“Yes, but only enough to calm me so I could think,” Elise said. “There was a bottle of Kent’s prescription sleeping pills on the bedside table. He said that the stress of his job kept him from sleeping.”
“Maybe it was his guilty conscience,” Olivia said.
Kathy grimaced. “Or worry about how to afford everything.”
“That’s more likely,” Elise said.
“You took a pill.” Olivia’s voice was encouraging. “But you didn’t know that Kent had already given you some.”
Elise nodded. “When I felt sleepy, I was glad. It was all horrible, but at the same time it was a relief. I thought about how in the morning I’d contact a lawyer.”
“Would it be Tara?” Kathy asked.
Elise smiled. “She certainly would know the meanest, most soulless lawyer there was. When I drifted off to sleep, I was almost happy.”
“You were thinking about Alejandro,” Olivia said.
“I was hoping about Alejandro. Maybe he didn’t know about his sister and my husband. But then, he and his brother had said things that suddenly made sense. Had everything between us been to distract me? Or could it have been some huge, cosmic coincidence that my husband and I had fallen for two people from the same family?”
“Or just old-fashioned proximity. They were both there, near you two,” Olivia said. “I can attest that youthful hormones tend to guide people, not wisdom. What happened when you woke up in a hospital?”
“Kent was holding my hand and he’d been crying.”
“Out of fear of going to jail?” Kathy’s voice was angry.
“My guess is that he was genuinely sorry,” Olivia said. “I doubt if he meant to harm you.”
“He didn’t,” Elise said. “He was just stupid, that’s all. He was kissing my hand and saying he was sorry. And he was telling me that from now on he’d be a better husband and we’d start over fresh. We’d forget about the past and go on from there.”
“Did you believe him?” Olivia asked.
“All I could think about was his cute little daughter. He was going to abandon her? I didn’t think so—and I didn’t want that. My throat was raw from the tube that had been stuck down it, but I managed to say, ‘I want a divorce.’”
“What did he say to that?” Kathy asked.
“He started pleading. I knew he was afraid that a divorce would make my dad fire him. But Kent could see that I wasn’t going to back down. That’s when my parents and his arrived.” Elise looked at Kathy. “A therapist was with them and she was talking about my suicide attempt as though it were a given. She was telling them how to ‘handle’ me to make sure I didn’t do it again and talking of a place where I’d be ‘protected.’ I could hardly speak but I kept saying no and trying to get Kent to tell them the truth.”
“But he saw his opportunity and took it,” Olivia said.
“He did. I think he was afraid that I’d press charges against him. Putting pills in somebody’s drink is a crime.”
“What did your parents say?” Kathy asked.
“My mother—as always—was disgusted with me. I don’t think I’ve ever pleased her in my entire life. But my father...” Again, Elise’s jaw clamped down. “My father was giving Kent looks as though to say, ‘I knew this was going to happen.’”
“Do you think he knew Kent had put the pills in your drink?” Olivia asked.
“No. I think my father thought I’d found out about Carmen and had tried to kill myself. He wanted me put under constant care so I couldn’t try to do it again. He and Kent signed papers and I...” Elise shrugged.
“You were put in a psychiatric ward,” Olivia said.
“And no one there believed me when I said I hadn’t tried to kill myself. One of the doctors said I was so angry that he was afraid that if I were released I might harm Carmen and her child.”
“That’s horrible!” Kathy said. “You were made into the villain. And meanwhile, Kent was at home like nothing had happened.”
“Then you met Jeanne,” Olivia said.
“She wasn’t my doctor so she couldn’t release me without the permission of my father and my husband. The, you know, sane people.”
“So you escaped in the trunk of her car.”
“I did. She let me out after we crossed the state line, and I sat in the front seat. We took turns driving.”
“What did you talk about?” Olivia asked.
Elise smiled. “Jeanne said, ‘Just so you know, I think your whole family is a bunch of douche wads and I’d like to see them locked up. But let’s talk about happy things.’ So we did. Food, gardens, and places we’d been. The next day she dropped me off at the diner in Summer Hill. She said, ‘I’m going to see that you will be given a chance to fix all of this.’”
“With lawyers,” Kathy said. “I know some.”
“I guess so, but I got the idea that she meant something else.”
Olivia smiled. “I’m on Jeanne’s side. I want to hear about happy things. I want to know about your shirtless hero.”
“Who may or may not have been spending time with me to cover for Carmen and—”
Olivia put up her hand. “Tell us the story, then let Kathy and me be the judge. How did you meet Alejandro?”
“Through Tara,” Elise said. “At least she’s the one who made me actually see him.” She shook her head. “It’s hard to imagine now but I was so involved with my husband that I paid no attention to the gorgeous, half-naked man sauntering through the garden two days a week. But then, Tara showed up and—”
“Wait!” Kathy said. “When and where was this?”
“Long Island, the summer before I found out about Carmen and their child. Back in the days when I still believed that Kent and I could possibly be a happy couple.”
“I want to know how you and Kent acted when you were together,” Olivia said. “And especially what you were like.”
Elise grimaced. “I was perfect because that’s what I thought it took to make a man love me.”
“Been there, done that,” Kathy said. “With every diet I hoped that—No. This is your story. Tell us about you and Kent, then we want details about you and the beautiful Alejandro.”
“We were and are nothing but friends. That’s all.” Elise’s voice softened. “It never went past that. On that last night, I tried, but he said no.” Her eyes seemed to fade as though in a dream.
“Does Alejandro have dark eyes?” Kathy asked.
Elise came back to the present. “Like a stallion at midnight.”
“And you never went to bed with him?” Kathy asked.
“I was never unfaithful to Kent. Not so much as a kiss. But there was one night with Alejandro when I was tempted to the point where I nearly broke. Moonlight and margaritas. We’d had an argument and he was leaving the country. I had some decisions to make and...” She looked at the women. “I guess I better start at the beginning.”
“Yes, you should,” Olivia said and the women settled back to listen.
Chapter Seven
Elise had on what looked like a 1950s nightie. Something out of a Sandra Dee movie. Physically, she didn’t have a lot on top but she knew her long, slim legs often sent men’s eyes into spirals. As usual, this morning, she was trying to entice her husband to actually look at her.
“The Becketts are a very important couple so cook something special, will you?” Kent said.
Elise leaned against the kitchen counter, her legs extended so they looked even longer. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. I’m not a cook. Have you seen my keys?”
“Behind you.”
He turned. “Where?”
“There. In that red lacquer box.”
He picked them up. “No wonder I couldn’t find them. Why did you put them inside that thing?”
“It’s a Japanese tebako box and I would never think of putting car keys in it. It might damage the finish.”
“If you didn’t put them there, who did?” When she started to speak, he put up his hand. “It doesn’t matter. I have to go.”
“Wait! I was wondering if you like what I have on.” She twirled around. It was a very short garment, covering the upper half of her with yards of semitransparent pale pink silk, and leaving the bottom half of her bare.
“It’s cute. How much did it cost?”