“I used to love Phantom of the Opera. And we have a copy of it in our DVD collection and I was watching it this morning, so…” I stop talking, noticing the scowl on Graham’s face. “That was nice of you. Thank you for rescuing my scarf.”
“You’re welcome.”
I bite on the tip of my thumbnail. “Why did I have a scarf at the beach anyway?”
He frowns. “Well, it wasn’t a wool scarf. It was one of those silk things.”
“Oh.”
Graham rips his eyes away from mine and cranes his neck to look at the stove. “Camila, is that soup almost ready? Don’t make this your life’s work.”
“Just a moment!” Camila calls out. “I’m almost done.”
She shuts off the stove and retrieves two bowls from the cupboard. I watch as she carefully ladles the contents of the pot into the bowls. Little clouds of steam waft out of each bowl. My stomach growls at the smell.
“Let me help you.” I jump out of my seat to join Camila by the stove. “What should I do?”
She nods at the bowl on the right. “You take yours and I’ll bring Graham his soup.”
I carry my bowl of piping hot soup to the table, being careful not to spill. Camila does the same thing with Graham’s bowl. I set mine gently on the table, and as Camila does the same, her hand spasms. I watch in horror as the bowl tips over. Right onto Graham’s lap.
“Jesus Christ!” he cries out. He jumps up from the table, revealing jeans soaked with steaming hot broth. “What the hell is wrong with you, Camila?”
She clasps a hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry!”
She grabs a paper towel to help him, but he shoves her away, hard enough to make her stumble. His face is bright pink. “That was boiling hot! You could’ve scalded me! I swear to God, Camila, sometimes I think you’re just as dumb as Tess!”
Camila clasps a hand to her chest and takes a step back. “I apologize. It was an accident.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he grumbles. “I’ve got to go change.”
He pushes past her and heads for the stairwell. I watch him sprint up the steps, feeling mortified by my husband’s behavior. How did I end up marrying a man like that? I don’t understand. And now it feels like I’m stuck with him forever. All because I got into a stupid car accident.
Unless my father can help me. I hope Harry is successful…
“I’m so sorry he spoke to you that way,” I say to Camila.
There’s a crease between her eyebrows. “Tess, did I ever tell you about my Abuelita? And about when she died?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. If you did, I wouldn’t remember, would I?”
“No,” she concedes. “But I remember.”
I have no idea what she’s talking about. I grab a stack of napkins off the kitchen counter. “We should get all the soup cleaned up…”
“Tess.” She grabs my arm to stop me, her fingernails biting into my skin. “Listen, I’m sorry Graham makes up those bullshit stories about the way the two of you met.”
The scarf story. I knew it was a fake. “Oh…”
“You don’t deserve that.” Camila’s eyes are on mine. “You don’t deserve any of his lies. You deserve the truth. Everyone deserves to know the truth.”
The truth? What is the truth? I can’t even begin to grasp it. Even if I figure out how my life became this way, all my revelations have vanished by tomorrow. Maybe I discovered the truth last week or the week before. And I’ve just forgotten it. And if I discover it today, I’ll just forget it again. It’s like I’m in some sort of repeating hell.
“Tess.” Camila’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts. “I have something for you.”
I realize she’s holding out her hand. And in her palm is a small key.
“This opens the top drawer of the desk in Graham’s office.” She places the key down on the kitchen island in front of me. “Everything you need to know is in there. Go now. Quickly—while he’s changing.”
My mouth falls open. It hits me that the spilled soup wasn’t an accident at all. She did it on purpose so I would have a clear shot at Graham’s office while he’s changing.
“Camila…”
“Go,” she says. “I’m sick of these lies. You deserve the truth.”
I pick up the key from the table. I close my fingers around it. I don’t know what she’s talking about. I don’t know what is in his desk drawer. But she’s right. I’ve been searching for the truth. And this woman has literally handed me the key to everything I’ve been wanting to know.