Chapter 16 #2
I zoom in on the tables to see if I can find Andy or Lila, but no luck.
I zoom in on the couple, but it’s impossible to see their faces as they are smooshed together.
I click back over to the original photo of Lila and Andy.
She’s wearing a black sweater, and her long dark hair is unbound.
Andy looks like he’s wearing a blue-toned plaid button-down underneath a denim jacket.
Clicking back on the wide-angle photo, I zoom back in on the couple. My heart skips a beat.
“Shayne, look at this photo. Do you think that kissing couple could be Andy and Lila?” I ask. He bends down and squints at the photo on my screen.
“It sure as hell looks like it. Fucking lying bastard.”
At this point, it’s not a surprise, but it’s still a gut-punch seeing them entwined around each other. How could he do this to Jo?
“This proves it. The ring. The journal. The photos. There’s no denying it,” I say, my heart pounding. Now I have everything I need to show Jo, and I’m dreading it more than anything. She’s going to be ripped apart.
I check the time. I have to open the store in fifteen minutes.
“This is what we know. Andy and Lila met at an invitational in Lovington in early July. They saw each other several times between then and the middle of August. They went out for a night on the town, did some karaoke—we have two photos to prove it. They go back to her place, and the next morning is when everything takes a turn. The ring is missing. Andy ghosts her. At some point soon after, she sees the wedding announcement in the paper, recognizes her ring, and realizes that Andy took it and gave it to his new wife. She’s incensed.
Doesn’t tell anyone where she’s going and drives up here to confront him—this is the hazy part obviously—but she never makes it home again.
I wish there was some way to figure out where Andy was. ”
Shayne is leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He’s so tall that his head is almost hitting the framed portrait of Nana.
“I think you summed it up right. That’s at least the bones of it,” he says with a sigh.
“But maybe I can pinpoint through my old texts when Andy was out of town. Kody was so little then that Jo would text me at all hours. In those early days, Andy’s mom would stay and help out when he had to leave for work—”
Shayne interrupts. “You’re going at this like you have to present Jo with an air-tight case. You have more than enough to go on if your goal is to show her that her husband is a fucking asshole.”
“It’s not about showing her Andy is an asshole,” I say, getting up from my seat and rounding the counter.
Panic is rising in my chest, so I set about cleaning up the mess John made before his escape to have something to do with my hands.
Shayne moves as if he’s going to come and help me, but I wave him off. I need a moment.
“When Jo’s dad died, I was so worried that she was going to crack and do something I can’t even put words to.
She never wanted this life. She was following her dreams in San Francisco.
Taking over the ranch broke her, and she was so strangled by her grief that she didn’t think she had a choice.
But then Andy happened. Again. They got pregnant, and it was like a switch flipped in her.
I’m so scared that if I tell her about all of this she won’t be able to handle it. ”
“Paige, she’s already dealing with it. These notes—the idea that Andy isn’t wholly who she thinks he is—is already there. It’s like someone is prepping her for what you’re about to tell her in a way.”
That is an interesting way to frame it. “You’re right.
I didn’t even consider that. So much for being Agatha Christie.
God this is so awful.” I feel like sobbing and am instantly ashamed.
I’m desperately worried about Jo, who is very much alive, while Shayne is in the midst of reliving the trauma of his sister’s death.
Shayne moves from behind the counter and takes me in his arms. I let myself lean into him for a brief moment. “I’m sorry, Shayne. This must be agonizing for you. Here I am wringing my hands over everything while you have to lose Lila again and again.”
“No, I appreciate you. You’ve made me look at this with clear eyes again. In less than 48 hours, we know more about what happened to Lila than I did in the past six years.”
“As much as I want to fast forward to tonight so it’s all out in the open and I can stop worrying so much about what might happen—I have to open the store now, so unless you want to stick around and re-shelve books or talk to people about the latest Colleen Hoover release— you should go. ” I push away from Shayne reluctantly.
“While that does sound like a fulfilling way to spend my day, I’m actually on my way to a vet in Meadow Green to pick up supplies.
Seeing you was a necessary first stop.” Shayne brings his hand to my face and tucks a strand of hair that’s escaped my top knot behind my ear. “You look really beautiful today.”
I cock an eyebrow at him. Is this really the same man who days ago said we should be keeping it casual?
“You’re giving me whiplash, Shayne. Aren’t we supposed to be doing casual? Calling me beautiful at my place of business definitely isn’t casual.”
“Were you not listening to me earlier? There’s nothing casual about the way I think about you, Banshee.” My heart skips a beat, but I refuse to be lulled into a sense of security with this man. There’s too much at stake for rash decisions.
“We’ve never even gone on a real date!” I protest.
“You want a date? I’ll take you on a date. Tomorrow’s your day off, right? How about I pick you up in the morning, and we can have our first real date.”
“If tonight’s conversation goes well, I might be persuaded to go on a date with you tomorrow. I’ll have to let you know after I talk to Jo.”
“I can live with that. I might have plenty of free time after your conversation anyways.” Shayne bends and plants a quick kiss on my lips before exiting.
I stand in the doorway for a moment and watch him walk away.
I bring my hand up to my lips. I have to concentrate really hard not to smile.
There’s a chance the universe will see me enjoying this moment a little too much and throw another curve ball my way.
As I watch him walk away, I hear Nana’s voice in my head again for the first time in days. “Paige, that man has you hook, line, and sinker.”
“Hush, Nana. I’ve got this,” I mutter under my breath, even though I suspect that I very much do not got this.
I flip the sign in the window from closed to open and steal myself for what I hope is an easy workday with no further emotional upheavals.
Please let the rest of today be the calm before tonight’s inevitable emotional maelstrom.