“Well,” I say slowly, “you trust Sean, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she says firmly.
“So there you go.”
But it’s clear Maria still feels anxious about the whole thing. I can see it on her face. She trusts Sean, but maybe not more than she mistrusts April.
“Why don’t we go over there?” I suggest. “We can make up some excuse.”
She must be truly suspicious, because she agrees to go over to April’s house. As we walk next-door, my stomach turns to butterflies. I’m not even sure what I’m hoping we’ll find. Part of me wants her to discover Sean and April going at it, so she’ll see what April is really like. But mostly, I don’t want Maria’s marriage destroyed. She’s had a hard life, and she doesn’t deserve that. And I also want to believe Sean is a good guy.
As we approach the front door, I can hear the voices coming from the backyard. Sean and April talking. Even from far away, I can hear the flirtatious tone in April’s voice.
Maria looks pale, and I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. This doesn’t sound good.
We don’t end up knocking on the front door. I motion to Maria, and we walk along the side of the house so we can hear directly into the backyard. We can make out every word perfectly.
“I don’t know how to thank you, Sean.” April’s voice is dripping with suggestion. “You have been so kind. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Uh, well, no problem.”
A long pause follows. I imagine April running her hand along his biceps. I look at Maria and know she’s imagining the same. “If there’s anything I can do for you. Anything at all…”
“It’s fine.”
“I have an idea. Why don’t we go inside and have a beer together? I got this amazing beer from Amsterdam. You would love it.”
“April…”
“Oh, come on. Maria won’t mind. One beer.”
Maria’s eyes are wide as her husband contemplates following his sexy neighbor into the house. I want to reach out and hug her.
“I better go,” Sean says. “It’s getting late.”
“Don’t be silly. It’s still early. And I made cupcakes too. Come on.”
“No, I really… I have to go.”
Maria and I barely have time to scramble out of the way before Sean bursts through the gate out of the backyard. His own eyes widen when he sees us standing there. All the color drains from his face.
“Maria,” he murmurs. He looks mortified. “I…”
She just blinks at him. She’s holding back tears.
“I’m not going over there anymore,” he says firmly. He glances at me, then picks up Maria’s limp hand. “Okay?”
She nods silently.
He runs a hand through his messy hair, and I notice his hand is shaking. “I’m sorry,” he says softly.
Of course, Sean hasn’t done anything wrong. He was just trying to be a good neighbor and April was the one who tried to lure him over. He turned her down although I suspect part of him was tempted. In any case, I don’t think he’s going to eat any more of her brownies.
Oh, and Maria hates April now.
_____
Like me, Maria can’t cut April from her life. After all, the two of them are working on the silent auction together. Every time Maria goes over to April’s house, it seems like she has a new piece of gossip.
“She claims that she and Elliot are trying to get pregnant,” she tells me one morning in my kitchen, “but guess what? I found birth control pills in the closet in her downstairs bathroom.”
It’s almost not even a surprise. April isn’t maternal, except for the cooking part. And she’s more into cooking for her show than her family. She mentioned to me how much she hated gaining weight when she was pregnant with Bobby. I did the math and realized April must’ve been pregnant when she got married. I wonder if she needed that to seal the deal.
But Elliot wants another baby. I know that much. He’d be very interested to know his wife is sneaking birth control pills.
April sure has a lot of secrets.
“Also,” Maria adds, “I caught her going through my purse!”
I gasp. “No!”
She nods. “I was in the bathroom, and when I came out, she had my other phone in her hand.”
Maria fishes into her purse and pulls out a flip phone. It looks a lot like the one I’ve been using to torment April. Why would Maria have a phone like that? “What’s that for?”
Her cheeks color slightly. “I volunteer for a nonprofit center to help battered women. After my first marriage, well… I wanted to give something back. When I’m ‘on-call’ women can call me at this number at any time. We arrange a safe place to meet.”
I frown. “Maria, I had no idea you went through something like that…”
She waves her hand. “It’s in the distant past. Having Sean… that makes up for it all.”
Her voice breaks slightly, and it makes me hate April even more for trying to split up her new family. A thought occurs to me though. If April was going through her purse and saw that phone, was it possible she might think Maria was the one sending her the text messages?
If that’s the case, is it possible Maria could be in danger?
But I quickly dismiss that thought. April probably just thought Maria was messing around on her husband. And anyway, Maria can take care of herself. I heard what she did to Carrie’s babysitter and I know she’s tough stuff. And she has Sean to protect her. I have nobody. Well, technically I have Keith, but he’s equal to nobody. Maybe worse.
Chapter 47
I feel terrible for Owen when Raffey goes missing.
Maria told me he sleeps with that toy every night. His biological mother gave it to him when he was a baby. Even though he doesn’t remember her, he’s very attached to the toy because it’s all he has of her. Sometimes I wonder if that must bother Maria, but it doesn’t seem to.
“Sean’s first wife was a good woman,” she has told me. “I’m sad for her that she never got to see her son grow up.”
Sean and Maria launch an all-out search to find Raffey. They ask Leo if he’s seen the stuffed giraffe, and he says no, but he’s holding back. A mother always knows. So after they leave, I question him.
“Leo,” I say, “do you know where Raffey is?”
My son chews on his lip. “No…”
“Leo. What did I say about lying?”
He drops his eyes. “Bobby will be mad if I say anything.”
Great. I should have known Bobby Masterson is behind this. “Leo, tell me where Raffey is.”
Leo looks me in the eyes, then promptly bursts into tears. My stomach sinks—I’m not going to get any information out of him right now. I’ve dealt with enough witnesses on the stand to know when you won’t get them to crack. Although most witnesses have a lot less snot coming out of their noses.
“Mom.”
Tristan has been sitting on a sofa, listening to the entire interaction. He stares at me with eyes that are so much like mine, it’s like looking into a mirror.
“Yes?” I say.
My older son lets out a sigh that makes him sound like he’s ninety rather than nine. “Owen’s toy is buried in Bobby’s backyard. I heard them talking about it.”