24. Coming Clean
CHAPTER 24
COMING CLEAN
A s soon as Addison put her suitcase down inside her condo, she texted Lexi. Still in a slight Benadryl haze, she knew she had to reach out before she chickened out. Thankfully, her flights had been on time, so she was home by late afternoon.
Addison: Hey, Lex. I want to talk to you about something important. Can I come over after work?
Lexi: Are you okay? What’s wrong? Tell me now. I want to help.
Dammit. This was going to be harder than she thought. Lexi was probably imagining a hundred different scenarios.
Addison: I’m fine. Nothing is wrong. I just want to run something by you.
Yeah, sure, just getting your opinion. No biggie.
Lexi: Sure. I’ll be home after 5:30.
Addison sighed. Lexi was going to be mad, but at least things were over with Tim . That would probably soften the blow.
Addison took a deep breath to steady herself. Just as she began to feel the weight of her thoughts, her phone buzzed again, pulling her out of her pity party.
Laura: Addison. Holy crap. Are you okay?
Well, the word’s officially out on Tim’s end. She was relieved that she wouldn’t have to rehash the whole story for Laura, but it was a little knowing Tim had shared his side. That couldn’t have been flattering for Addison.
Addison: Honestly? No.
Laura: I figured. How can we fix this?
Talk about things coming full circle. Can I even fix it?
Addison: I don’t think I can. I lied and got caught.
Laura: This can’t be the end of your relationship. I’ve seen Amy’s relationship recover from worse. So has mine.
Addison doubted it. This was different—this was Tim. Jake and Amy’s boyfriend hadn’t known them for almost a decade. She’d managed to break both her romantic relationship and her friendship.
Laura: Let me think about it. I’ll cook up a plan. You focus on getting yourself together and back to normal life.
When Addison knocked on Lexi’s door an hour later, it felt like forever before anyone answered the door. Lexi’s neighborhood was slightly sketchy, so Addison was on edge, nerves already frayed. Getting mugged would really top off the day.
“Lexi?” she called, knocking again. There was a commotion inside and a muffled curse.
Lexi flung the front door open, breathless. “Hi, sorry. I tripped over my Amazon boxes. Come in but be careful.”
Addison stepped inside, greeted by Lexi’s cockatoo, Mr. Beans, squawking. It looks like a bomb went off in here. I hope she’s in a good place to hear what I’m about to tell her.
“Sorry about the mess,” Lexi said, clearing a space for them to sit. “Work’s been nuts, and I’ve been lazy about keeping things in order here.”
“Hot mess,” Mr. Beans confirmed before transitioning to whistling “The Mexican Hat Dance ” and stomping to the beat .
“It’s fine,” Addison replied absently.
“You don’t look great. No offense, of course. What’s going on? I thought you said nothing was wrong.”
This is it . Addison took a deep breath and perched on the armchair Lexi had freed up for her. “I have to tell you something, and I need you to let me get it all out.”
“Uh oh,” Lexi said, taking a seat on the floor in front of Addison.
“I’ve been dating Tim. It’s over now.” Not exactly the eloquence I was hoping for.
Lexi’s eyes widened, freezing in shock. “I’m sorry, what?”
Addison tried again, centering herself. “Let me back up. About a year ago, Tim and I reconnected.”
“Tim, like Tim Dobbs?”
“Yep.”
Lexi nodded slowly, waiting for Addison to go on.
“Anyway, we reconnected while trying to help Jake and his girlfriend get back together.”
“Again, what?” Lexi said, confused.
I’ve really left her in the dark.
“I’ll give you the brief version. Jake and his girlfriend, Laura, broke up. Tim asked me to help get them back together since Jake and I were already friendly from working on a case together. Long story short, I came up with a plan to make Laura pay for the breakup and push Jake to make a big gesture to reunite. They’re engaged now—because of me.” That was cocky. Not the point, keep going.
Lexi sat quietly. Her face was unreadable, which made Addison even more anxious about continuing.
“After that, Tim and I realized we missed the friendship we had when we all used to hang out. We started spending time together again—platonically at first. But when it started heading toward something more, we stepped back.”
Lexi raised a finger. “Wait. I’ll let you finish your story because, uh… wow. Yeah, it’s shocking that you’ve been with Tim this whole time, but I have a self-centered question to ask. Why is this the first time I’m hearing about this?”
“That’s not self-centered at all. In fact, you’ve been ever-present in our relationship because I was terrified to tell you that I was hanging out with your ex and then, even worse, catching feelings for him,” Addison said quietly.
