"You believe London?" I ask one more time, even though I already know what he'll say.
"I do. My brother might be the biggest moron on the planet forever thinking what he did was better for anyone, but while he might be ignorant when it comes to his decision-making abilities, he's not a cheater. I think you know that too. His heart is too good for that to ever be true."
I slide my phone to him before I can think better of it. "You decide. Put yourself in my shoes. You know the entire story. What would you do?"
I watch as his finger hovers over the message. When it meets the glass of my screen, it takes all of two seconds to learn his choice when her voice rings out on the speaker.
"Laney, hey, it's Madison. Look, I don't mean to overstep. This phone call feels awkward, because all of what I'm about to say is speculation on my end, but I would want to know if I were you. Plus, I want to clear my name… I am not that girl.
The other day, when you walked into the house as I was walking out of London's room, you got the wrong impression of what had happened. I walked into the house a minute before you arrived. I had a layover and stopped by topick up my grandmother's necklace. I mistakenly left it in the barn when Gypsy was being quarantined. I'm never in one place long enough to receive mail, so I popped in. It caught London off guard as well. I wanted to say something right then and there, but honestly, it all happened so fast, and I was just trying to keep up. I knew after you walked out of the house and Fisher and London got into a fight that it was clear I had unknowingly become a game piece. But if I ever play the role of the other woman, you better believe it's because I didn't know I wasn't the only woman. I'm not a cheater, and I respect you. Anyway, I just thought you should know… And woman to woman, if you take him back…make it sting first."
The message ends, and we sit there in silence, staring at my phone. My heart wanted to believe London. It did. But watching her put on that necklace is one of the images I can't get out of my head. It feels the most damning. A woman putting on something personal, something she had removed during intimacy—even if it wasn't that day, then another. Even thinking about it now, knowing her account of that day, it still hurts. I don't want to think about London with someone else.
"Thank you," I say quietly before he presses delete.
"If I were in your position, that message would eat me up longer than it had any right to. Not to mention, there's a show every spring that comes through Bardstown, and it features her act. Life is too short to hold a grudge, and if you work things out with my brother, which I'm counting on, you don't need that hovering over your head, casting doubt."
"You know, I really wish you'd tell me what happened between you and Asha," I say, meeting his eyes with a small smile. "You're not as prickly as you let on. Asha might be missing out on one of the best things that's ever happened to her."
He smiles softly, hearing my words and accepting the compliment. That lasts for all of five seconds before his cocky, self-absorbed persona returns. "Of course she is. Glad you're finally catching up. But don't worry about me and her. I'm handling it." He takes a long pull off his beer.
I think about asking him what "handling it" means, but Idon't. Part of me doesn't want to know. I'm still processing that bit of information he shared at the Belmont Stakes watch party about Sydney and Warrick. He hasn't mentioned it since, and Sydney has never said anything, but I've noticed Warrick has been staying at his Louisville property. It could be coincidental with the estate situation still unresolved, but a house isn't the only thing in Louisville. Sydney is there too. She decided to go back to get her master's degree.
While getting lost in their drama is a distraction from my own, I want the peace that comes from being oblivious. I understand now, more than ever, the tremendous burden that comes with knowing.
"Well, if it isn't Laney Hart back in the flesh." The voice I'd prayed I wouldn't hear slices through my thoughts. I don't need to turn around. I know that voice, and now I know the secrets it carries. My eyes close as every muscle in my body goes rigid.
My mother's confession about my father didn't just bring things to light. It exposed a web of complicity that reached deeper than I could have ever imagined. London bore the weight of my father's identity because he took the fall for me, but he wasn't the only one carrying that burden. As mayor, Noah's father knew every sordid detail. And Noah… Gah, there's no universe where his father kept him in the dark.
Four months of London and me reliving every buried truth, laying our souls bare until nothing remained hidden. That's how I learned Noah wasn't just a bystander in London's initial rejection of me. He was the architect. He wasn't just threatening to expose the truth. He was threatening to take me down. "But would you trade places with her?" Those words echo in my mind. Noah wasn't just threatening to reveal that my hand delivered the killing blow—he was threatening to put me on trial for my father's death.
But Noah miscalculated. He thought that fear would keep London in line, and the truth would remain hidden, but his lies ran just as deep. The entire senior class heard him claim he witnessed London's hand wielding the knife. However, it wouldonly take me a few keystrokes to take him from liar to accessory. He helped hunt down my father. He helped lure him to Willow Creek. If he aims a gun at my head, there's a double-barrel shotgun pointed straight back at his.
I always wondered what kept him coming back time and time again. The soul-deep connection to be anything more than just friends with benefits was never there. For years, I questioned if he truly felt it, and now I know it was never about love. His father never pushed harder for him to stay away from me, because keeping me ignorant satisfied his goal of ensuring the Donovan name remained untarnished.
"Can we talk?" Noah asks, placing his hand on my back.
"I don't think she wants to talk to you," Trigg answers for me.
"I have to say I'm surprised to see you occupying the stool beside Laney," Noah subtly pushes back.
"You shouldn't be. I'm a Hale. I thought you would have learned by now…we don't lose," Trigg says with a challenging undertone. He may have been fine with entertaining Noah's company before, when he was trying to make his brother jealous in hopes of us getting back together, leaving him as the only Hale heir available for an alliance, but Noah is no longer of use to him. Still, Trigg will always have his brother's back, even when they don't see eye to eye.
Noah rolls his eyes. "Whatever…seriously, can I have a minute?" he tries again.
"I'm not sure we have anything to talk about," I sigh.
"If you're home after six years, I think we both know that's not true. You learned a truth, and I want to give you mine." His baby-blue eyes hold mine, and I can see his request is genuine.
"Fine, one minute," I confirm before turning to Trigg. "Do you mind giving us a minute alone?"
His eyes dart from me to the man standing on the other side. "Sure, I'll be over by the pinball machine if you need me."
Noah is quiet as he sits in Trigg's vacated seat, confirming my speculations are accurate. I can practically feel the weight of thetruth I know radiating off him in waves. It's in that silence that I realize I owe him an apology too. He wouldn't have had to bear the burden of these lies if I hadn't asked him to help me.
"I'm sorry—" I start, but he cuts me off.
"Don't… you have nothing to be sorry for. Just let me get this out." He takes a deep, cleansing breath before continuing. "When I left you in Bardstown, I was angry, but not for the reasons I'm sure you've assumed after learning the truth. I was angry because I felt like I failed you. You may have asked me to help you look for your dad in high school under the guise of a biology project, but I could have said no. I could have suggested we choose a different project, but I didn't. Instead, I offered my assistance willingly. I was hoping to steal more of your time by helping you look for your dad because I liked you. I never could have predicted how that one, yes, would irrevocably change our paths. The night everything went down outside the ice cream shop, I lied… yes, part of me saw it as a way to win a game I had no shot at winning otherwise, but over time, that changed. It was no longer about winning. It was about being a reason to make you smile…" he pauses and taps his thumb on the bar.
