32. Chapter 32
Chapter 32
Stephanie
I ’ve been in town for nearly a week before I hear from Maci. Aside from her original call to notify me of the incident at Mother’s, this is the first she’s reached out. Even considering my call to her about leaving, it’s still more than the entire last year.
She wants to “talk” and asked that we meet at the lake. She likely assumes I didn’t care enough to ask why we couldn’t just meet at Mother’s. I’m not dense. I didn’t ask where the incident happened with Alan’s son, but the backyard looked thoroughly trampled when I arrived.
The lake itself isn’t much to write home about. It has a minuscule public park and two boat docks. Thankfully, one has a secondary green space with a bench overlooking the water, where I wait patiently for Maci to arrive.
It’s not long before she drops down unceremoniously on the other end of the bench. “Hi.”
“Maci.” I don’t recognize the warmth that fills my voice. Her breath catches. I really have been terrible at showing any affection.
Her nostrils flare and she swallows before responding. “How are you?” The words are timid.
“It’s peaceful here.” I gesture softly with my chin toward the lake, letting my focus linger on its rippling waters. It reminds me of a story I read as a child about the ripple effect. There’s a name for it that eludes me as we sit, but it explores a fictional story about something random and seemingly isolated that occurs, and the ramifications of that tiny incident on a grand scale. Something has caused a ripple in our lives as well, and I believe the ramifications will be more than we could have imagined.
“Bull Creek?”
“The lake.” I take in her lovely face. Those piercing green eyes like her father’s that haunted me daily. She saw right through me. But I’m there, too. In the strong jawline and cupid’s bow of her upper lip paired with the thin lower lip. “Don’t you agree?”
Her eyes trail out to the water. The sun is low in the sky and the water sparkles with its reflection. “Yes. It’s quiet, serene.”
An unfamiliar, genuine smile takes over my face. Lake water doesn’t have the same cleansing scent as the salty ocean, but I inhale deeply anyway and shift on the rickety bench, twisting to face Maci better. “I’m glad you chose this place. What’s going on?”
“I’m glad you like it here.” Her face tightens as she steels herself to talk to me. “The funeral for Colt was last week.”
My lips purse.
“Did Alan mention it?”
“No. He arrived as you and I were getting off the phone when I called to tell you I was leaving. Overall, he acted normal. He was a little more tense the morning I left. I believe it was the day of the funeral. He hasn’t called since I’ve been gone.” I lift my chin.
“Did you tell him you were leaving?”
“No,” I scoff.
Her eyes narrow. “Does he know you’ve left?”
I swallow. “I don’t know how he wouldn’t. I’ve never left without warning before. I’m not sure what to make of the no contact.” I leave out the part about the cameras that I shut off.
“Why wouldn’t he call?” Maci studies me intently.
I redirect the conversation. “Did something happen?”
She crosses her arms tightly over her chest. “Yes, something happened.” Her tone is measured, but anger burns beneath the surface. She’s always been this way, almost dancing with the energy writhing inside. “There’s a lot we need to discuss, and for once I need you to be open and honest with me.”
Turning back to the water, I exhale heavily. She’s right, and I want to. I want to fix all that’s broken. I also know it’s going to be a long, hard road.
“I’m sorry that you looked at me every day and saw my father, but I didn’t do that to you. You did. I wish you could’ve loved me through it.” Her hurt words spill out. “I’m sorry that your second husband hated me through no fault of my own. Somehow, I learned to create boundaries, whether or not you two wanted that. I loved you despite my anger. I wish you’d just love me back.”
Her admission and coupled accusation stings. “I’ve always loved you, Maci.”
“Well, find a new way to show it. Because it doesn’t feel like it.” She wipes at her wet face. “Anyway, there’s a lot you need to know. I met Alan’s ex-wife, Melissa.”
Alan only spoke of Melissa a handful of times, while we were dating. She sounded like a troubled woman who needed professional help.
“I can only imagine what you think of her if all you know of her is through Alan’s anecdotes. But we need to look past that. Melissa said that Alan had another marriage.”
“Before her?” I ask for clarity, but based on recent events, I already know the answer.
Her head shakes. “No. While he was married to her. She claimed to have caught him.”
I hadn’t made a decision about when or how to much to tell Maci. Knowing these details, now may be better.
“She said the gambling was a lie. His money troubles had to do with the other wife.”
I straighten against the bench. “How would that work?”
“I’m not sure exactly. She said the wife was in another state.”
Kathryn is in Arizona, but the timeline doesn’t fit. “And this was a legal marriage?”
She shrugs, but it’s not dismissive. “I really don’t know. Did you ever have reason to believe there was someone else?”
I sigh heavily.
“You did,” she says, only half-surprised.
I shake my head and lift a hand to stop her spiraling. “I never thought about it. Not until recently.”
Maci’s head juts forward on her neck. “I’m sorry, what do you mean? Did you think he may be having an affair or not?”
