“I’ll see you later,” I said.
“Don’t think too hard about things. It will all work out how it’s supposed to.”
“I know. But I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t overthink.”
Even though the comment was directed toward my neighbor, I distinctly heard Gracie snort.
“What are you overthinking now?” she asked as I shut the door behind Regina and Quinn.
“Nothing. Everything.”
Her eyebrow raised in concern. “Trouble in paradise?”
“Nah. Only paradise in paradise. I’m just being silly.”
She studied my face for confirmation. “And you really need a girl’s night?”
“That, too. I’m really glad that you’re here.”
I gave her the big hug that I would have done had my neighbors not been here when she arrived. Maybe I had been hanging around Blake too much; her touchy-feeliness had rubbed off on me. Gracie indulged my need and took it like a champ.
“Happy birthday, hon,” I said once I’d gotten my fill.
“Thanks. The actual day was pretty epic,” she deadpanned, “the branch bought me a cake and my cash drawer balanced right out.”
“Good to hear,” I laughed.
As much as she downplayed it, I kind of missed the way my former coworkers had celebrated everyone’s birthday. Granted my birthday had fallen firmly amid a weekend this year, but I hadn’t seen anyone at my location have their special day commemorated with anything more than a passing thought. There was something to be said about working at the branch level. It truly felt like you were part of a family. On the corporate rung of the ladder, things were a little less personal. Sure, I had George and for a hot minute there’d been Stalker Jeff, but after that we were all a little indifferent towards one another. After the parking lot incident had resolved his need for security detail, even Bob had started parking his truck back in its former space.
“So where’s your better half?”
“He’s out with Chris.” As I said the name, I couldn’t help but contort my face a little bit. Things still weren’t to the point between the two of us that we could be considered friends. I tolerated him at best. Though he’d stuck up for me with Jeff, there was still animosity there and I couldn’t put the finger upon its cause. In my opinion, I’d been an exemplary girlfriend to Matthew. Maybe he was holding my friendship with Blake against me, or my past with Eric, but neither one of those was entirely fair.
“That sounds like torture,” Gracie commented as if reading my thoughts verbatim, “better him than us.”
“He may be thinking the same exact thing about what we’re doing tonight. So what’s on the agenda? It’s your birthday. You decide.”
I gave her the once over to see if I could determine her plans for us through her ensemble. Considering that she pretty much dressed the same wherever she went, her outfit gave me little clue. Her look would be the same if she was running to the grocery store for a gallon of milk. Today she wore a pair of fitted black capris and a sheer sparkly top over a black tank. On her feet were a pair of sandals with four inch heels, even though she didn’t need the help in the height department.
“You’re buying, right?” she asked mischievously. When I nodded, she smiled. “Then how does lobster sound?”
“You’re lucky I’m in a giving mood,” I joked. The truth was I’d give her the shirt off my back – if it would fit her – and she knew it. “But we’ve got some time to kill before dinner, so what do you want to do? Shopping?”
“I’m game for anything that doesn’t involve child rearing. For a moment there, I was scared.”
I giggled. I’d distinctly noticed the fear in her eyes when she’d thought for a split second that I’d invited Quinn over for an impromptu birthday party. Even though she’d joked about the baby belonging to me, I couldn’t imagine what her reaction would be if that was the reality. I supposed she’d have to learn to deal with it.
“Since you’re the local, what do you suggest?”
Instantly, I thought of the idea I’d had on my birthday. Here was my perfect opportunity. Logistically, things couldn’t work out any better, but guilt pushed the urge aside. Determined to keep my bad idea to myself, I stood in silence.
Gracie, however, brought it right back to the surface.
“What?” she asked.
I shook my head. This only intrigued her more.
“No, it’s stupid,” I said.
“Even better!”
“You are so not helping.”
“Tell me.”
Excitement danced in her brown eyes. It was hard to resist a face like that. I felt myself relenting, fully aware that she was going to win this battle. It didn’t mean that I couldn’t make her work for it.
“You remember when you came up here in February and we looked at this house?”
“Of course I do.”
“And what you made me do that night?”
“You mean the stalking tour?”
I nodded.
“Who are we stalking now? Matthew and Chris? Are you afraid they’re going to go ogle strippers or something? Isn’t it a little early in the day for that?”
Her ability to misread my intentions completely amused me.
“You couldn’t get any further off.”
Gracie’s eyebrows bunched together as she made a big deal out of attempting to solve the riddle. “Blake?”
“Nope.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to give Jeff a taste of his own medicine.”
“Heavens no.”
“Then who?”
“More like what,” I clarified.
She flopped down on my couch in frustration, extending a long leg in the air dramatically. “You’re tiring,” she summed up, “and I can’t help you if I have no idea what you’re talking about. If you want to play Twenty Questions, that’s cool with me. Or you could just spit it out. You know I won’t judge.”
