Chapter 10 #2
Abby returned to packing. She found a restaurant receipt in Hudson’s coat pocket from an evening he claimed to be having dinner with his father, then a parking stub from the airport on a weekend Makayla had supposedly flown to Boston for work.
None of the discoveries changed what she knew. They merely expanded the number of days the affair had occupied while Abby moved beside it without seeing.
“We should stop looking,” Sadie said after Abby checked the pockets of a second jacket. “You came for your things, not more evidence.”
Abby let the fabric fall from her hands. “I keep thinking there will be one piece that makes it make sense.”
“You already know why Hudson did it.” Sadie took the jacket from her and returned it to the closet. “He wanted his cake and to eat it too, and he believed the rest of you would keep absorbing the cost.”
“Makayla wanted everything also” Abby looked down at the open drawer. “She just didn’t consider the cost.”
“Then she can explain her reasons when you decide you want to hear them.” Sadie closed the closet door. “Today you need socks.”
The blunt practicality drew a startled laugh from Abby. It lasted only a second, but the sound felt strange enough that both sisters looked at each other.
“I forgot socks,” Abby said as tears gathered behind the laughter. “I packed six pairs of shoes and no socks.”
Sadie pulled her into a brief embrace. “This is why you brought professional help.”
They returned to the drawers together. Sadie found the socks while Abby collected identification documents from the small safe in Hudson’s office.
The office had always been treated as his private space, although Abby dusted the shelves and knew the combination because she stored her passport there. Hudson’s desk held framed photographs of his parents, a college award, and a picture of Abby taken during their first trip abroad.
Her phone vibrated while she removed her birth certificate from the safe. Evan had responded to the photograph.
She told me she bought the bracelet herself after receiving a bonus. I offered to reimburse her because I missed her birthday dinner, but she said refused and then held it against me.
Abby sat in Hudson’s desk chair. Makayla had built an entire moral lesson around a gift from the man she was betraying Evan with.
I’m sorry I believed her, Abby wrote. Did she collect her things? Abby asked before deciding whether the question crossed a boundary.
She came to the house with Hudson. I left before they arrived.
The image stopped Abby’s breath. Hudson and Makayla had gone together to the home Evan had shared with her, less than twelve hours after insisting the situation was complicated and nothing looked as it seemed.
Are you all right? She wrote. The typing indicator appeared, disappeared, and returned before his answer arrived: No. I’m at work.
Abby understood the answer. Work offered Evan a place where every problem had a definable cause, even when he could not solve it.
I found a hotel pen and some receipts too, she told him. I’m going to stop looking now.
Good. I should have stopped sooner last night.
Abby considered reminding him that finding the messages had saved her from marrying Hudson. The gratitude existed beside the pain, and she could not yet separate them enough to put either into words.
Call me if you need to leave the office, she wrote instead. Sadie has a guest room, and she meant the invitation.
Evan responded with a simple thank-you. Abby returned the phone to her pocket and carried the documents into the living room.
They had filled five boxes when the front door opened. The sound of the lock stopped both sisters in the living room.
Hudson stepped inside with his phone pressed to his ear. He stopped when he saw the boxes, and the professional calm in his voice disappeared before he ended the call.
“What are you doing?” he asked as he closed the door behind him.
Sadie straightened beside the coffee table. “She’s collecting her belongings.”
“I wasn’t speaking to you.” Hudson looked at Abby. “You said you would arrange a time.”
“You told me you would be at work until six.” Abby hated the defensive shape of the answer as soon as she heard it. “I’m still on the lease.”
“So you decided to come in while I was gone and search through my things?” His gaze moved to the hotel pen and receipts Abby had placed beside her purse. “Unbelievable.”
“They were in our bedroom.” Abby kept her voice steady. “Not well hidden, mind you. If only I’d known what to look for before last night.”
“You were digging through drawers.” Hudson dropped his keys onto the entry table. “This is exactly the kind of vindictive behavior I warned you about.”
Sadie picked up her phone. “Would you like me to call someone who can explain tenant rights?”
Hudson ignored her and approached Abby. He had removed the bandage from his lip, leaving the split visible whenever he spoke.
“You don’t need to take any of this,” he said as his expression shifted toward concern. “Your clothes belong here. You belong here.”
“I ended the engagement this morning.” Abby placed the documents into an open box. “I’m taking enough to stay with Sadie until I find an apartment.”
“You have an apartment.” Hudson gestured around the room. “You can sleep in the guest room if you needed space.”