Chapter 2

“Six months?”

Daniel released my wrist.

Paige wiped at her tears, but her voice still shook. “You can’t stand there and tell her this only happened tonight.”

“Paige, enough.”

“Why?” She stared at him. “You promised I wouldn’t have to keep hiding.”

I didn’t ask how many promises they had made each other. I kept my eyes on Daniel.

“When was the first time?”

He moved toward me. “Nora, let’s talk about this at home. This isn’t the place—”

“Give me a date.”

Paige answered before he could.

“The night of your father’s memorial service.”

Daniel spun toward her.

She didn’t look away. Instead, she straightened her shoulders, as if she had finally forced him to admit what they were.

I remembered the half-packed box on the floor of my father’s house.

After the memorial, I had stayed behind alone to sort through his belongings.

Daniel received a call from Paige, who said she was having a panic attack over the divorce.

When he put on his coat, I was holding a box of old tapes my father had recorded.

I asked Daniel if he could wait before leaving.

He said Paige only had us.

He came back at two in the morning carrying coffee and sat on the floor with me while I sealed the last few boxes.

Before I fell asleep against his shoulder, I had felt guilty for not wanting him to leave.

The next morning, Paige sent me a message thanking us for being there when she was at her lowest.

I told her she didn’t need to apologize. I said she could call anytime she needed us.

Now she was using the trust I had given her to force Daniel to acknowledge their relationship.

“What happened that night?” I asked.

“It was one kiss,” Daniel answered immediately. “She was upset, and I’d been drinking too. I stopped after a few seconds.”

Paige’s tears kept falling. “You called me the next morning.”

“Because I was afraid you might hurt yourself.”

“You said you couldn’t abandon me.”

Daniel closed his eyes.

When he looked at me again, his breathing had turned uneven.

“Nora, I love you. What I did that night was wrong, but I never planned to leave you. Our wedding is in three days. We can’t end everything now.”

He reached for my shoulder. I stepped away.

“You didn’t leave me,” I said. “You just kept going to her first, then coming back and expecting me to understand.”

Paige moved closer.

“If you’re really leaving, don’t let him blame all of this on me. Daniel kissed me first.”

She wasn’t confessing for my sake.

She simply refused to let Daniel save our relationship by making the entire six months her fault.

I picked up my bag and checked that the recorder was still inside.

Daniel grabbed the strap.

“Tell me what you need me to do. I’ll fix this.”

Paige immediately called his name.

He looked back at her.

She wrapped her arms around herself, crying. “Are you going to abandon me now too?”

Daniel didn’t answer.

I pulled the bag from his hand and called Leah. After I gave her the address, she asked only one question.

“Have you been drinking?”

“Yes.”

“Wait by the entrance.”

I left the apartment.

Daniel followed, calling my name again and again. Paige stood in the doorway and asked when he was coming back.

He didn’t turn around.

Leah pulled up fifteen minutes later.

I opened the back door. Daniel caught up and blocked it with his hand before I could close it.

My phone was still in my palm.

The group chat with both our families was already open on the screen.