“Fine.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and sat down next to her, defeated.
“You know that Matthew is pretty secretive about his parents. And now that he’s gotten to see where I grew up – and even gone with me to see my mom – I found myself getting more and more curious about where he came from.”
“Go on,” Gracie urged.
“Blake’s told me a little about their upbringing, but not a whole lot. By her accounts their parents were super rich, buying her a Mercedes for graduation. They took huge family trips together, things like that. Things that people like you and me could only imagine. And I know they live around here; Blake and Matthew went to school in this district. I don’t imagine that they’ve moved since everything happened.”
“And your inner real estate junkie wants to find this house just to see how massive it is?”
“Well, yes.”
“Why didn’t you just say so? Let’s do this. What’s the address?”
“I don’t exactly have it, but it should be pretty easy to find. I’ve just been afraid to look for it.”
“Why? Scared of what else you’ll find?”
There was no use being coy. Gracie, as much of an enabler as she was, was also extremely perceptive. The thought had crossed my mind more than once that I’d pull up something that I didn’t want to know. I’d accepted the version of events the siblings had given me at face value; what if there were other sides to the story? What if there’d been an inkling of concern in Jeff’s warning to me – not just malice?
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Would you look?”
Gracie nodded. “Get me your laptop.”
I shook my head. “No. On your phone.”
“Really? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
The other thing that had given me pause every time I’d considered searching for the information myself was that Matthew might pull up my browser history. Granted, I’d never seen him touch my computer before, but there was a first time for everything. And he was so sensitive about thin
gs that I couldn’t help but think he’d be devastated if he found out I’d made him my research project.
“I don’t want him to know.”
“So delete your search engine history.”
I stared at her until she sighed and pulled out her smartphone. She inched herself closer to me on the couch until I could see her phone almost as well as she could. Her manicured fingers flew over the touchscreen as she searched for my answers. As soon as results began to load, I turned away from the display.
“Didn’t Blake tell you most of this stuff is true?” Gracie asked when she noticed me hiding.
“Yes,” I admitted.
“So what’s the big deal?”
“I’m on a need to know basis. And there are some things I don’t need to know.”
“Whatever. Well, his parents are Alan and Patricia Snyder. That should be enough to get us what you’re looking for.” More typing, then a few seconds later, “Bingo. Let’s go.”
Before I could think better of it, she grabbed me by the arm and we headed to her car.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“I’m not sure about this,” I admitted once it was already too late.
Gracie had chosen to drive for this exact reason. If I had been at the wheel, I’d chicken out and not follow through. My friend, however, was totally committed to the plan and once her mind was set on something, it happened. She’d practically had to push me into the passenger seat and strap me in, but there I was, holding her phone and being her navigator.
She snorted. “We’re not doing anything wrong,” she declared, “we’re only sightseeing in your new hometown.”
Her flippant response did little to calm my nerves. My stomach twisted in ways that it hadn’t for several months. The uncomfortable feeling was strangely familiar and I cursed myself for being the reason that it had returned.
“It’s not like you’re going to pull in their driveway and knock on their door,” she continued. “Are you?”
That thought hadn’t crossed my mind. Now that she had put it there I felt a wave of nausea pass over me.
“No,” I said quickly, “the whole parental ship has sailed. I’m not about to touch that with a ten foot pole.”
“So what are you so worried about? It’s not like they know you from Adam. Or me. They probably wouldn’t even recognize their own children now.”
She took her eyes off the road momentarily to give me a reassuring glance. Or at least I imagined that’s what she was doing. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of knockoff designer sunglasses. I couldn’t really tell the difference; I just knew what her finances looked like. There was no way she could have bought the real thing.
“We’ll be fine. We’re just house hunting.” As if to prove her point, she gestured to a for sale sign that graced the front lawn of a home. Maybe home was the wrong word to describe it. Mansion would probably be more appropriate. “What do you think, lender girl? Could I get a loan for that?”
Despite myself, I smiled.
“Just breathe. If you pass out, you’ll miss the whole thing. And my phone’s already tainted with the proof of our shenanigans; I’m not about to start taking pictures of it for you. Anyway, we could have just found those on the internet. Admit it, you want to see the real thing.”
“Fine. I do. And I think we’re getting close.”
I consulted her phone and read off the directions that remained. The elder Snyders lived in a relatively posh neighborhood, a fact that I’d never really doubted. Fortunately for me and my prying eyes Fort Wayne wasn’t home to a plethora of gated communities. There were one or two, but that whole scene hadn’t really taken off in the local real estate market. In this corner of the Midwest, the wealthy liked to be seen.
“What in the hell do these people do to afford places like these?” Gracie muttered to herself as we drove on. “Certainly there can’t be that many doctors and lawyers in this town.”
