We Knew All Along by Mina Hardy

Author:Mina Hardy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

CHAPTER

22

“I WANT TO TALK to you about my son.” My voice is steady. Nonconfrontational. Firm.

Christian leans in the carriage house doorway, arms crossed over his chest. “I figured you would. Where’d your day drunk booze buddies go?”

“Are you going to let me in?”

He steps aside with a smile and a wave of his hand. “And here I thought you didn’t trust yourself around me alone.”

I wait until he moves far enough for me to get past him without touching him. It’s not that I don’t trust myself, or even that I don’t trust him. I just remember, that’s all. How it used to be.

Inside the living area, I stop short. My teeth shut tight on a gasp. My fists clench until I put one over my heart. It doesn’t stop the pounding there.

Everything is gone.

The brown floral couch with the wooden arms and legs, omnipresent in every single house I ever entered in the eighties. The matching wagon-wheel coffee table. The pineapple pendant lamps.

“You asshole.” I think I say this aloud, but it must only be in my head, because Christian doesn’t react.

“Looks much better, huh?” He takes a slow spin, arms out. “Next up is new flooring. There’s still something going on with the plumbing, by the way. Ken and I had a nice little talk about it when he came over.”

He sounds like he’s taunting me, trying to get me to ask what else he and my husband discussed, or at least see if I knew about that nighttime rendezvous. I can’t focus on that right now. My stuff is gone, and my heart thumps hard, and my throat closes in a panic.

“What did you do with everything you took out of here?”

His eyes slant away from mine as his lips thin. That look, oh, I know it. I’ve seen it. He’s getting ready to lie. But about what?

“I had St. Francis thrift come and pick it up. I didn’t think to grab a receipt for you, but I guess you could deduct it on your taxes anyway.”

I shake my head. My skin feels clammy. I swallow hard, my mouth dry. The place is empty. All of my things, given away. Taken away. If I hadn’t moved all my boxes out, he’d have gotten rid of those, too. And I know it’s just stuff, only things I didn’t even use, but it’s always been about having them, and I’m ashamed that I know this and still can’t stop myself from feeling the overwhelming rush of fury that they’re gone.

“What about the bedroom? Did you clear that out, too?”

“Not yet. Gotta have a place to sleep until I get my stuff in here from my storage unit.”

This is another lie, based on the way his expression twists. How do I still know him so well after all this time? I know he’s not telling me the truth, but I don’t know what, exactly, he’s lying about.

“Relax, Jewelann. You’re so tense.”

I straighten up, squaring my shoulders. “I don’t need any advice from you, okay? You know what, while I’m here, I do need the rent.

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