Do You Remember(52)

I’m never going to be able to sleep until I investigate, so I creep out of the bedroom into the hallway, which is also very dark. I can just barely make out a dim light from downstairs. Graham is downstairs, which means his office is empty.

I keep one hand on the wall, feeling my way down the hallway. I stop when I get to Graham’s office. I try the doorknob and it turns under my hand. I’m about to enter the office when I hear a sound from downstairs. A crash.

And then a woman giggling.

What is that?

I forget all about Graham’s office and the stupid desk drawer. Instead, I turn around and head for the stairwell. It’s still dimly lit, so I hang onto the railing. I don’t want to fall and give myself another head injury. Of course, isn’t there that theory that a second head bonk can be curative? Is that a thing?

As I get to the bottom of the stairs, I hear it more clearly. Giggling. Two people talking softly.

My husband and somebody else.

Oh my God. Is it Camila?

Just like when I was out walking Ziggy earlier, I get that strange sensation in my head—it must be another seizure coming on. My knees tremble as everything fades to white, and suddenly, I’m not in my living room anymore.

I’m outside the front door to my house. I’m getting the key into the lock for the front door and turning the knob to push it open. Except it’s not the living room I have right now, with the fancy entertainment system and the leather sofa. It’s my old living room with the ratty futon and the coffee table with one short leg. But that’s not what my eyes focus on.

Right in the middle of the room, Lucy and Harry are together. And to my horror, my best friend’s lips are pressed against my fiancé’s. As the house keys slip out of my fingers, clattering to the ground, Lucy shoves Harry off of her, hard enough that he stumbles. I can’t believe my own eyes. Worse, I wouldn’t have seen it if I had come home just five minutes later.

“Harry!” I cry.

Lucy’s hand is a blur as she reaches out and slaps Harry right across the stubble on his face. “You asshole!” she hisses at him. “How dare you?”

I glare at Harry, who has a bewildered expression on his face. “Lucy, what the hell—”

“He grabbed me!” Lucy backs away from him, her eyes wild, her hand clasped over her mouth. “I’m so sorry, Tess.” She shoots Harry a seething look. “You bastard.”

Harry turns to appeal to me. “Tess, I didn’t… I would never…”

“You would never?” I shout. “I just saw you do it!”

I spin on my heels and march out of the house, even though the keys are still on the floor of the living room. I can’t even think straight. I just have to get out of here, before Harry sees me burst into tears. I barely make it out the front door before a strong hand wraps around my arm.

“Tess!”

I try to shrug him off, but he’s holding on tight. Finally, I whip my head around to face him. “What? What do you have to say for yourself?”

Harry is standing there, a crevice between his eyebrows. “I didn’t do anything. You have to believe me.”

I almost laugh out loud. “You didn’t do anything? Are you joking? I just saw you kiss her!”

“I wasn’t kissing her!”

“Harry, I saw it!”

“I…” He glances back at the house, then back at me. “I don’t even like Lucy. You know that! Why would I kiss her?”

I stick out my chin. “I guess you were pretending to hate her to hide your wild attraction for her.”

His mouth falls open. “No. That is not even… come on! Tess…”

“So explain it to me. Explain to me what I just saw.”

“She grabbed me. I was so shocked, I didn’t even have a second to pull away.”

This time I really do laugh out loud. “Right. I believe that. You’re saying Lucy was overcome with passion for you and tried to kiss you?”

His eyes cloud. He knows how everything must look. Lucy is gorgeous and men are always hitting on her. And while I find Harry incredibly attractive, he’s more of an acquired taste. And so not Lucy’s type.

“I don’t know why she did it,” he finally says. “I’m just telling you what happened.”

Lucy materializes behind Harry, limping slightly in her always too-high heels. Her eyes look swollen and her red hair is disheveled. “That bastard grabbed me, Tess. I’m so sorry you had to see that.”

“I’m sorry too,” I say.

I reach from my left hand, to the engagement ring that I had only taken off to shower since the night he gave it to me. Harry realizes what I’m trying to do, and his eyes fly open. “Tess, no…”

But there’s nothing he can say. I know what I saw, despite his protests. How can I marry him after he kissed my best friend? I’ll never be able to trust him again.

“Tess, please…” I thought I’d be the one crying, but it’s Harry’s eyes that are filling with tears. “Don’t do this. I love you. Let’s talk about it…”

I keep tugging on the ring, the one I thought I’d be wearing for the rest of my life, eventually accompanied by a plain gold band. Now I just want to get it off me. I keep pulling it, trying to work it loose, but it’s stuck. It won’t come free, no matter what I do.