Chapter 59

Evie

Isit shell-shocked in the front passenger seat of the car rental. Daniel is behind the wheel, Jeffrey in the back. We're parked on the side of Route 9 while Daniel searches on his phone for directions to the Denver airport.

We haven't spoken a word since leaving the Nordic Center when my boys wrapped me in a group hug and led me away. The fact that their arrival triggered something awful isn't lost on them.

The guests I passed on the short sprint to the car offered downward gazes and awkward glances. There was no point in waiting to say goodbye to Adam. His family is fractured by lies. Thanks to me.

I maneuver to eyeball both of my sons. "Boys, I'm so glad to see you. No matter what just happened back there."

"Are you okay?" Jeffrey asks, his face full of concern.

Rather than answer, I ask, "What are you two doing here?" I face Jeffrey who should be in Rome. "Is your dad okay?"

"Yeah."

I freeze. "Caroline?"

"Everyone's okay, Mom," Jeffrey says, "We came to surprise you for your birthday."

Daniel turns to face me and with deadpanned precision asks, "Were you surprised?"

A silent pause fills the car. And then I start laughing, the tears I'd been holding inside emerging like rivers down my cheeks. "Yes, sweetheart, I certainly was."

Daniel says, "We didn't think Caroline could keep a secret."

"Caroline knew about this?"

"Sure," Jeffrey says, "it was her idea."

Figures. Caroline was always one to make a big splash. Being laid up with her broken leg, she recruited my sons as proxies. She probably thought it would make for the most memorable fiftieth birthday in history. She wasn't wrong.

Jeffrey asks, "Was that the guy you like? The buff dude?"

"It doesn't matter anymore."

My sons appear stricken.

After a few silent beats, Daniel abandons the GPS and speaks up. "We really dropped the ball. You had a milestone birthday and we never even acknowledged it." He looks down at his lap. "We're really sorry, Mom."

Jeffrey nods. "When you didn't answer our calls, I kind of freaked out a little."

"Me too," Daniel admits. "I called Caroline. When she couldn't reach you either and saw you left California for Colorado, she offered to pay for us to come out here and make sure you're really okay."

The looks on their faces make my stomach drop. I've been the catalyst for so much worry and heartache. Steph and Brad, Anna and Ari, my boys.

Myself.

I'm an emotional wrecking ball.

Thoughts of Adam in his tux, stunned into silence at being outed, fill my mind. He was blindsided just like I was. But no matter how you cut it, he let me take the heat.

It's time to move on.

I extend a hand to each of my boys. "You two are my pride and joy. Come here."

The three of us squeeze over the console for an awkward embrace.

"You are the best sons any mother could ever ask for," I say, my voice muffled and raw.

When we pull back, Jeffrey says, "Not after what we just did at that wedding."

"You didn't do anything. That was a mess that I made. You understand?"

Jeffrey says, "Not really."

I have no idea how to explain all this. But I try.

"Here's the thing. I owed Adam a favor, a big one. The payback was, let's just say, ill-advised. At first, it was fun. No one would get hurt. I'd only be helping a new friend."

I have my boys' undivided attention.

"But untruths have a way of floating to the surface. Sometimes at the absolute worst possible time."

Like seconds before a bride walks down the aisle.

"Teachable moment?" Daniel says without an ounce of sarcasm.

It's surreal hearing my son use the same phrase I espouse when they mess something up. I laugh through my tears. "Yep, very big teachable moment."

I take the phone from Daniel, tap Start on the directions, and hand it back to him. "Come on, boys, let's go home."