“Look.” He props himself up into a sitting position on the creaky twin mattress. “What you did… It was bad. But it was partially my fault. Our marriage was a disaster. The truth is that I also…”
I suck in a breath. “You had an affair?”
“No. No. But…” He rubs at the back of his neck. “I mean, since we’re being honest, there was… a woman. And… nothing happened. Not exactly. But…”
“But?”
He hangs his head. “I kissed her.” He quickly adds, “And that’s it. Nothing more happened. I stopped it. I just…” He sighs. “I was mad at you. I wanted to get back at you. But all I could think of when it was happening was that she wasn’t you. And… I wanted to do whatever it took to get you back. Anything.”
My heart is thudding in my chest. I can’t believe Noah kissed another woman. Part of me hates him for it. But I did something so much worse, it’s almost a relief to know he had a moment of weakness too.
“I had been hoping this trip would be a good chance for us to reconnect.” He winces. “But then when you told me you got separate rooms for us, I thought, well, it’s over.”
I drop my eyes. “I thought it was over too.”
He reaches out and takes my hand in his. “I know this is stupid, but even when we were back in college, I used to imagine us growing old together. I knew you were the one. I was so sure. When I thought it was over, I just… It was like my future was gone.”
I squeeze his hand. “I know.”
I fall back into his arms. I feel drained with the guilt of the last several months finally out of my system. Noah knows what happened, and he forgives me. Soon we’ll go back home together and restart our lives. We won’t fight all the time like we used to. We’ll grow old together, just like we planned to.
Everything is going to be okay.
Chapter 37
CLAIRE
Noah drifts off to sleep, but I’m having more trouble falling asleep. It seems like after how well I slept for two nights when I was on the ground, I would go to sleep instantly in an actual bed. But somehow, it doesn’t work that way.
After an hour of trying, I extract myself from Noah’s embrace and slip out of bed. We never ended up cleaning our clothing, so I may as well do that now
I gather up my shirt, shorts, and socks from the ground, then go to pick up Noah’s blue jeans. But as I’m pulling them from the floor, something falls out of the pocket. A glimmer of red.
I bend down to see what the object is. My fingers close around something cold and metallic.
It’s a Swiss Army knife.
Why does Noah have a Swiss Army knife? He never mentioned he was carrying a knife. It seems like the sort of thing you might say at some point. Like, hey, I’m not just happy to see you, I’ve got a knife in my pocket.
I can’t help but think about the stab wound in the chest of that man in the pick-up truck.
But Noah couldn’t have done that. How could he? He was with us the whole time.
Unless he snuck off while we were sleeping…
No. He couldn’t have. It’s too far.
Although it wasn’t as far to the cabin from our campsite as I would’ve thought. Once we started traveling north, we hit the cabin pretty quickly. If he knew where he was going and walked briskly, he could have easily made it to the cabin, killed that guy, and returned to our campsite.
But why?
It couldn’t be because of me and Jack. I told him about it, and he wasn’t that angry. I mean, he wasn’t thrilled. But he didn’t seem like he was in a crazy jealous rage.
I look over at Noah asleep on the bed. His lips are slightly parted and he’s snoring softly. I’ve known him for nearly half my life. I’ve been married to him for a decade. He wouldn’t do something like that. I know it.
I put down the clothing on the foot of the bed. I pick up the Swiss Army knife and stare down at it in my palm. I tug at the blade until it pops open. I run my finger along the metal, checking for traces of blood.
It’s clean.
I let out a sigh. I’m letting my imagination run wild. Noah is my husband. I know him. He would never do the things Jack accused him of.
But before I leave the room with our pile of clothing, I slip the Swiss Army knife into one of the dresser drawers and I cover it with clothing.
As I close the door behind me to the bedroom, the front door to the cabin swings open. I clutch the bundle of clothing to my chest as Jack stomps into the room. He raises his eyes to look at me in my bra and panties, and I do my best to conceal myself.