The Guilt Trip(54)

Paige chews the inside of her cheek, distractedly. “No disrespect, but you’ve just made it my problem. Why don’t you talk to Jack, and leave me to have a word with Ali?”

Rachel can’t think of a worse plan if she tries. If Paige goes in all guns blazing at Ali, Ali would only retaliate by telling her about Rachel and Noah. But then she remembers that they’ve already had a confrontation—well, a heated conversation, at least—when they were on the beach. If Ali was going to tell her, why hadn’t she told her then?

“Have you already spoken to Ali?” asks Rachel.

Paige shakes her head. “About what?”

“About Jack.”

“No,” says Paige, without missing a beat.

“So, what were you talking to her about this morning, then?”

“I haven’t seen her this morning,” says Paige, averting her gaze.

Rachel looks at her best friend and wonders why she’s lying. A tightness coils its way around her windpipe as she weighs whether to push it. It feels too important a point not to.

“But I saw you,” she says quietly, as if hoping Paige doesn’t hear her.

“What’s that?” says Paige, leaning in.

Rachel coughs to clear her throat. “I saw you on the beach together, when you went for your run.”

Paige blinks far more times than is natural. “W-what?” she says, her voice wavering between a laugh and a gasp of disbelief.

“It looked like you were arguing. It was hard to tell through the binoculars.”

“You were watching me through binoculars?” asks Paige incredulously.

When she says it like that, it does sound a little creepy.

“Well, yes,” says Rachel, feeling as if she’s been caught snooping. “Noah was watching the surfers, then happened to see you and Ali on the beach.”

“Oh,” says Paige, seemingly speechless for once.

“So, what were you talking about?” asks Rachel. “Did you just happen to run into each other?”

“Well, I was going to tell you…” says Paige. “But I wanted to get today over and done with first.”

“Tell me what?” asks Rachel.

“I honestly thought she was telling the truth,” says Paige, making no sense.

“Who?” exclaims Rachel. “Telling the truth about what?”

“When I went for my run, I saw her and Jack coming toward me on the beach.…”

A gasp catches in Rachel’s throat. So, she was right—they had been together that morning.

“As soon as they saw me, Jack made his excuses, saying he couldn’t stop as he was behind on getting everything ready for the wedding.”

Rachel’s not sure she wants to hear any more.

“And?” she asks, tentatively.

“And,” says Paige, unable to look at her, “I had it out with her.”

“What did you say?”

“I just asked her what was going on,” says Paige. “And she said she was just having a laugh.”

“And you believed her?” asks Rachel.

“I was trying to, until you told me you saw her coming out of Jack’s room and found his watch in her drawer.”

The mention of the watch reminds Rachel of something that doesn’t quite add up. “You said she and Jack were running together?” she asks, emphasizing the word.

“Erm, yeah,” says Paige.

“But she wasn’t wearing her trainers,” says Rachel. “How could they have been running if she didn’t have her trainers on?”

“How do you know she wasn’t wearing trainers?” asks Paige.

“Because they were on the floor in her room.”

Paige looks like she has a thousand questions she wants to ask, but Rachel doesn’t have the energy to answer. “It doesn’t matter,” she says.

Paige shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know—maybe she has more than one pair—I honestly can’t remember.”

“But you out and out asked if there was anything going on between her and Jack.”

Paige nods. “In not so many words, yes. When she said no, I told her that she’d be wise to rein it in because she was making a complete fool of herself.”

“I’m going to ask her outright,” says Rachel, turning toward the door.

Paige grabs her by the wrist. “We need to think very carefully about this,” she says. “Because if you play it wrong, this whole thing could blow up in your face.”

Rachel doesn’t need Paige to tell her what’s at stake here. Though, it shames her that the fear of Ali calling her out about Noah is far more prevailing than what she might be getting up to with Jack. She shakes her head at the impossible situation.

“I can’t get through today, not knowing what’s going on,” says Rachel. “Constantly waiting for my world to tumble down around my ears.”

“But it’s not just your world you have to worry about here,” says Paige. “We’ve got Will to think about in all this as well.”

“I know,” says Rachel in a high-pitched voice. “He thinks he’s marrying the love of his life. Shouldn’t someone tell him she’s not who he thinks she is, before it’s too late?”