The Last Invitation (86)

After all those years of blaming Jessa, Gabby had to own up to her own failures. Her lies. She and Jessa were more alike than Gabby wanted to believe. Liam and Kennedy could attest to that. While she didn’t deserve absolution, Gabby vowed to atone, or at least try, and she silently thanked Jessa for showing it was possible.

Forty minutes of songs and speeches, and the service finally ended. Gabby wanted to bolt from the room and put the entire nightmare behind her, but she couldn’t. The combination of Faith’s despair and Retta’s caring fa?ade played out in front of her. Both strong women. Both major influences on Jessa and the woman she became.

Only one played a role in her death.

Gabby couldn’t let it go. Staying silent about what really happened at Baines’s house protected Liam and Kennedy but damned her. Jessa, despite being thoroughly annoying at times and lying her way through trouble, deserved a better ending. The news named Darren as the suspect in Jessa’s death, but the window was still open for Retta to change targets and blow up Liam’s life.

So much lingering danger. So much damage.

The mourners filed along the pews and into the aisle. One by one, the attendees made the slow procession to the outside. The warm sun bounced off the marble stairs. Gabby drew in a deep breath. Let it calm the nerves pulsing to life inside her.

She watched Earl kiss Retta on the cheek and walk over to shake a man’s hand. It all looked so normal. So professional and honorable. A perfectly packaged cover-up that depended on her playing her role and not making trouble.

Faith and Retta passed each other on the way to greet other people. Gabby would have guessed they knew each other, but they didn’t acknowledge each other in any way. No nod or simple I’m sorry.

Jessa’s ex, Tim, was there, looking lost. He didn’t wander around. He stuck with a group of other men in dark suits, likely the high-priced lawyer crowd.

Gabby took it all in, knowing she should go. Walk out and not let the jumble of words clogging her throat come out. Let Jessa die in peace with her sacrifice unknown.

Should.

Retta smiled at something the person talking to her said. They both quickly switched moods and did the serious nod thing, likely as the grief of the moment hit them again.

Don’t do it. The words kept repeating in Gabby’s head even as she followed Faith away from the crowd. Watched her circle back and get a drink of water then stand alone and take a shuddering breath.

One word. Nothing to give away the truth. Gabby could do that. It made sense for her to comfort Jessa’s best friend of close to twenty years. Gabby doubted the sincerity of some in the crowd, but not Faith.

“Excuse me. Faith?”

Don’t do it.

“Gabby, right?” Faith’s smile came and went. Her face remained pale and drawn. “I remember you from some of the parties Jessa used to have with law-school friends.”

Friends . . . Yeah, Gabby let that go. “We’d reconnected recently.”

Faith frowned. “Really?”

Gabby understood the confusion. She’d bet money Jessa hadn’t said a decent thing about her in . . . well, ever. “She didn’t tell you?”

“She had a lot going on. The breakup with Tim. The partnership. The big case that got knocked off course by bad press and then—”

“I’m so sorry.” Gabby regretted the blurting but not the sentiment. “It’s . . .”

“A shock.”

“I just . . .” What did she say next? How did she dip into the truth without revealing it? “Things aren’t quite . . . I’m not sure . . .”

Faith put a comforting hand on Gabby’s arm. “Are you okay?”

“Nothing is what it seems.” Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Donotdoit! “With her death, I mean.”

Faith glanced around before lowering her voice to a whisper. “Gabby?”

Oh, shit. Gabby’s speech picked up speed, matching the dramatic thunder of her heartbeat. “I think you should know the truth. You’re not going to believe it because it’s not believable. It took me a while to . . . well . . . There’s this group of women and they wanted Jessa to join, but . . . I know this sounds impossible, but . . . it’s not.”

“You’re upset. You should stop.”

“I know. I get it. You don’t believe me, and I wouldn’t either if I were you.” Gabby took in a deep breath. “You’ll hear Darren killed her, but he didn’t. They did. Because . . . she . . . she knew too much.”

There. She’d said it in a rambling, stumbling way, but it was out there. Faith could choose to believe her or call her that paranoid woman at the service or whatever. Gabby didn’t care because she’d said the words.

The sick part was that she’d piled her mess on Faith, and a part of Gabby hated that, but this woman had loved Jessa, had been her best friend through everything. She had a right to know Jessa tried to be better. She’d tried to do the right thing. Gabby wasn’t sure if she’d made that clear or not, but she let the conversation sit there. Let Faith have the next word.

Faith let out a labored exhale. “You never learn. I told Retta you couldn’t be trusted to keep quiet, and I was right.”





Chapter Seventy-Eight

Gabby




Gabby’s mouth dropped open. She could feel it hanging there. She’d stumbled through a messy explanation, expecting Faith to pat her on the head and walk away. Not this. Never this.