She tried to remain as calm as her mind and body would allow. “Hey Fran, save me a batch for later. I’m going to head out for a while.”
“We’ll wait for you if you need to go for a walk,” her mother-in-law offered.
“No, no.” Liz’s hands became uncontrollably shaky and she grabbed a water bottle off the counter to keep them steady. “I’m going sh-shopping.”Dammit.Her voice was shaky too, now. She sped up her speech in an attempt to cover it up.“I’ll be back in time to help you with dinner.”
“That’s almost the whole day,” Francis complained. “I thought you’d at least stick around for the day since you two are leaving tonight.”
Liz’s eyes flicked at Matt but his expression was blank. He must have guessed that they’d be leaving that night anyway. She hadn’t known what his plans were, but she wasn’t sticking around and wait for him to tell her.
Liz grabbed her purse and went to stand directly in front of her husband. He swallowed hard and avoided her eyes before reaching into his pocket and handing her the car keys.
From the corner of her eye, Liz noticed Francis give Megan a look.
“I’ll go with you,” Megan offered, forcefully. She followed Liz down the corridor. “Tell Ben I’ll call in a little while?”
Chapter 3
MATT
Matt glanced at the old-fashioned clock that hung over the kitchen table, for what felt like the thousandth time that afternoon. 4:10. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and strolled to the family room. He sat back in one of the armchairs. A cold beer was exactly what he needed to get his mind off Liz. Then maybe a cold shower too. Seeing her this morning, remembering the passion they shared last night…And then the awful turn of events. He wasn’t sure what he expected when he walked back in there the night before. Maybe he thought she would be honest with him. Maybe there was a good reason for the lies. Although he couldn’t possibly imagine what. But he wanted to give her the chance. He loved her too much to give up on her. But she was still holding back. And truthfully, he wasn’t sure if it would have been enough.
Ben was still on the boat. His father had been going back and forth making lame excuses on things he needed to help with and bring from the boat. But Matt knew it was because he hadn’t wanted Ben to be alone on the boat all day.
The back door swung open. “Maybe you should bring the beer cooler back, if you’re spending the rest of the weekend there.”
“I see you’ve already started,” Ben replied.
Matt turned at his brother’s voice. Ben was only about an inch taller than Matt. Their build was similar; broad shoulders, and muscular, but Ben’s hair was a lot lighter. Mostly because he’d been a lifeguard during the summers and spent a lot of time in the sun, which had permanently lightened his hair. Matt never understood the buzz cut though, it made him look older than Matt by more than just two years. Just looking at his brother now made his insides turn. The last two days, Matt’s anger had calmed and now he was leveling between a state of disgust and hurt. “Thought you were dad,” Matt muttered.
“When’d you get home?”
“Last night.” Matt’s voice lowered even more.
“Oh, that’s great,” Ben said cautiously. “Uh…did you guys talk?”
How dare he? Matt glared at his brother until Ben looked away.
“Sorry, it’s none of my business,” he offered. “I just figured since my wife’s out with yours, we could use the time to—”
Matt couldn’t help but notice the way Ben had been avoiding her name. “You can sleep with her, but you won’t say her name?” he spat out.
Ben looked down and nodded, as if this had been the blow he’d been waiting for.
“Don’t do that,” Matt responded in disgust. “Don’t do that big brother, righteous thing, where you act like you want me to get angry so I would ‘get it all out.’”
“I don’t want you to get angry. I want you to listen to me. I get that you were too upset to listen to us back there,” he said, pointing to the back porch, “but at least let me say this; Matt, she’s always loved you, only you. She was unspeakably upset that night. And…you know we were always close. I’ve loved her like a sister since you two started dating.”
“That’s disturbing,” Matt raised a judgmental eyebrow at his brother.
“Would you just listen!” Ben yelled. “I’m trying to explain what happened that night.”
Matt stared at his brother coldly, remaining calm, unlike his quickly increasing heartrate. “I’m hearing you. You took advantage of her vulnerability.”
“Who left her vulnerable?” Ben bit out, then inhaled a sharp breath. “And it’s not like I forced her into it,” he said slowly through gritted teeth.
Matt drew back, stunned. He not only felt a knife in his own heart, but one on Liz’s behalf too. “Wow,” Matt blew out a slow, heavy breath, as he watched Ben squeeze his eyes shut and shake his head. Matt had known how Ben cared about Liz and imagined how his own words would have shocked him. “No. Maybe not. But she didn’t come knocking on your door, either.” Matt took one last swig of his beer and placed the empty bottle in the cardboard beer box on the kitchen island.
Francis walked through the basement door carrying a bin of laundry. “Girls not back yet?” she asked.
