22
Aubrey was touched when Griff called her from the police station. Touched, but not surprised that she was the one he’d turn to in his moment of need. He didn’t call Jenny, even though Jenny was the mayor and tight with the chief of police and could pull strings. He called Aubrey, because Aubrey had always been on his side. Aubrey had the integrity not to blame Griff for his father’s mistakes. She never thought less of him because he’d lost his vast fortune. She never stopped thinking he was gorgeous, and interesting. She never wavered in her support and friendship even when his family name became synonymous with “crook” in certain circles. When Jenny and Tim lost the money they’d invested with Marty Rothenberg’s firm, Jenny turned her back on Griff. She was afraid of associating with the likes of him, as if the stigma would rub off. Griff moved up to Belle River and couldn’t find a job to save his life, but did Jenny offer to help? Nope. Everybody in town owed her a favor and she couldn’t be bothered to make a single call. What kind of way was that to treat an old friend?
Jenny wasn’t the worst offender, though, not by a long shot. Kate had vowed to take Griff for better or worse, richer or poorer. On their wedding day, as Aubrey recalled, Griff was richer and Kate was poorer. She’d run through her trust fund, and her father wouldn’t pony up any more beyond the cost of the fancy wedding, but Griff went ahead and married her anyway, without so much as a pre-nup. Was Kate grateful to him for coming to her rescue? Hell, no. The second the feds raided Rothenberg Capital and slapped the cuffs on Griff’s dad, Kate turned around and started treating her husband like dirt. He could no longer support her in the fashion to which she was accustomed. Coming down in the world is a bitch, and Kate took her frustration out on her husband. Forget the vows. Marriage vows meant nothing to Kate. That part about forsaking all others? Optional, as far as Kate was concerned, as Aubrey had learned to her own pain and disappointment. Aubrey spent her entire adult life thinking the sun rose and set on Kate Eastman, but she’d learned the hard way that Kate was not worthy of her admiration.
Griff apparently didn’t know that yet, since he was crying on the phone. She wondered if she should enlighten him about Kate and Ethan. But it didn’t seem like the right moment.
“What happened to Kate?” Aubrey said. “I can’t understand you, Griff. Calm down, speak slowly.”
Ethan was sitting at the kitchen island, working on a jigsaw puzzle with Viv. He’d been out all night Thursday and didn’t come home till the wee hours on Friday. He probably still thought she was in the dark, but she’d been keeping tabs on Kate and Ethan for months now. Watching, thinking, dreaming of turning the tables. Ethan had a slight greenish bruise that looked suspiciously like a black eye. What was that all about? Aubrey had pretended not to notice—why give him the satisfaction?—and they’d barely spoken all weekend. He crept around like this wasn’t his house, spending most of his time watching football in the basement, emerging only ten minutes ago when Viv begged him for attention. The second Kate’s name was mentioned, however, Ethan came to life.
“What’s that?” he asked, looking over at her.
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God. No!” Aubrey said.
Ethan’s face went white. “What is it? What happened?”
She waved at him to shut up.
“How did it happen?” she asked Griff.
“How did what happen?” Ethan cried, and she made him wait while she listened to Griff’s tale in gruesome detail.
“You shouldn’t go through this alone,” Aubrey said into the phone. “No. No, really. I’m coming down there right away. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Okay? You just sit tight, honey.” Aubrey hung up and turned to Ethan. “I have to go to the police station,” she said.
“Jesus, Aubrey. Didn’t you hear me asking what happened?”
“Griff needs moral support.”
“Aubrey, what happened to Kate?” Ethan demanded.
Aubrey glanced meaningfully at Viv. “Little pitchers have big ears. I’ll call you from the road,” she said, though she had no intention of doing that. Let him stew. Like all those nights she sat up wondering when and if he was coming home, and the whole time he was out screwing her best friend. Aubrey had always prided herself on being so smart, and yet she’d let them play her for a fool. Not anymore.
Viv had been following the adults’ conversation closely. “What happened to Aunt Kate, Mommy?” Viv asked.
“She was in an accident, baby. I have to go help Uncle Griff. Hopefully I won’t be late, but if I am, Dad will give you dinner.” Aubrey turned to Ethan. “There’s a pizza in the freezer, and veggies in the crisper to make a salad.”
Ethan stood up. “I’m coming with you.”
“No,” she said firmly. “Somebody needs to stay with the kids. Lilly has an algebra test tomorrow. You need to make sure she studies.”
“I’m a doctor. If there was an accident, I can help.”
“It’s too late for that.”
He went white. “What do you mean, too late?”
“Are you really gonna make me say it in front of her?” Aubrey said, and grabbed her car keys from the basket. She slammed the garage door extra hard as she went out to the car.
Aubrey was sick and tired of making nice with that scumbag cheater piece of shit. All the love she’d ever felt for Ethan was gone. And that was tragic, because she’d loved him a lot once. When they met, she was a grad student in comparative religion, and he was an orthopedics resident at the hospital. He came to a yoga class she taught at the student center, because he was interested in yoga as therapy for joint injury. He ended up asking her to dinner, where Aubrey wowed him with her knowledge of the Vedic spiritual roots of various poses. At the time, Ethan seemed like the answer to her prayers. He was handsome and successful, and she was lonely and broke. Her college friends had moved away, and there was nobody to warn her to put the brakes on with Dr. Heartthrob. She fell for Ethan hard, and the more invested she got, the more he backed off. He probably wouldn’t have married her if she hadn’t gotten pregnant with Logan. But once Logan was born, Ethan seemed really happy—so long as family life didn’t interfere with his work. She quit her PhD program to stay home with their growing family, because Ethan was so busy with his career. Aubrey went from being a Carlisle brainiac to being a doctor’s wife, ignored and taken for granted, and she was still in the process of digging herself out from that.
Aubrey slid behind the wheel of the Volvo and looked up to find Ethan right beside her, holding the driver’s-side door open so she couldn’t leave.