She was serious then, her voice low. “Of course. Babe, whatever I can do, just name it.”
“If I put them on a flight to Denver, you’ll pick them up?”
“Of course,” she assured me again. “But…won’t you come, too? It sounds like you could use—”
“I can’t. Not yet. I promise I will. And I promise I’ll explain everything as soon as I can. Right now, though, I have things I still need to take care of here.”
She released a long breath. “You swear to me you’re not going to do anything stupid or dangerous, right?”
“You know me better than that.”
A beat passed, both of us silent, and then she said, somewhat begrudgingly, “I never should’ve left you for this long. I told Seth you still needed me.”
“Glennon, no. This isn’t your fault. I’m a big girl, okay? I can handle myself. Everything’s going to be fine, I promise you.”
I heard a man’s voice in the background say something soft and low. Her hand swiped across the speaker as she responded. “Be right there.”
“That doesn’t sound like Seth.”
When she returned to our conversation, she said, “It wasn’t. I’m…on a date.”
“You what? You’re on a date? What are you doing talking to me?” My jaw dropped.
“Stop,” she said firmly, without time or patience for my nonsense. “Family first, babe. And you’re family.”
“I’m sorry…” I whispered, but sorry for what, I still wasn’t sure. Tears stung my eyes, the weight of the apology hanging in the air.
“There’s no reason to be.”
I swiped a tear from my cheek, steadying my voice before I spoke again. “I’ll, uh, I’ll get the flight information sent over to you. And I’ll call you in the morning to set it all up, okay?”
“Okay.” Her tone was soft as she waited for me to say more, but I couldn’t.
“Now, go enjoy the rest of your date. I’ll be fine, I promise. I am fine.”
“I can talk as long as you need. He’s still fixing dinner and—”
“I’m fine,” I swore again, forcing my tone to be more convincing. “Honestly. Go, have fun. I need to look at flights before I pass out. It’s been a long day.”
“If you’re sure…”
“Positive.”
“Okay. Love you, babe.”
“Love you. Talk soon.”
I ended the call just as more tears began to fall. My best friend was moving on, as she should. My husband wanted to kill me. My mother thought I should stay with him anyway. My kids hated me.
I was alone.
And with good reason.
I deserved to be alone after all I’d done.
But not until I made Peter pay.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
PETER
I drove through the town that night without direction. Turning down side streets and taking curves too fast. I needed to move, to act, to do something, but there was nothing to do. Ainsley had slipped through my fingers. She was gone, maybe for good, and she’d ruined me with her departure.
She’d taken away from me the one thing I’d ever been good at.
My knuckles throbbed from where I’d pounded them against the steering wheel while sitting outside of the bar.
What was I becoming? What had I let her turn me into? Why did I even care?
Think…
Think…
Think…
I needed to get inside of her head. It wouldn’t be easy. She’d spent our entire marriage inside of mine, so even if I tried to think like her, she’d probably predict it and still manage to stay a step ahead of me. But there had to be a way. I knew her. I knew what she ate and what perfume she wore; I knew what made her feel better when she was sick and how she looked when she was sleeping.
I knew her.
Maybe better than anyone else, but still. My wife was an impenetrable wall, without gates or scaffolding for anyone. Whatever I knew about her, it was merely what she’d let me know.
Let me believe.
A sudden thought hit me, and I pulled the SUV over to the shoulder in an instant.
I was wrong.
I did know something.
Something important.
Lifting my phone from where it rested in the center console, I opened my call log and clicked on her name, then waited. I was breaking my promise to myself, but I didn’t care. This was more important.
“Hello?”
I was silent, thinking I’d somehow imagined it. I never expected her to actually answer. I’d been preparing to leave her a voicemail, one I knew she’d have to respond to, but this… I didn’t know how to— “Hello?” She sounded impatient.