I shrugged, but she had a point. We were surrounded by trappings of success on both sides. The accounting major in me wondered how many cash-strapped homeowners these houses had created. I’d read articles about people that overextended themselves to look impressive, buying fancy houses and luxury cars to keep up with their neighbors only to sit on plastic lawn furniture inside.
“We’re running out of road,” Gracie observed, “are you sure they live on this street?”
I gave her a dirty look. “Are you questioning my literacy?”
“Just saying,” she drawled.
“There it is,” I breathed, confirming the address with her phone.
The Snyder home was in the back of the addition, but still on the main drag. A cul-de-sac lot, the stately house sat back quite a ways from the street. A winding driveway led to a enormous contemporary structure that upon my best estimates was six thousand square feet. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was additional living space in a basement. Whatever the case, it was way more house than necessary for a family of four, let alone two.
“Wow,” Gracie whispered.
She slowed the car to a crawl and took the cul-de-sac at a snail’s pace. I half expected her to park and was just about to preemptively scold her when she returned to a more typical speed and the estate was in the rearview mirror. We probably weren’t the first people to stop and stare at this showpiece, but for obvious reasons I didn’t want to draw any more attention to ourselves than we already had. This was clearly not a neighborhood for those that owned a Ford Taurus.
“So that’s how the other half lives,” she mused.
I stared out the window, steeling myself against the angry tears that threatened.
“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, picking up on my lack of commentary.
“I’m fine,” I said firmly. My abruptness clearly stated that the discussion was over and she let it drop. My internal dialogue had just begun, but I wasn’t yet willing to share.
I don’t know what I had expected to happen by seeing the residence for myself. A sense of closure on that chapter of his life, perhaps? In my heart of hearts, I’d wanted it to look neglected and run down. I’d wanted it to reflect the years of indifference that they’d shown towards their children. I’d wanted it to appear as though his parents had been tormented by their actions, embarrassed about discarding their family in order to maintain their social status.
Instead the house had sneered back at me. It was pristine in nature, right down to its expertly manicured lawn and tended flower garden. Immaculate and plastic, just like their reputation. Life had continued on for them like they hadn’t disowned their kids, as if they hadn’t thrown them out that impressive entrance into the cold dark night and turned their backs on them forever.
I was surprised at the intense hatred I held for these people I’d never met. They didn’t deserve to have children. Especially not children like Matthew and Blake.
Gracie read my nonverbal clues like a book and did her best to bring me back from the depths of despair. The rest of the day was spent frivolously, doing girl things like shopping and getting our nails done. When we settled in at the restaurant to dine on our lobster, my sour mood had nearly evaporated. My best friend was good for that, for making things better.
But after we’d stayed up late watching a bad horror movie on television and eating popcorn, those depressing thoughts returned as soon as she’d retired to the guest room to finally get some sleep. Maybe it had something to do with me being alone in a bed for the first time in months, but I just couldn’t turn my brain off and stop thinking.
After a solid hour of trying to fall asleep, I turned on the bedside lamp and reached for my phone.
Awake?
The text was simple, straight to the point. It was, after all, three in the morning. I held my breath as I waited, feeling guilty. I didn’t truly expect an answer. No matter how badly I wanted to make contact with him, in all likelihood he was asleep.
Seconds later my phone rang. I jumped, staring down at my cell in disbelief.
&
nbsp; “Hey,” I answered.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. I was quick to note that he sounded wide awake as well.
“Nothing,” I lied softly, sitting up in bed and arranging the sheet around my waist. It felt odd to wear pajamas, but with Gracie here I needed to display some sort of modesty. How quickly my habits had changed.
He responded with a short laugh, calling my bluff.
“What are you still doing up?” I asked, hoping to distract him.
“Missing you.”
His simple statement made my heart seize.
“Are you still with Chris?”
“No, he left a little while ago. How about Gracie?”
“She went to bed already. She’s a lightweight.”
“Did you have a good day?”
“Yeah, it was fun.”
I gave him a rundown of the activities we’d done, of course leaving out the one that he’d be most interested in. Though he had no clue what I was omitting, he spotted the exclusion immediately.
“And?” he prompted.
I sighed, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to keep it from him.
“And I did something stupid.”
There was silence on the other end as he waited for me to continue.
“I drove past your house,” I said quickly, wanting to come out with the truth as painlessly as possible. Maybe rushing through it would hurt less, like ripping off a bandage.
He didn’t get it. I wasn’t exactly spelling it out for him, either.
“Not your house now, but your old one. Your parents’ house.”
“Oh.”
I held my breath and waited for more. Now that the big reveal had been done, I expected anger, questioning, anything but the quiet that I was given. I pulled the phone away from my ear to make sure we were still connected, that he hadn’t hung up.
“So what did you think?” he asked eventually.
I went with my first impression. “It’s huge.”
That drew a genuine laugh and I relaxed considerably.
“You’re not mad?” I inquired, just to make sure.
“Why?” Said so innocently, like he couldn’t fathom why I’d think that.
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