If You Must Know (Potomac Point #1)(15)

My skin was now cold and damp. “Mom, look at me. This is not your fault. You were only being supportive and trusting. I should’ve insisted we involve Kevin.”

“Call Lyle and tell him if he doesn’t call you back today to discuss the money, we’re calling the cops.” Kev stared at me, arms crossed.

“The cops?” My brows rose. “What are you talking about?”

Kev raised his hands above his head. “What if he makes off with the money?”

My mouth fell open. “Mom lent him the money. He didn’t steal it. The whole reason he’s in Florida is to tie up that deal. He said he’d repay it, and he will.”

“He also said till death do you part.” Kevin speared me with that look that made me feel idiotic.

Lyle had broken promises. I couldn’t deny that, nor could I fully shake the concern that my mom would be left holding the bag if the deal crumbled. But the leap from bad business judgment to criminal behavior spanned the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

“Just because he’s having an affair doesn’t mean he’s also a thief. Lyle is my baby’s father, Kevin, not a felon.” The idea of it! “If he planned to steal the money, why would he suggest and sign that note? There’s no need to panic unless he doesn’t pay Mom back under its terms, not yours.”

Kevin glared at me, nostrils flaring. His pacing the floor suggested he’d moved on to playing out scenarios in his head. “I don’t have a good feeling. Did you check your bank balances?”

“Yes . . . nothing abnormal.” I glared, although the fact that I’d checked hardly proved my confidence in Lyle.

“I’ll get the note.” Ashen-faced, Mom wandered off toward Kevin’s old bedroom, which my parents had turned into a home office years ago.

“Amanda, you know the optics are pretty bad, right?” Kevin cracked his knuckles, a habit I’d always found disgusting.

“Jumping to the worst conclusions isn’t helping anyone’s stress levels. If you’re so worried, surely you know private investigators who can track down more details about the deal.” I ran my hands through my hair, hoping to somehow stimulate my brain. “He betrayed me, but he’s also come clean about it. I’m not happy, but that’s not illegal. Please give me a little time to get my arms around what’s happening in my marriage before you sound every alarm. This is a private family matter, and we should handle it that way.”

He cocked his head, a single brow raised. “You’re serious?”

“For God’s sake, Kevin. He’s my husband. We created a home and have a baby on the way. He’s messed up, but he hasn’t said he doesn’t still love me. And I love him. I know you think that makes me stupid, but there it is. I love my husband even though he’s hurt me. That’s what I know right now. Maybe that will change, but this is my life—” I shut up as soon as our mom returned with the signed document.

“Here, honey. See?” She waved the pages at Kevin. “We weren’t foolish. I made a loan, and I can enforce it.”

Kevin took the document from her without reading it. “Amanda, what’s the name of Lyle’s company? And what bank is he using?”

“I assume he’s using Wells Bank, like we do.” To be honest, I’d been puking, sleeping, nesting, and working these past couple of months. And like Erin, Lyle often mistook my suggestions as criticism or doubts in his ability to manage his own affairs, so he’d rarely shared the details of his plans with me anyway. Why would he? I was a teacher, not a real estate magnate. “The company is Somniator Syndicate, or maybe Partners . . . He was going back and forth, so I’m actually not sure what he decided on.”

“Latin?” Kevin shook his head again, and I could practically hear Erin’s voice in my head saying, “He’s kind of pretentious, isn’t he?” Kev speared me with an incredulous look. “What a pompous piece of—”

“Kevin!” Mom said.

I’d always thought Kev respected Lyle, but his intense disdain today made me question whether he’d hidden his feelings from the beginning.

I buckled from a wave of self-recriminating exhaustion. “Should I lie at your feet and apologize for trusting my husband? Do you feel better saying hateful things about him and shaming me for even considering saving my marriage? It might seem weak to you, but it takes strength to forgive and live by the ‘for better or worse’ part of the vow. Granted, this is definitely a worse part. I’m plenty devastated, angry, and humiliated without reminders from you. But we were happy until this, so maybe counseling can fix whatever broke. I don’t know, but my daughter deserves a chance at a whole family. And I deserve the chance to decide whether my marriage is salvageable.”

Stubborn as ever, Kev groused, “If Marcy cheated or stole my mom’s money, I doubt I’d still love her much.”

“Stop saying Lyle stole money. He borrowed it.” I shook my head. “And you have no idea what you might be able to forgive until you’re faced with it, so don’t judge me.”

Normally I wouldn’t be so defensive, but each attack on Lyle also felt like an attack on me. I wasn’t accustomed to Kevin questioning my judgment.

He waved the note in the air. “Without collateral, this isn’t worth much more than toilet paper, but I’ll look at it at home. Meanwhile, I’ll hire an investigator to track down Lyle. Erin should know about all of this, too. We’ll all need to band together if the worst comes to pass. In fact, why isn’t she here?”