Truth Be Told by Kathleen Barber

Author:Kathleen Barber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2017-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

chapter 14

Later that night, long after Aunt A’s friends and colleagues had gone home, after Aunt A had sent herself to bed, and after Ellen and her family had helped me clean up and then left for the hotel, I found myself alone in the living room with Caleb. I sat on the couch, staring at him while he hovered in the doorway, the few yards between us feeling ten times their size. We hadn’t been alone since he’d driven me home from the funeral, and we hadn’t had a conversation of more than twenty words since the previous night.

He picked up his suit jacket from the back of a nearby armchair and looked at me. “Jo—”

“How did you know?” I asked abruptly. I hated myself immediately for the question. I needed to mend my relationship with Caleb, soothe the hurt my lies had caused, not drag my sister into things.

He tilted his head at me, confusion flickering in his gray eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Yesterday, when Lanie pretended to be me. How did you know that she wasn’t?”

“Dunno.” He shrugged. “I just did.”

“But you didn’t even know she existed.”

“Yeah, but I know you.” He caught himself and looked away. “I thought I did, at least.”

His words stole my breath, painfully reminding me of how much I had hurt the man I loved.

“Caleb—” I started, but my throat felt suddenly parched and I grasped at a half-empty glass of water on the coffee table, chugging the contents.

Caleb frowned slightly. “I think that was left over from the reception.”

Grimacing, I set down the glass and crossed the room to stand before him. I had to tell him the whole, messy truth while I still had the courage. I knew how easy it would be for me to omit my history with Adam, to slip back into familiar patterns of lying, but I also knew how much our relationship now depended on honesty. If I wanted to make things right with Caleb—and I did, oh, I did—I needed to start being more truthful.

I took a deep breath and said, “Caleb, I have to tell you something.”

His face hardened, and he backed away slightly.

“It’s not . . .” I started before trailing off lamely. Better to just get it over with. “Before Adam was Lanie’s husband, he was my boyfriend.”

Caleb lifted his dark brows in surprise, and I wished I knew what he was thinking. I doubted that was the revelation he had been expecting.

“Adam and I had been dating for three years when Lanie slept with him,” I continued. “Or he slept with her. Or they slept with each other. I don’t know anymore. One of them was drunk, one of them was high, I don’t know who was more culpable. I don’t know that it matters. But Adam’s defense has always been that he thought Lanie was me.”

“Bullshit.”

I cracked a smile. “That’s the most succinct description of the situation I’ve heard yet.”

Caleb reached out and gently tucked my short hair behind my ear.

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