“For real? You kept this a secret? That’s hurtful, Addie.”
“I couldn’t decide which would be less hurtful, a secret or telling you I’m in love with your ex.”
Lexi waved a hand. “Look, let’s not dwell on my hurt feelings. I’m glad you’re telling me now, but I hope you trust me more than to think this would come between us. There’s nothing that could—not Tim, not anything.”
“I know now. I’m sorry that I had so little faith in our friendship. I knew, deep down, that this wouldn’t drive us apart, but fear is a bad motivator. Everything became a huge mess. Then that mess got even bigger.”
Lexi raised her eyebrows in anticipation.
“Right, I’ll come back to my big, fat apology and how I can make things up to you. There’s a lot more.”
Lexi shifted, getting more comfortable. “Let’s hear it.”
“After Jake and Laura reunited, Tim and I drifted apart. But I couldn’t stop thinking about him.”
Lexi nodded. “I get that.”
“Months later, we started talking again. I’ll spare you the details, but it went from friends to dating—and it was going well.” Addison paused, waiting for a reaction, but Lexi just stared. The silence stretched long enough that Lexi prompted her.
“You said it ‘was’ going well. What happened? Did you murder him?”
Addison sniffed, tears already forming. “Might as well have. I’m the one who destroyed everything—my relationship with Tim and my friendship with you.”
Lexi stood up and pulled Addison into a hug. “Hey, what do you mean? You haven’t destroyed our friendship. I just told you that nothing could mess that up.”
Addison sniffled into Lexi’s shoulder. “The whole thing with Tim fell apart because I was too scared to tell you about him.”
Lexi crouched back down, taking Addison’s hands. “I really don’t get it. Why was I such a big factor? Why did it end because of me? I didn’t even know you were together. I don’t talk to the guy at all.”
“It ended because I didn’t tell you about us. Tim wanted me to be upfront from the start, but I kept putting it off because I was afraid I’d hurt you.”
Lexi gasped. “Hang on. Was ‘Tom’ actually Tim?”
“Guilty.” Addison hung her head in shame.
“Why did you hide this? Seriously, why? I’m your best friend. I want the world for you, and I especially want you to have love and happiness.”
“I don’t have a good answer.”
“You better find one. You lied to me for a year, and you assumed the worst about me. I’m not sure we can just move past either of those things.”
“I don’t know how to make it up to you. You’re right about everything.”
Lexi sighed deeply, a resigned expression appearing on her face. “Addie, the only way you can make this up to me is by being open and honest like I deserve you to be from now on. I don’t want superficial apologies or spa days. I want the real you, fully invested in our friendship.”
Addison’s tears started flowing uncontrollably. No more tough-girl persona. Just the real her having to confront the fact that she’d hurt one of the few people who saw her clearly.
“Hey, hey,” Lexi said soothingly. “You and I are fine. Let’s leave it at that. Why are you crying?”
“I almost ruined things over a guy.”
“Yeah, that was a weird call. Who cares if you’re into a guy I dated ages ago? At least we know he’s a good one.”
“Tim left me,” Addison wailed.
“What? Why?”
Addison told her everything—about Aspen and the breakup.
“Addie, honey, we’re going to fix this. If he was mad because you didn’t tell, that’s fixable. I know him. This will take some penance, but he’s going to get it. Really, he’ll understand. Do you want me to talk to him?”
Do I? It feels like a little middle school to have her talk to him.
“I don’t know, Lex. I think I need to fix this myself. If he’ll even talk to me.”
“Why wouldn’t he? We’re adults.”
“Maybe. But you didn’t see his face when he left Aspen,” Addison sighed.
“Let’s text him now. I’ll be your emotional support animal. Just put out a feeler and tell him I know everything, and I’m fine with it. I bet he just needs to see you’re taking action.” Lexi said encouragingly.
Addison pulled out her phone and typed slowly, unsure of what to say.
Addison: I’m so sorry for lying. You were right that Lexi deserved to know. I’ve told her everything, and she encouraged me to fix things with you. Are you willing to fix things? I love you.
She showed the message to Lexi. “That works,” Lexi confirmed. “It’s honest without overdoing it.”
Addison took a deep breath and hit send. They stared at the phone, waiting. The message was delivered, but no response came.
“That’s it. He’s done with me,” Addison said, her voice hollow.
“That’s a big assumption. He’s probably busy, and his phone is away somewhere.”
I doubt that.