Claire wanted so badly to believe him, but a warning bell went off in her head. After she’d confronted him about The Saddle, she’d been positive that he was telling the truth. She’d started working on herself and trying to be more present in their relationship. She’d asked her mom to take Sadie twice a week, so she and Gavin could have a few hours alone at night. She’d been reading his sermons, asking him about his day, and preparing his favorite meals, but she hadn’t really seen any changes. There was still some sort of wall between them. And this text felt off. He rarely stayed out that late without her.
She bit her lip, debating what to do. She’d promised that she trusted Gavin, and she’d meant it. But she had to go with her gut here.
She threw her phone back in her bag. “I have to go. I’m so sorry. Y’all stay, finish your dinners.”
Gabby glanced up in surprise. “What’s wrong?”
“Yeah, you have to tell us,” Madison demanded.
Claire took a deep, shuddering breath and decided it was time to finally come clean to her friends. After all, if she couldn’t count on them, who could she count on? “I think you were right about Gavin, Mads. I caught him at the strip club.” She looked up toward the ceiling, frustration festering inside her.
Laura grabbed her hand from across the table. “Oh, sweetie.”
Claire sighed. “I asked him about it and he insisted he’s going for work, as part of church outreach.”
Outrage flashed across Madison’s face. “Hold up—he really said that?”
“I believed him at first, but now I think he might be lying,” Claire confessed. “I’m going to drive by the club. If he’s not there, I’ll know I was wrong and I’ll never doubt him again. But if he’s there—”
“We’ll kick his ass,” Gabby interjected, rising to stand.
“Obviously we’re going with you,” Laura said, grabbing her purse from her chair. Madison was already putting her jacket on.
Claire wanted to say no, that she needed to do this herself, but she couldn’t bear to face this alone. “Thank you,” she whispered.
After they paid the bill, they ran outside, dashing through the pouring rain to Claire’s car. The drive to The Saddle was quiet. When they reached the parking lot, they scanned the vehicles looking for Gavin’s truck. “Oh god, there it is,” Madison said, pointing out the truck with the RON PAUL bumper sticker.
Claire felt her head spinning. Her stomach roiled like she was going to be sick.
“Wait, let’s not jump to conclusions just yet,” Laura interjected. “Maybe he’s really helping that poor girl like he said he was.”
“But . . .” Claire stared dazedly at Gavin’s truck. “Now that I know about this supposed girl, why wouldn’t he just tell me that was where he was? Why would he say he was watching the game with his friends?” A jolt of anger passed through her and she turned off the ignition in a swift move. “I’m going in.”
“You got this,” Gabby said from the backseat.
Claire threw open the door and stepped outside, running through the thunderstorm to the front door of the dingy club. Inside, the place reeked of cigarette smoke, and the tiled floors were sticky under her boots. The lighting was dim and anonymous. All she could see were the outlines of men watching a young brunette dance around the pole onstage to a rap song.
Claire’s heart pumped in sync with the heavy bass. She slipped past one of the scantily clad women serving cocktails and scanned the room for Gavin. Nothing.
In the back of the bar, she noticed a VIP room with the black velvet curtain drawn closed. Maybe, just maybe, he was in there, counseling the stripper he’d told her about. If that was the case, she’d forgive him for all the lies. But, if she found him in there doing anything else . . . she didn’t even know what would happen.
As she approached the room she realized the curtain was gaping open just enough for her to see in. Claire looked around the strip club, making sure that no one was watching her, and then peered through the curtains. There was a stripper on a man’s lap, facing her. The stripper’s obvious implants were pointing in Claire’s direction, and Claire blushed. She couldn’t see behind the girl’s mass of blond hair; all she could see was her hot pink thong and the man’s legs—he was wearing brown leather dress shoes and dark navy slacks. Claire leaned in a little closer, and at that moment, the girl flipped around toward the man. His face came into perfect focus.
Gavin.
Claire covered her mouth and stumbled back, tears beginning to stream down her face, and ran away from the curtain before either of them noticed her. In a daze, she wove her way through the dark club and out the door. For a moment, she just stood there, sobbing as the heavy rain poured down over her.
Then a car door slammed and Madison, Laura, and Gabby rushed toward her, surrounding her in a tight hug. Laura wrapped her arm around her waist and led her back to the car.
When they were all buckled in, Gabby finally spoke. “What do you need us to do?”
“We’re here for you, Claire,” Laura added. “Anything. Anything at all.”
Her mouth was dry and she felt shell-shocked, but she mustered up the energy to respond. “Thank you. But there’s nothing y’all can do right now. Just be there for me when I call.”
? ? ?
“YOU LOOK LIKE hell,” Jillian said, putting her iPad down on the coffee table as Claire walked in the front door. Her hair was wet and curly from the rain. “Come in, get warm.” She grabbed Claire’s shoulders and led her into the living room, wrapping a blanket around her. “Why do you look so upset?”
Claire began crying into her mom’s shoulder.
Jillian rubbed her back. “What’s wrong, sweetie? Gavin again?”
Claire nodded as her tears fell. “He lied to me,” she said finally, shaking her head in disbelief. “I caught him at the strip club again.” She closed her eyes, trying to get rid of the image, but all she could see was the stripper’s hot pink thong and Gavin’s face, his eyes locked onto that girl’s implants.
“Oh, honey,” her mom said. “I’m so sorry. I really didn’t see this coming.”
“You and me both, Ma.” Claire slouched into the couch. She told her mother everything—how he’d lied and how she’d found him getting a lap dance. “He’s strayin’, and there’s nothing I can do about it.” Her mind flashed forward to her worst-case scenario, her life spiraling downhill. There’d be hard days and nights of raising Sadie by herself, just like her mom had done with her. And she was going to have to find another job, wasn’t she? She couldn’t work with Gavin anymore if they got divorced.
Jillian handed her a Kleenex. “You’re really just gonna give up like that? Sweetie, there is something you can do about it. You just have to. He’s the father of your baby, and she needs her daddy,” she said with a steely look in her eyes. “Believe me—I’ve been there. I love being your mother, but being a single mom was so hard. You need to try to make it work—for both you and Sadie.”
Claire blew into the tissue, her eyes burning from all the tears. “But how? I don’t even know what went wrong in the first place. Why would he throw away our marriage like that?”
Her mom nodded. “Think about it, Claire. It’s not necessarily his fault.”
“I know, Mama. I know you think it’s mine. But I’ve been trying, I swear.”