Chapter 35
THIRTY-FIVE
Reese
The air tonight is freezing but I welcome the temperature. I’m cold but it’s keeping me here, keeping me present, as we make our way towards Camilla’s house.
Victoria and I walk in silence as I think about all the things she did because she was angry on my behalf.
Was it truly on my behalf or did she actually enjoy destroying someone’s life?
And did she do more than what she’s telling me?
Was the Facebook post and getting kicked out of her mother’s house enough to force Camilla to take her own life?
Victoria doesn’t seem sorry that Camilla supposedly took her own life. Her reaction to it is pretty matter-of-fact, distant, as though Camilla wasn’t even someone we knew.
It makes me feel like I don’t know Victoria very well, like there’s stuff she’s kept hidden from me, even after twenty years. And that makes me think that it’s possible there really is something going on between her and my husband.
Quicker than I would like, we are standing outside the house again. There are no lights on. Off to the side, almost hidden in the dark, is a FOR SALE sign. Moving closer to it, I see that they have not put pictures of the inside of the house on the board, just an aerial view and a land size.
‘Maybe no one’s here,’ I say, gesturing to the sign. ‘Maybe this was all just some kind of… joke.’
‘Maybe,’ agrees Victoria. ‘This could all have been one colossal ugly prank. But we have to figure out who’s behind this.’
‘We should just leave,’ I say, wanting to be far away from here because memories are rushing back. I haven’t been able to drink margaritas since that night. Even the sight of them makes me queasy. And I can’t help thinking, as I did for many months afterwards, my fault, my fault, all my fault.
‘We’re not leaving,’ says Victoria and she steps forward, opening the small timber gate connected to the fence that surrounds the house.
And now I have no choice but to follow her.