Chapter 36
iris
Jesse folded like a cheap suit.
Her ethically challenged husband, so smooth and willing to blur the lines when it came to business, was completely incapable of lying to his wife.
She supposed she should be grateful.
He spilled his guts the moment she pressed him, telling her exactly what he and Colt had been up to this summer, from soup to nuts. He was a lousy conspirator. If he was ever arrested, he’d sell his grandmother for a cup of canteen coffee, never mind immunity and a plea bargain.
But it explained why Jesse had been so miserable and out of sorts over the past few weeks – not to mention why he was suddenly so keen to get rid of the WaveRunners.
It was one thing giving Colt a pass on anything to do with his brewery – breaches of code, zoning – but this conspiracy took things to a whole new level.
It wasn’t just illegal: it was dangerous.
People could get hurt.
Iris believed her husband when he said he’d never expected things to escalate the way they had recently, but he must have known he was signing a deal with the devil when he traded favours for his seat in the mayor’s office.
Mac, on the other hand, was a deeply ethical man.
She doubted he’d ever jumped a stop sign, never mind signed off on a fraudulent inspection or waved through a buddy’s planning application.
There was no way Mac would be helping Colt with what he planned to do tonight, unless he had no choice.
Loyalty to his father meant a lot to him, but Iris knew his integrity meant more.
Whereas Colt had zero shame. He must have some kind of leverage on his son to force Mac to help fix the mess he and Jesse had made.
And then suddenly the penny dropped.
There was only one secret Mac wouldn’t want getting out; wouldn’t want Amy ever to discover.
That kiss on the Ring camera.
Somehow, Colt knew about the affair.
Sick bastard. What kind of father blackmailed his own son?
‘Honey, I swear, I’m done with Colt,’ Jesse said. ‘He’s a fucking asshole. I don’t give a shit if he pulls his endorsement and refuses to back me at the next election. I promise, Iris. I’ve learned my lesson. Just let me sort this mess out tonight, and I’ll never do anything like this again.’
She doubted that, but she was too exhausted to argue.
They went to bed, though sleep eluded her. Iris tossed and turned as Jesse snored beside her in a whisky-soaked coma.
Her first instinct had been to tell Amy what Colt had gotten Mac involved in. They were sisters; they didn’t keep secrets this big from each other. Amy had a right to know.
But then she’d paused and reconsidered.
Amy would blame Jesse just as much as Colt for dragging Mac into this mess.
And with good reason: Colt wouldn’t have been able to get away with what he was doing, and certainly not for as long as he had, if Jesse hadn’t protected him.
But as angry as Iris was with Jesse, she was also proprietorially protective of him.
He was her husband; if anyone was going to rage at him, she’d do it.
But that didn’t mean she was happy about keeping quiet. If Jesse and Mac hadn’t been involved, she’d have had no hesitation reporting Colt. What he was doing was criminal.
Except this was Stowebury. Even if she’d gone to Billy Stephens and filed a complaint with the police, it wouldn’t have made a difference.
Everyone owed Colt Smith.
She got up just as dawn was breaking, and went down to her art studio, an octagonal four-season summerhouse Jesse had built for her on the lake’s edge.
It was smaller than the studio she used at the school, but the light spilling through floor-to-ceiling windows in every direction made it perfect.
It was her safe space, her own private world; Jesse never bothered her here.
Painting was her therapy. She was able to switch off the noise in her head, to lose herself in the brushstrokes. It brought her clarity and peace.
She jumped when Finn knocked gently on the door.
‘OK to come in?’ he mouthed.
Iris glanced at her watch and nodded. It was almost eleven; she’d been painting for nearly five hours.
She put down her brush and wiped her hands on her canvas apron as Finn opened the screen door.
‘Sorry to interrupt,’ he said. ‘Just wanted to show you the corsage I got for Rose.’
‘Oh, Finn,’ she said, her heart swelling. ‘I’m sure she didn’t expect you to do that.’
He gave her a bashful smile. ‘It’s not prom without a corsage.’
He opened the small cardboard box he was carrying. Inside nestled a delicate spray of pink rosebuds and white baby’s breath attached to a pink satin bracelet.
‘I thought a wrist corsage would work best,’ he said. ‘You said the straps on her dress were kinda thin, and it’s chiffon so I wasn’t sure you could, like, pin a proper corsage to it.’
Iris studied the flowers for a fraction longer than they merited, so Finn wouldn’t be embarrassed by the tears pricking her eyes.
‘Think she’ll like it?’ he asked.
‘She’ll love it,’ Iris said, swallowing the lump of pride in her throat and handing the box back to him. ‘You might want to put it in the fridge, so the flowers will last. Rose is getting ready at Maggie’s tonight, so you can give it to her when you and Nicky pick the girls up.’
‘Did you collect my tux?’
‘It’s hanging in your room.’
‘Thanks, Mom.’
Iris smiled. ‘Don’t leave the house without telling me. I want a photo of you out by the lake before you go.’
‘Mom, you’ll be able to take a thousand photos of me on the boat.’
‘I’d like one of you before you go,’ Iris said. ‘Just you.’
Finn rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. ‘Fine. I’ll come and find you before we leave. Maggie’s mom said she’d do dinner first so it’ll be maybe five?’
‘There’ll be food on the boat,’ Iris said.
‘Yeah, like tortilla chips and stuff,’ Finn said. ‘That’s not food.’
Iris watched him walk back up to the house, her heart full.
In a few months, he’d be off to Pittsburgh for college, and even though she knew he’d always come back, this would never really be his home again.
He was pulling away from her, forging his own life, as he should; as she wanted him to do.
But she couldn’t help wishing she could freeze time, so he’d stay eighteen forever.
She gazed out at the lake as she cleaned her paintbrushes in the studio sink.
The water was absolutely still, its grey surface as smooth as a pool of mercury.
A few clouds scudded across the blue sky, but if not for the thick carpet of new leaves on the ground, you’d never know a fierce storm had just passed through.
She’d make sure Jesse stuck to his promise and cut ties with Colt after tonight. Mac would be free of his obligation to his father. If the two of them had any sense, they’d put as much clear blue water between themselves and Colt as possible.
This time tomorrow, no one would ever know how close they’d all come to disaster.