Chapter 2

The next evening, Sloane taught me that five years of boundary-crossing had never been an accident.

She understood exactly where a married person should draw the line. She simply did not think that line applied to Conrad and me.

Conrad had asked me to meet him for dinner with Ben and Lauren before the ski trip. He said he did not want us to spend my birthday weekend angry at each other.

I almost stayed home. Then I decided I was tired of being the only person expected to make things comfortable.

Sloane was already at the restaurant when I arrived.

Her ski jacket hung over the back of her chair. Conrad's lift pass sat beside her phone. She had bought it for him before he had even told me our beach trip was gone. The two of them compared the weather forecast like they had done this a hundred times before.

He looked up when he saw me. "Hey. I ordered your wine."

I sat beside him. "Thanks."

For most of dinner, nobody mentioned the weekend.

Ben finally broke first.

"Great snow coming, huh?" He looked at Conrad. "Maybe I should grab my gear and crash your trip."

Before Conrad could answer, Sloane laughed and reached across the table to tap Lauren's wrist.

"Nice try, Ben. Tomorrow is your anniversary."

Lauren smiled.

Sloane pointed her fork at Ben. "Do not make your wife beg you to stay home. Snow will happen again. Your anniversary will not."

Ben lifted both hands. "Yes, ma'am."

Everyone laughed.

I left the question unanswered.

Sloane knew exactly when an old hobby became disrespectful.

She knew a wife should not have to compete with a ski weekend on a date that mattered.

She had just decided that rule belonged to Lauren, not me.

My gaze moved to Conrad.

He had heard the same words. He only smiled into his drink.

An hour later, Ben and Lauren hugged us goodbye outside the restaurant. Conrad went to bring the car around.

Sloane and I were left alone beneath the awning.

Cold wind pushed loose hair across her cheek. She tucked it behind one ear.

I said, "Do not make your wife beg you to stay home."

She blinked. "What?"

"You knew exactly what to say to Ben."

Her expression stayed innocent for another second.

Then she smiled.

Not warmly this time.

"Maren, if I wanted Conrad, I could have had him years ago."

I held her gaze. "That is not an answer."

"We ski together. We travel together. We have always done that." She tilted her head. "You married him knowing who his friends were."

There it was again.

The sentence that had protected New Zealand, the midnight weather calls, the gear in my garage, and every trip I had been told was too harmless to question.

Their history was always presented as something I had agreed to inherit without limits.

"And you know when my birthday is."

Her smile thinned.

Headlights swept across the curb before she could answer.

Conrad pulled up. Sloane opened the passenger door first, then paused with a little laugh.

"Oops. You take the front, Maren."

Conrad smiled at her as if she had done something generous.

I got into the passenger seat.

The second we stepped into our house, I turned to him.

"I heard what she told Ben."

Conrad had one hand on the light switch. He closed his eyes for a moment.

"Maren, not tonight."

"She told another man not to abandon his wife on their anniversary for a ski trip. Then she is taking you away on my birthday."

"She was joking with Ben."

"No. She understands the boundary. That is the problem."

He dropped his keys into the bowl by the door harder than necessary.

"Why are you making Sloane responsible for a decision I made?"

That stopped me.

For once, he was right about something.

I nodded. "Fine. Then I am asking you. Not her."

I pointed toward the half-packed beach suitcase by the stairs.

"You promised me this weekend two months ago. Keep the promise."

Conrad stared at me.

I stopped trying to classify Sloane for him. The canceled promise was enough.

I waited for my husband to answer a simple question.

Finally, he pulled out his phone.

"Fine."

He called her in front of me.

Sloane answered on the second ring.

"Hey, Con."

Conrad looked at me while he spoke. "I am not going tomorrow. Maren and I are keeping the beach trip."

There was a brief silence.

Then Sloane's voice came through the speaker, soft and perfectly controlled.

"Of course. Your marriage comes first. I understand."

Conrad's jaw tightened.

"I am sorry."

"Do not be. Have a good trip."

She ended the call.

For the first time in two days, I could breathe without feeling something pressing against my chest.

Conrad carried our suitcase down from the stairs and set it beside the front door.

"We leave at eight," he said.

I nodded.

Then his phone buzzed.

He looked at the screen.

A message from Sloane filled the preview.

[I'll come by tonight and take all my gear out of your garage. I don't want to make Maren uncomfortable anymore.]

Conrad read it twice.

The suitcase for our beach trip stood between us.

He did not look relieved.