Alex, threatening me,” Carly said, seeing Harriet’s shocked surprise. “He’d managed to find out a secret about one of my family members.”
“Alex?” Harriet’s brows creased. “What a douche he can be, not to mention a stupid idiot.”
“Then there was Shaun, who was threatening to have the divorce and the custody of Reef tied up in a long court battle. But if I went along with his ploy, he’d give me full custody of Reef,” Carly told them. “That’s when Paige wrote in the clause that if Shaun was ever in the same town or within ten feet of me without prior warning, the contract would be broken.”
