Chapter 31

Amy’sonly a third of the way through the shed when Jordana calls. She turns off her music, wipes the sweat from her brow, and picks up the call on speaker.

“Hi, Jordana.”

“Hi. I just saw your text. I was at the pool, swimming laps. Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner.”

“No worries. I wanted to let you know Michelle and Lynn were waiting for me at my house this morning when I got back from dropping Rich off at the airport.”

“They came to you? Nice.”

“Yeah.”

Jordana must notice the shift in Amy’s tone. “What did they say?” she asks somberly.

“They said Rich was sleeping with Heather.” There’s no reason to sugarcoat it.

The younger woman is at a loss for words. Amy knows the feeling.

She goes on, “According to them, he was cheating on his then-girlfriend, Julia, with my sister, and had been for a while. I didn’t know, obviously. But their boyfriends did, and so did they, apparently.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks.” She needs to get this out before she starts to cry. “Michelle and Lynn said the reason Rich was adamant that everyone keep quiet about the kids from Allderdice was that he ran into Andre while he was looking for Heather.”

“Were they together?”

“Rich said Heather wasn’t with him. But he asked Andre if he’d seen her and Andre’s answer pissed him off. I guess he said something crude. And Rich went after him. That’s what started the fight.”

“Did Lynn and Michelle know any details?”

“Nothing new. They said it wasn’t a big fight because the cops were coming over the hill, a couple of punches were thrown, some shoving. It’s pretty much what Rich already told me.”

“It’s still progress,” Jordana tells her. “I’m going to talk to one of Andre’s teachers later today and we’ll just keep plugging along. Maybe Maisy and Rich will find something useful in Quebec.”

“I hope so.”

Jordana hesitates, then says, “You don’t have to answer right now, but give some thought about how much of this you’re comfortable with us sharing on the podcast.”

“Believe me, I’ve been thinking about nothing else since they left here this morning. I’m tired of the lies. I’m tired of the secrets. You can blow it all wide open.”

“Do you want to talk to Rich first?”

“Screw Rich.” She hopes her distress isn’t evident.

Apparently it is, because Jordana asks, “Do you want me to come over there?”

Amy focuses on not crying. “You’re really sweet to offer, but I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? Maybe call one of your sisters to come over?”

“I’ll be fine. I’m in the middle of a cleaning frenzy.”

“My mom does that,” Jordana says. “When she’s upset, she cleans the house from top to bottom. Her house was spotless after I told her I wasn’t going to law school.”

This gets a genuine laugh from her. “I for one am glad you decided not to be a lawyer.”

“Yeah, that makes two of us. Maisy’s going to call me with an update later today. Do you want me to let you know when she checks in?”

“Please do, because I blocked Rich’s number from my phone. I won’t hear about it from him.”

She can tell that Jordana wants to respond, but she also knows that a college student can’t possibly know what to say to someone whose twenty-five-year marriage is falling apart.

“I’m okay, Jordana, honestly.”

She ends the call and returns to her cleaning. Twenty minutes later, she pulls down the bin full of old pool toys and sandbox buckets. The whole thing can just go, and she’s about to set it on the donation pile when she remembers Rich has some of his fishing gear in the box. She takes off the lid to remove the tackle box and then puts the rest of the items aside.

Amy’s on autopilot, opening boxes, and unlatches the tackle box. Then she spots something shiny and white on the bottom tray and a chill runs through her. When she pulls out her sister’s diary, her fragile grip on her emotions slips and she sinks to her knees in the middle of her shed.