Chapter 16
Laurel was waiting on the pavement.
I learned that ten minutes after Bennett left, when the doorbell rang and one of the servers came to find me.
She stood beneath the streetlamp in the cream blouse she'd worn the night we met. A taxi idled at the curb. Bennett was nowhere in sight.
“I wasn't coming to the party,” she said. “I came to speak to him.”
“He just left.”
“I know. He wanted me to go with him.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
She folded her arms against the evening air. “He told me you invited us because you were ready to accept the situation. When I showed him your message, he said you were trying to turn me against him.”
“Were you?”
“I already ended it.”
“When?”
“After we met at the hotel. He said I betrayed him by telling you the truth. Tonight he wanted me to walk in beside him to prove we had nothing to hide.”
Music drifted from the garden.
“He never intended to leave you,” she said.
“I don't think he intended to leave either of us. He wanted us arranged around him.”
“I thought I was the person he chose.”
“So did I. For twenty years.”
She flinched. “I already ended it.”
That hurt her. I let it.
“I'm sorry,” she said. “I knew you were married, even if I believed what he told me. I wanted the version that made me innocent.”
“You weren't innocent.”
“No.”
She didn't ask for forgiveness. It was the first honest thing we'd shared that didn't require paperwork.
“What will you do?”
“Go home, change my number and learn why I believed a married man who said his wife approved of me but never introduced us.”
“That sounds useful.”
She gave a small, tired laugh.
The taxi driver tapped his horn. Laurel opened the rear door, then looked back at me.
“He'll come back,” she said. “He doesn't know how to be alone.”
“That's no longer my emergency.”
She got into the cab.
When I returned to the garden, Nate waited near the door.
“You disappeared,” he said.
“Laurel was outside.”
“Is she all right?”
“Eventually, perhaps.”
He searched my face. “Are you?”
“Ask me tomorrow.”
“Fair.”
He took my hand and checked my knuckles.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Making sure you didn't hit anyone while I wasn't looking.”
“Only emotionally.”
“Good. I promised restraint, not bail money.”
My arms felt heavy. My jaw ached. But when I looked toward the door Bennett had used, I didn't feel any urge to follow him and make the ending easier.
“I loved him,” I said.
Nate's fingers tightened around mine. “I know.”
“Part of me probably still does.”
“I know that too.”
“Doesn't it bother you?”
“Ask me tomorrow.”
I smiled. “Fair.”
The party hadn't collapsed. Evelyn laughed with a client, Nina's staff carried peaches through the crowd and no one needed me to rescue the evening.
I took Nate's hand. “Dance with me.”
“There isn't a dance floor.”
“I own an events company. Every floor is a dance floor if the insurance is adequate.”
We moved onto the terrace. The music was slow, chosen for dinner rather than dancing, but Nate put one hand at my waist and drew me close.
Over his shoulder, I saw Bennett across the street.
He stood beneath a tree, watching the lights in the garden. Laurel's taxi was gone. His suit jacket hung open, and both hands were empty.
For years, the sight of him outside would have sent me toward the door. I would have found his coat, called a car, repaired whatever discomfort had put that expression on his face.
This time I rested my cheek against Nate's shoulder.
When I looked again, Bennett was walking away.
The song ended. Nate didn't release me immediately.
“Do you need to go after him?” he asked.
“No.”
“Good.”
I leaned back. “You were going to behave even if I said yes.”
“I was going to complain quietly.”
“Very mature.”
“I'm growing.”
The next song was faster. Evelyn pulled Grant onto the terrace, and soon half the garden danced between tables. I kicked off my shoes. Nate danced with confidence and no rhythm, nearly backing into the quartet. I laughed until my face hurt.
For the rest of the night, the house felt like mine again.
Nina appeared beside us and pushed two plates into our hands.
“Eat the peaches,” she said. “You've caused enough drama for one course.”
They were perfect.