There’s that dramatic flair. She really is exhausting sometimes.
Her head cocks in annoyance at me. She’s so young still. Untamed. I wonder if she’ll soften in time.
“I didn’t consider it,” I say, staring out into the water again, twenty years of emotions swirling inside. Once again, I question how in the hell I got here. “I didn’t pay attention.”
“You’re telling me you didn’t care to know if he was being faithful?” Her tone piques. “Why were you married to him?”
Cool tears drip onto my cheeks, but I ignore them. “I didn’t care. I didn’t love him; he didn’t love me. I couldn’t afford to marry for love again.”
She gapes, whether at my admission or my emotion, I’m not sure.
“James destroyed me. He was everything to me. The love of my life. When I found out that his past was dangerous, I ran. I didn’t think it through. In the moment, I thought I was making the right decision, the safe decision, but I wasn’t. It was a mistake.” My voice catches, and the dam I’ve held for so long threatens to break, but now isn’t the time.
“I never made the safe decisions. Mother would tell you I was the wild one of Randi and me. I know that seems impossible to you.”
She doesn’t respond.
“I couldn’t bear to tell Mother of the mistake I’d made. Running away to Vegas to marry the love of my life, only to find out he was connected to the mafia.” A sardonic laugh breaks free as I continue. “She and Randi could not understand why I wouldn’t talk through things with him. They adored him. His charm, his accent, his looks. Even if Mother thought I was rash in eloping—and she was fit to be tied when I told her—they were still so fond of him.” I close my eyes. “He never came for me, either.”
Maci stares at me wordlessly as she processes.
“I spent years trying to be the practiced, responsible person I thought Mother had always wanted me to be. To make up for my stupid decisions. When I met Alan, he offered stability. I didn’t need love. I’d had the one great love and ruined it. I wasn’t taking that chance again. Mother loathed him, though. She couldn’t see it. She wouldn’t let James go.”
Silence remains unbroken between us for several minutes. Maci’s eyes scan the ground, though glazed over.
“He did have an affair.” I turn back to her. “Maybe multiple. I don’t even know if affair is the right word, but Melissa told the truth. I don’t know what she means about the gambling, though.”
Maci leans forward. “Wait, he did—wha—” She flubs her words but doesn’t attempt to correct them.
“When he arrived after you called about Colt, I started putting things together that I’d noticed through the years. Things I didn’t care about enough to consider before, but painted a different story than the one he tells.”
Years of being under a figurative microscope make me hesitant to share more, but I know Maci won’t let this go without something solid. “I got into his phone.” Her eyes bug and her mouth hangs open. “I reached out to a woman he had recent contact with. She claims to be a wife. She was quite stunned to hear that I’m also his wife, but we agreed to speak again.”
“So what now?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
Maci closes her eyes. “He threatened to sue me.”
My head snaps in her direction. “What?”
“He blames me for Colt’s death. He never took any responsibility for anything, and apparently, he didn’t teach his son to either.” She gives me a pointed look. “I don’t think the investigation is going how Alan wanted. I can’t be sure just yet, but the detective doesn’t seem to be sending the case to the prosecutor.”
For someone who never spoke of his son, he’s acting very strangely. Though, I may know a reason he’s even more on edge. “And I didn’t contest the will.”
Maci nods with a smug look. “And you didn’t contest the will. Money-hungry bastard.”
She has a point. Winning a civil lawsuit would get him money, which is always at the forefront of his mind. As a partner, I felt it made him responsible. Now it’s clear there was far more to it than that.
“Could he actually win a lawsuit?” The words tumble out as I contemplate the situation.
She hesitates. “I think so. If the investigation concludes that I acted in self-defense, I think he could still argue that I acted neglectfully.”
Alan has lawyers in his pocket, and I don’t know what kind of money I have access to right now to help Maci. “Did you?”
“Are you—”
I press a hand up for her to pause her tirade. “I’m not attacking you, Maci Grace. I’m asking if he has a leg to stand on. Because if there’s anything, the smallest thing, he’ll be like a dog with a bone. He’ll bleed you dry.”
She’s angry but pushes it aside for frustration. “I don’t know. And there’s nothing to bleed. I don’t have anything to give him.”
“Except for your inheritance.” Not to mention, if she’s in cahoots with my sister over Mother’s house, Alan will come for it in no time. Fucking bastard.
Maci rubs her face with both hands. “The inheritance may be enough to retain a lawyer, but I don’t know that there’s as much as he may think.”
“What?” I sigh. For all her strengths, this may be the silliest thing I’ve heard. “You haven’t secured a lawyer yet? You need to. And not Mother’s handsome estate lawyer, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
She shakes her head through her disgusted tone. “I’ll figure it out.”
“I guess that means the lawyer’s not the boyfriend, then.”
She breathes a laugh. “No, he’s not the boyfriend.”