8. He Admitted the Truth
He Admitted the Truth
Toby
Gwen hadn’t changed the locks.
Yet.
I breathed a sigh of relief when my key turned, and the front door clicked open. There was no point denying what I was doing. Plain and simple, I was escaping.
I didn’t want to face what was happening on my front lawn. Strangers squabbled over everything I owned. Gwen’s death glare begged me to challenge her in front of the angry horde. She itched to blow me apart with clever words. I only needed to give her an excuse to strike the match.
No, it was easier to run.
The stairs groaned under my feet as I bounded up two at a time.
I was busting for the toilet, but I shot straight past the bathroom.
Past the bedroom, too. My gaze locked on the door with baby jungle animals peeking out of swirls of green.
One of Gwen’s weekend projects. She’d bribed Marnie to help her paint the nursery like the ones she’d seen on social media.
“Like a proper mum,” she’d said.
The door was cracked open, and the room was dark, only a splinter of the afternoon sun peeking through the gap in the monkey-print curtains. I pushed the door wider and slipped inside.
“Look who’s finally decided to show his face.”
Snap .
The toucan light on the nightstand flicked on, and the dull yellow glow of its beak revealed my sister. Tanya sat in the rocking chair, still wearing green doctor’s scrubs, her legs crossed and her white Crocs bouncing as she glared at me over the top of her e-reader.
“It’s a three-hour drive from our nation’s capital to Sydney,” she said. “Explain to me how I still made it here before you.” Her gaze dipped in a sharp once-over. “On second thought, maybe don’t bother.”
I didn’t. Years ago, the Great Revenge Hair Bleach had taught me never to argue with my sister.
That war had started over who ate the last chocolate biscuit.
It had ended with my mother huffing and puffing about what a moron I was all the way to the barber to fix the mess Tanya had made of my hair.
I could’ve rocked those frosted tips, just sayin’.
I sidestepped Tanya’s glare and crept toward the crib. My fingers gripped the edge. I peered over. The chain wrapped tight around my heart finally loosened. I could breathe again.
Noah was safely snuggled up in a striped onesie, his butt in the air, and his thumb stuffed in his mouth.
Gwen fretted when he slept on his tummy.
Gently, I scooped him up and rolled him safely on his back.
He grumbled and stretched his tiny fists above his head, but after a smack of his lips, he settled back to sleep.
He couldn’t see me, but I couldn’t help smiling when I ran my palm over his patch of blond, fuzzy hair. I’d never felt so relieved to see my little guy.
Tanya scoffed from the rocking chair. “Maybe you should wash the skank off before you touch the untainted skin of my precious nephew.”
“Precious nephew?” It was my turn to scoff. “You hate kids. The last time you saw Noah, you refused to hold him because you said you were scared of catching a case of the pregnants.”
Tanya lifted a shoulder. “Can you blame me for lacking any maternal instinct? We were raised by a viper. They abandon their eggs, you know.”
If only … “Did Gwen seriously ask you to look after NoBo?”
“Unlike our dear mother, your wife is a level-headed woman. She weighed up her options, and out of me and the artist, at least I have medical training.” Smirking, Tanya lifted her eyes to meet mine. “Who else do you think should look after your son? Perhaps…your mistress?”
My fingers curled tighter around the crib, the wood digging into my palms. “I don’t have a mistress.”
“Tell that to your wife . Better yet, tell that to your mistress . You’ve seen that she’s tagged you in a bunch of photos, right?”
Kicking at the yellow tufts on the rug with the tip of my shoe, I shook my head.
“Oh, you’re missing out.” Tanya snorted.
“Gwen found posts online, too. She’s quite the amateur detective.
Did you know that you’re Kayleigh’s rock and the man who proved to her true love does exist?
” She mocked the ridiculous words by fluttering her eyelashes.
“Isn’t that precious? I can’t wait for you to introduce her to our mother. ” She cackled.
I dragged my palm down my face. “Stop.”
“Take a look at the posts.” Tanya’s eyes dropped back to her e-reader. “Your wife certainly did.”
Sighing, I took out my phone. My finger trembled as I forced myself to open my social media and swipe through the photos of Kayleigh’s housewarming party.
She’d been glued to my side for most of the night…
and it showed. We were together. Everywhere.
Her lips had been on me. My hands had been on her—even before what had happened in the kitchen.
The photos were proof, and if the messages blowing up my phone were any clue, people were filling in the blanks about what they thought had happened after the party was over.
“Gwen thinks…?” I gulped. “She thinks I…slept with…?”
“Indeed.” Tanya smirked at her screen. “At least Dad had the decency not to rub Mother’s face in all his pretty young things.”
My refusal to accept that comment was quick and forceful. “I’m nothing like he was!” The venom in my voice scared even me. “I didn’t sleep with Kayleigh! I would never fucking do that!”
Tanya lowered her e-reader, watching me as I gulped in air, trying to wrestle some control over myself.
Wild eyes darted to check on Noah. Not a peep.
The relief of seeing him still sleeping didn’t ease the tight grip around my chest. Shouting matches were how my parents had communicated. What the hell was happening to me?
