The Good Liar(66)

“How?”

I measure my words. “Joshua told me.”

“He knows?”

“He found some e-mails between you and Tom. Or Franny did.”

“Franny did?”

All the color has bleached from Kaitlyn’s face, and, like Henry at the funeral home, she looks like she might faint. I want to feel sympathy for her, but I’m having a hard time mustering the energy.

“I read that they . . . Are they engaged?”

“You saw that piece in Vanity Fair? Is that why you came home?” I saw the article after I learned about it from Joshua and the girls. It was all anyone was talking about these last two days.

“It’s one of the reasons. What happened? How could . . .”

“Franny and Joshua have apparently grown quite close. She moved in a few months ago—to help with the girls, I thought—but it looks as if she’s been worming her way into Joshua’s heart. As your daughter. And then a couple of days ago, they had a fight after they told the girls they were getting married—”

Kaitlyn raises her hand to her mouth.

“Do you need the bathroom?”

As if the word prompted her, Kaitlyn gets up and runs to the powder room. I listen to her lift the toilet seat and choke up what sounds like her insides. I feel both cruel and satisfied. I never thought I was the vengeful type, but perhaps I am. Maybe this is what I’ve needed this whole time—my pound of flesh.

I wait a few minutes and then knock on the bathroom door.

“You coming out?” I ask.

“In a minute.”

“I’m not going to do it, you know.”

“Do what?”

“Hold your hair.”

The door bursts open. Kaitlyn’s crying and laughing at the same time.

“What are we going to do, Cecily? This is such a fucking mess.”

“You think I know? This is your rodeo, Kaitlyn. We’re all just along for the ride.”





Chapter 30


Backfill


Kate

Going back to work was both the best and worst thing Kate—Kaitlyn then—had ever done. The best because it opened her world back up. Turned the lights back on in her mind. Kept her out of the funk she could, and did, so easily slip into. Made her more patient with the girls when she got home. More patient with Joshua. She slept better. Felt better. She was better.

Was this what made her susceptible? Or was it the proximity?

She and Tom had carried on a mild flirtation for years. She didn’t know when it started. It was part of the harmless background noise of her life. His eyes would meet hers sometimes at parties, as if they had a secret joke. They often laughed at the same things. Found the same things outrageous. Wanted to fight the same fights. And he always seemed attuned to her needs if they shared a meal. Her glass refilled at the right moment. The best slice of meat. Cecily was her friend, but she looked forward to those shared moments with Tom. They seemed brighter. More memorable.

It was a silly, harmless crush that neither of them did anything about. Kaitlyn had had them before and would have them again. One person can’t fulfill every role in someone’s life. Especially not after you’ve lost all sense of mystery about each other. That’s what Kaitlyn always thought, anyway. That it made her feel better and that nothing would ever come of it.

Until, one day, something did.

The flirting had picked up once she’d gone to work with Tom. In fact, she’d been slightly concerned about it before she accepted the job. But they were friends. It was harmless. She needed the work. Two years of working together had flown by with real inside jokes this time, but limits, too. They didn’t eat together. The door always stayed open if she was in his office. They never carpooled. Safe boundaries they’d put in place without talking about them. Without thought. Because that’s what you say when you’re acting subconsciously, isn’t it? That some other part of you was in control the whole time, and you never knew it.

Then they’d had to stay up all night working on a project leading up to the launch of some new software. The office had been alive with people. That atmosphere you only get when you mix stress, sleep deprivation, and the slightly off scent of take-out Chinese and pizza. They’d finished up around two in the morning, but Kaitlyn had volunteered to stay behind with Tom to help clear up the office. Kaitlyn had cleaned the break room, then sat down on the couch for a moment to rest. The next thing she knew it was morning. Her neck was stiff and Tom was shaking her gently. Someone had draped a blanket over her.

“Time to get up, sleepyhead,” Tom said. His face was unshaven, his hair mussed. He looked tired but amused. Sexy in his rumpled shirt.

“What happened?”

“You fell asleep.”

“Oh no. Joshua—”

“Don’t worry. I texted him.”

“Good. Thank you.” She checked her watch. It was just after seven. The break room faced east. The sun was beaming in through the windows. “I should get home.”

“I’ll take you.”

They gathered their things, then drove home in near silence, the traffic all the other way. The thrum of the tires on the pavement lulled Kaitlyn back to sleep. Tom nudged her again when they were at her front door. Joshua’s car was gone. She must’ve just missed him and the girls on their way to school.