Neighborly(93)

“I would never poison a child!” Ellen turns to Nolan triumphantly. “See? She’s a liar!”

I notice he hasn’t said a word, but he has gone pale.

“Someone poisoned Sadie,” I say. “Dr. Vreeland at Children’s Hospital told me so. I can prove it to you. Please, Ellen. Stop ignoring so much evidence. It’s time to see the truth.”

Suddenly, the door opens, and it’s Andie. “I thought maybe I should be a part of this conversation.”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with you,” Ellen says.

“El,” Nolan says gently, “she already knows.”

Ellen looks back and forth between them. “She knows what?”

“Who Katrina is. What’s been going on.”

Ellen looks between them, disbelieving. She thought her brother had kept secrets from his own wife?

“I’m his partner in every way,” Andie says.

“If you’re his partner, why are you off fucking my husband?” I ask.

“Doug and I are friends, that’s all.”

I see that Nolan’s lips are still pursed. He doesn’t believe her any more than I do.

Wyatt pushes the door open and steps outside. He looks us all over. “Hi,” Nolan says casually, as if we’re all just taking a breather from the fun inside.

“Everything OK out here?” Wyatt asks, like he’s in his official capacity.

“Everything’s fine,” Andie says, cool as ever.

“It’s good you’re here,” I say. “You can make the arrest.”

“Arrest?” Andie laughs. “No one’s getting arrested.”

“These three,” I gesture, “are the ones who left the notes. They’re also the ones who slipped ketamine in my drink and who tried to kill Sadie.”

It occurs to me that Andie should look shocked at what I’ve just said, that she should be saying no one poisoned anyone, that’s crazy. Instead, she says, “Nolan and I had nothing to do with that. June tried to get us caught up in her vendetta.”

Nolan turns to Andie. Turns on her. “Don’t talk about my sister like that. She would never harm a child, and you know it.”

“It was you,” I say to Andie.

“No.” She shakes her head.

I look at Nolan. He’s gone even whiter. “You know it was Andie. Deep down, you know. Same as you knew about your father.”

He doesn’t speak, and I can see I’m right. Ellen turns to him, and she’s starting to shake. Somewhere inside, she’s known, too. But instead she says, “Dad didn’t do anything wrong. His whole life was ruined for nothing.”

Nolan’s still silent.

“Tell her,” Ellen exhorts him.

Finally, he says, “I can’t.”

“This is bullshit!” Ellen explodes. “Katrina’s a liar. She was jealous of our family. You know that as well as I do. We lost a lifetime with our father—with both our parents—because of her.”

“I know that you’ve believed it a long time,” Nolan says quietly. “I did, too. I’ve wanted to, but since everything started with Katrina moving here, and since things have gotten so out of hand, I’ve started reading the court transcripts. I read Katrina’s testimony, and the other girl’s, too, and they’re almost identical.”

“That’s because they were prepped by the DA. They were coached to lie.”

“I don’t think so. Look at her and listen to her. You know what’s true.”

My eyes meet Ellen’s. She can’t resist knowing anymore. She sags against her brother. I see something I’m very familiar with: shame. “I’m sorry,” she whispers.

Tears are flowing down my cheeks. I feel like I’ve finally shed this awful weight I’ve carried for so long. I know now that Layton was the dirty one, not me.

“This is bullshit!” Andie snaps. “Family is family, and Kat is no one to you. You put family above everything, no matter what.”

No one speaks for a long minute. Then I say, “You did it, Andie. You poisoned Sadie. Was it because you were putting family above everything or because you wanted my husband for yourself?”

Andie turns to Wyatt. “She’s clearly unstable. I hope you’re not actually believing any of this.”

“No,” Ellen says. “That wasn’t for family at all. That was all for herself.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Andie says.

“You met Doug before he and Katrina moved in,” Ellen says. “Doug came out a few weeks before to measure inside the house. Andie offered to help. They were inside for a few hours, at least. When you came outside with Doug that day, after all the ‘measuring,’ the two of you were laughing like old friends. You gave him a big hug before he got into his car. You told me how good it would be to have him in the neighborhood. You said, ‘He’s the kind of guy who could make me rethink my closed marriage.’”

“That was a joke!” Andie protests.

Nolan is staring at Andie, and even though he’s known for a while—he couldn’t avoid knowing when he saw them in the hospital room—the devastation looks fresh. Ellen is piecing things together, connecting the dots for him.