“What happened? I mean, you told me what happened at the convention—which I can’t believe you went to, by the way—but how did this happen?”
Elly bit her lip in an attempt to stifle a sob. “He was hiding something from me. He is. I know it. I’m not imagining it. I know it in the deepest part of my being. I ignored it for so long because I was so, so …,” she let out a cry, “so ridiculously happy with him and I couldn’t bear the thought of rocking the boat.”
“But you did, anyway?”
Elly nodded. “It wasn’t until I caught him lying about little things that I let myself go down that road, but I had to know, I had to.”
“And you still don’t know what it is.”
“No. He still wouldn’t tell me, even if it meant losing me. I asked him straight to his face, Kim. He kept asking me to let it go, but why should I? I don’t need to be told by another man that he needs more than I can give, that I’m not good enough.”
Kim looked skeptical. “I’m almost positive that is not it. Keith is a good guy. He adores you. He does. The only other time I’ve ever seen a man be so in love is….”
“Sean?” Kim gave a happy nod. “He is a sap, I’ll agree. But Keith loves you, Elly.”
“He’s never said so before today, not until he was afraid of losing me. He used it as a Hail Mary pass, and that infuriates me. It’s ruined that moment forever.”
Kim shook her head. “Oh, that would be terrible. Whatever he is hiding Elly, it is not another woman, I’m sure of it.” She paused. “Okay, I’m about 99 percent sure of it.”
Elly bit her lip. “Well, I’m not. This feels the same, Kim. This feels like when I was married, and I had this nagging feeling that something was going on behind my back. I ignored it then, too, and then I found a redhead straddling my husband.”
“That was then, Elly. And you are over that.”
“I am, but I’m not over Keith. This is him keeping secrets, now. I know you are on Team Keith over here….”
“I am not on Team Keith.”
“Yes, you are.”
“I’m on Team What’s Best For Elly.”
“And you think Keith, who has some secret keeping me away from his house, is what’s best for me? Let me tell you something, a man keeping a secret from me is not what is best for me. That, I know. I’ve been down that road once, and I won’t do it again. I’m not that person anymore.”
Kim nodded, curling one of Elly’s blond tendrils through her hand. “I know you aren’t. What do you think it could possibly be? I mean, let’s look at this in a logical way.”
“I have been.”
“I’m not sure that bringing it up in the middle of a sci-fi convention says ‘logical.’”
“Whatever. It came up naturally.”
“And you wouldn’t go outside with him to talk?”
“No. Whatever it was, he could have told me there. I didn’t want him to tell me outside. Maybe I was afraid to hear it alone. What secret is so horrible that you have to take someone outside to tell them? It was just proof of his guilt.”
“His guilt about what?”
Elly gave a heartbroken sigh. “I don’t know.”
Kim looked up at the thick cloudy sky, its green hue hinting at a dangerous storm. “Maybe he is homeless.”
“Kim. He’s not homeless. And he acted insulted when I suggested it. Homeless people don’t run delis. He has a wife or girlfriend or something.”
“Have there been any other signs of that? Secret phone calls? Canceled dates?”
Elly nodded. “Just last week, he was supposed to run home, grab something, and come back and he never did. He just called and said that ‘something came up’ and wouldn’t say any more about it.”
Kim nodded as she sipped from a large wine glass. “I can see how that would be troubling.”
“It’s more than troubling,” deadpanned Elly. “It’s cheating.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I feel like in my heart I do.”
“Really? And what does your heart feel now?”
Broken beyond belief, thought Elly. Like there is a deep gorge in my chest that can only be fixed by laying Keith against it. Like all my hopes have been plunged into cold water. She let a tear roll down her cheek onto her shirt. “It feels like crap, pretty much.”
“Oh, El.” Kim wrapped her tiny arms around Elly’s shoulders. “I think you should call him and just talk to him.”
“No. We’re done. He walked away from me.” Elly didn’t share the look in his eyes as she turned her back on him, the pleading desperation in his face. He hadn’t wanted to go, but what choice did she have? He kept secrets, he had been lying. She would not come home to find Keith with another woman. As much as her heart was broken now, it was nothing compared to what it would be then. Each moment with him was risking that brutal surprise.
The wind picked up suddenly and hurled a plastic pot across the patio. The bulbous, dark sky swirled quickly above them and lightning lit up the horizon, the warm, wet air dangling dangerously. “I think we should go in,” said Kim. “I’ll turn on the TV, see what is going on.”