question, he didn’t say anything. He just waited as she wept all over him.
When she finally got control of herself and the sobbing had been reduced to sniffles, he carefully pulled her away and tilted her chin up so she looked at him.
“What’s wrong, Rachel? Can you sit down and tell me about it? Where the hell is Ethan?”
At Ethan’s name, she closed her eyes and blinked back more tears.
“Ah shit,” Sam muttered from behind them. “Tell me that bonehead hasn’t done something stupid.”
She let Garrett guide her over to the couch and sit her down. He settled beside her, perched on the edge and turned in her direction. She gripped his hands, afraid to let go, afraid that she’d break down again and she’d never get any of her questions answered.
“Do you want something to drink?” Garrett asked.
She shook her head and licked her lips, wondering how on earth she was going to broach this subject with him. She took a deep breath and raised her gaze to meet Garrett’s.
“I need to ask you something,” she asked painfully. “I need the truth.”
He brushed his hand over her cheek and then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Anything.”
She swallowed and then put it out there. “Did we—did you and I—ever have an . . . affair?”
Garrett’s eyes went wide with shock. Sam made an exclamation, but she focused solely on Garrett. If his reaction was any indication, she was way, way off base, and now she felt like the worst sort of idiot.
“God no,” he exclaimed. “Why on earth would you ask a question like that? Sweet pea, tell me you haven’t been torturing yourself thinking that you betrayed Ethan or that we betrayed him. Hell. You haven’t, have you?”
“He thought we did,” she whispered.
“Who?”
“Ethan.”
Garrett’s mouth dropped open. He and Sam exchanged bewildered looks. Sam flopped onto the recliner catty-corner to the couch.
“Okay, you have to back up, sweet pea. Because I’m not getting any of this. Ethan thinks you and I had an affair?”
“He wanted a divorce. He demanded one,” she said painfully.
“Holy fuck,” Garrett hissed. “Has he lost his goddamn mind? He said all this tonight? After you almost went over a fucking bridge?”
Garrett’s face was getting redder by the minute. He looked like he was about to explode, and she rushed to diffuse the situation.
“I’m explaining this badly. No, not tonight. Oh God, Garrett. I think I’m losing my mind.”
Sam leaned forward, his voice soft and even. “Take your time, honey. Back up and tell us everything.”
She dragged a hand through her hair. She was so tired. Just hours before she’d felt like she could conquer the world. She’d been happy. She’d been secure in Ethan’s love. Finally she’d thought her life was back on track, and now everything was so messed up.
“Were we happy?” she asked. “Did you think Ethan and I were happy? I mean before I died.”
Neither answered, and maybe they thought it was a rhetorical question. She sighed and continued on.
“I’ve been having these dreams. Nightmares really. In all of them Ethan is angry. So angry. He’s shouting. I’m bewildered and feel helpless. I wondered if my insecurities were just manifesting themselves in my dreams because Ethan has been so perfect since he rescued me. Everything has been so . . . perfect. I’ve wanted to tell him I love him, but the thought always terrified me. Something always held me back. Tonight, though, I finally told him, and he was so overcome. And then I went to sleep and had the most horrible nightmare again.”
“What is your nightmare?” Sam asked gently.
“More shouting. More anger. The knowledge that he hates me. He was shoving these papers at me.”
Remembering that she’d stuck them into the waistband of her sweatpants, she pulled them out now and held them in trembling hands.
“I got up to look for them because in the dream it felt like my world was coming to an end when I saw them. Now I know why.”
“What are they?” Garrett asked quietly.
Tentatively she held them out and he took them from her. Sam got up to switch on the lamp, and she blinked at the sudden wash of light.
Garrett stared at the papers in disbelief while Sam read over his shoulder with a similar look of incredulity.
Garrett looked back up at her. “These are dated before . . . before you left. What the hell?”
“Am I living a lie, Garrett? He said some terrible things before I left. I don’t remember