Harbour Falls (A Harbour Falls Mystery #1)(26)

“Lindsey? Who’s Lindsey?” I cringed. “If you know her name, it must have been something ongoing, something long-term, right?”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Helena insisted. “Just listen.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m waiting with baited breath.”

Helena ignored my sarcastic tone. “Adam met Lindsey in Boston—”

“Oh great, Boston,” I lamented, while dramatically resting my forehead on the table. “Maybe she can meet us while we’re on our date. How cozy.” I knew I was being ridiculous, but it just bothered me.

“Maybe we should talk about something else?” Helena muttered.

“No, no. Go on,” I mumbled into the surface of the table. “I can handle it.”

“Look,” Helena continued, “Adam met Lindsay a while back, but it was never anything serious. It was just a physical thing. And it really sounds like it’s over from what Nate says.”

When I really thought about it, I knew I shouldn’t be worried about this Lindsey-person, hookup, whatever. After all, she was in Boston, and I was here. And Adam hadn’t dated her, according to Helena. But he had asked me out on a date.

I appreciated Helena’s candor, and I couldn’t help but wonder how much more she knew about Adam. I lifted my head from the table and sat back. “Can I ask you something, Helena?”

“Sure,” she replied.

I nervously traced the rim of my coffee cup. “It’s about Adam, and if you don’t want to answer, or you don’t know, I’ll understand.”

Helena reached over and stilled my hand. Our eyes met, and she said, “Maddy, just ask. I’ll tell you what I know.”

I took a deep breath. “Was Adam still in love with Chelsea when she disappeared?”

Helena’s lips set in a hard line, and her face grew serious. She answered with a simple, “No.”

Well, if that had been the case…



Curious about the other part of the allegation from the anonymous sources, I asked, “Do you know then if they were still, uh, sleeping together?”

Helena shook her head and barely whispered, “No, Maddy, they weren’t.”

“Then why was he going through with the wedding? In fact, why was he even still engaged to her?” I asked, desperately hoping she had the answers.

“I don’t know, Maddy. I really don’t,” she said, looking away.

“But you must have some idea? Was there any indication of trouble? There had to have been something? Anything?” I pressed. “Please, Helena.”

Helena leaned back in her chair and rubbed at her temples. Finally she cleared her throat. “Chelsea knew something about Adam. Something nobody else did…and I think she was leveraging whatever it was against him to get her way.” She hesitated, biting her lower lip. “I don’t know what it was, Maddy. Neither does Nate. But I’m sure it was bad, because I’m absolutely positive Adam did not want to marry that girl.”

“You have no idea what it could have been?”

“None,” Helena whispered, voice cracking and tears welling in the corners of her eyes. “I just wish I’d never introduced them. Some days I feel so guilty. Like all of this could have been avoided. But Chelsea wasn’t that horrible early on. Sure, she could be bitchy, but she was nothing like the person she ended up becoming.” Helena wiped a tear from her cheek.

I wasn’t sure if Helena was crying over Chelsea’s disappearance, guilt over introducing her to Adam, or something else entirely. I placed my hand over hers. “Helena, it’s not your fault. You can’t blame yourself. You had no control over what happened.”

“Yeah, but Chelsea hurt Adam in so many ways.” She blinked back more tears and then met my eyes. “Like did you know she had an affair with J.T. O’Brien?”

“Really?” I squeaked, pretending to be unaware. “Did Adam know?”



“He found out right around the time they got engaged.” This I had not heard. Helena continued, “Adam was home for spring break, and the four of us went out one night in Harbourtown. We ended up getting wasted and calling a cab. But instead of taking us home, Chelsea directed the driver to take us to some rundown bar down by the river.”

Billy’s, I thought.

“J.T. was already there. Just sitting at the bar, all by himself. But he kept glancing over and giving us these weird looks. It was actually kind of creepy. Anyway, at some point, Chelsea said she had to go to the bathroom. About ten minutes passed, and Nate had to go too. Adam asked him to find out what was taking Chelsea so long to return.” Helena stopped long enough to take a drink from her cup, and then she took a deep breath. “Well, Nate found out what was taking her so long when he walked into the men’s room, because there was Chelsea. Down on her knees in front of J.T.”

“Oh God, no,” I gasped.

“It’s true.” Helena paused, as if even in retelling the story she still couldn’t believe it had happened. “Nate threw J.T. up against the wall outside the bathroom, and, get this, Chelsea started screaming at Nate to leave J.T. alone. Adam and I witnessed the whole exchange when we ran over to see what all the commotion was about. Then, worse yet, Chelsea had the nerve to ask Adam to make Nate stop. She kept saying it was all a big misunderstanding.”