Tanya sighed. “Our dear mother never should’ve stopped me chucking your ugly baby butt in the bin when you first came home from the hospital.
” Her hands landed on her knees, and she pushed off the rocking chair.
“I’m going to do you a one-time-only favor, little brother.
Go wash off the skank. I’ll sort something out. ”
Her head only reached my chin, but that didn’t stop her from shoving me out of the nursery. She stood stationed like a sentinel in the doorway, her sharp face grim, until I disappeared down the hall.
The second the bathroom door shut, my clothes flew off. I turned on the shower. The water gushed out in a boiling torrent of steam.
Good .
I let it scald my skin as I scrubbed every inch of myself with the scratchy pink mitt Gwen hung from the faucet. Kayleigh needed to be erased. But even after every trace of lipstick had been burned from my skin, the stain on my soul reminded me what I’d done.
I wrapped a towel snugly around my waist and wandered into the bedroom.
Footsteps pounded up the stairs.
“Tanya. Seriously.” My heart soared. Gwen . “All the baby stuff is kept in the nursery—” She stalled in the doorway. Her eyes pinned me first. Then Tanya. “It’s clear where your loyalty lies.”
“Yes. First, my nephew.” Tanya’s hand squeezed Gwen’s arm. “Then you. The drongo over there…” She jerked her head in my direction. “I can take him or leave him. But for the sake of the raisin in the other room, you two need to talk. So… talk .”
Tanya didn’t stick around.
When the door clicked shut, Gwen flinched. She didn’t want to be in the same room as me. She edged along the wall, eyed the door, and huffed a sigh…but didn’t leave.
That was something .
I didn’t want to spook her, so I stood glued to the carpet. My hand, firm on my hip, made sure the towel stayed cinched tight. This wasn’t a conversation to have half-naked. I already felt too exposed.
Gwen’s cheek turned. She refused to look at me anyway. “I planned on lighting the fire pit later, but there’s still clean underwear in your drawer.” Her glare turned to the window. “I can’t exactly sell that kind of stuff.”
Another sign of something . She hadn’t erased me completely yet. “Clothes?”
Gwen snorted. “All your clothes are downstairs. I can pick out an outfit for you. I’ll even give you a good deal.” Her chin jerked up. “One thousand dollars.”
“The clinic…the trust fund my dad left me… You manage the finances, Gwen. You know everything I have is yours.”
“By the time I’m through with you in court, it sure will be.”
Her words knocked the wind out of my lungs. She was already planning her day in court—the place she shined brightest. The final stop to end us forever. Just like that. My knees buckled. Over … My palm hit the comforter, and I lowered myself to balance on the edge of the bed.
I needed to fix what I’d done before it was too late. I was good at fixing things. That’s why I’d worked so hard to become a dentist. Find the problem. Fill it up. Cover it up. A little hole could be patched up as good as new.
“Gwen… I’m so sorry.”
She refused to look at me. Her chin lifted higher.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you and Noah.” Still no reaction. “I should’ve been here last night.”
The silence stretched between us like a broken rubber band, ready to snap at any second.
“That’s it?” Gwen spat out the words. “ That’s what you’re sorry for?”
I swallowed. “I’m sorry for…” Touching someone else. Kissing her. Destroying the trust between us. The words screamed in my mind, but my mouth was bone dry. Gwen would hate me. Hate me. “The photo…”
“I see. So, you’re sorry you got caught and not because you slept with her?”
“I never slept with Kay.”
“Lipstick was all over your neck. Would I have found it on your dick, too?”
“No! Of course not!” This was a mess. I was screwing everything up.
“I’ve never had sex with Kay. Never . I’m not one of the perps you used to cross-examine as a prosecutor.
I’m not spinning a story. There was no sex.
None. Of any kind. Ever. If she said so in one of the posts you’ve found, it’s a complete lie. ”
“You…never?” The sharp edge of Gwen’s eyes softened. “The photo… That was it? Other than that…” She fidgeted with the loops on her jeans. “You’ve never touched Kayleigh?”
The look she fixed on me was so painfully hopeful. She wanted me to make all our problems disappear with one swift denial, but I couldn’t lie to her.
“Gwen, I—”
I clamped my mouth shut. I wanted to tell her again that nothing had happened.
It was just a kiss, right? Not that bad.
But the memories of my palm on Kayleigh’s hip, my lips on hers, and my tongue in her mouth flashed like a horror show before my eyes.
I’d deluded myself. Gwen wouldn’t think that was nothing.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
She saw right through me. Her eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”
The guilt washed over me in a wave of nausea, and I dropped my gaze to the floor. I didn’t want to say the words out loud. The truth would tear her apart.
“Toby, I trusted you. The world outside this bedroom is laughing at me. The least you owe me is an explanation.”
I owed her so much more than that. Shame forced my gaze to stay on my hands. “I…kissed…her.”
“You kissed her?”
I flinched as Gwen hurled the accusation at me, but slowly, I forced myself to nod. “I kissed her.”
“Get the hell out of my house.”