Every Last Secret - A.R. Torre Page 0,41

come up? How did this come up? Because it sure as hell doesn’t have anything to do with Winthorpe Tech.”

“I don’t know.” He frowned down at me. “It just did. In passing. I’m sorry.”

“When?” I stayed in place, stubbornly fixated on the question. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember, because you remember everything.” He was an encyclopedia of conversations and details, both insignificant and important. He’d be hell if he was ever called to a witness stand, and an absolute terror to have an argument with.

He swallowed, and I watched his Adam’s apple bob with the motion. “At lunch, sixteen days ago.”

“You didn’t tell me you went to lunch with her.” I yanked my arm free of his hand.

He grimaced. “We didn’t go to lunch together—I was eating lunch, she stopped by the table, and we ended up eating together.”

It sounded like a lie, but I was too emotional to sort out the details. “And?”

“And she asked why we haven’t had kids. People ask, Cat. It’s a normal question. Don’t tell me you haven’t gotten it.”

People ask. How many people had asked him? How many times had he offered up the details of my infertility struggle?

I turned away, and when he went to follow, I stopped short and held up a hand. “Leave me alone. Just . . . leave me alone.”

I moved silently through the giant house, my steps quickening as my hurt emotions flared. I heard him calling my name, his steps sounding up the stairs, then down the hall. I crouched beside the one place he wouldn’t find me. Ducking into the dumbwaiter elevator, I curled into a ball on the polished wood surface and closed the heavy insulated door. Leaning back against the wall, I took a deep breath, then broke into tears.

CHAPTER 20

NEENA

“You’re going on a run?” Cat stared at me as if I’d just announced my plans to join the circus. Behind her, the warmth of the house curled out of the large front doors, tickling along my skin.

I offered her my best smile. “William offered to show me the neighborhood trails. I tried to find them on my own but couldn’t.”

“Really? The signs are pretty obvious.” She knotted her arms over her chest.

“Are you feeling better? I was thinking, you know, that it could have been that July Fourth potato salad that made you sick. You didn’t throw up, did you?”

Cat’s face got that annoyed look, the one that twisted her beautiful features into a haglike pinch. “I don’t think it was the potato salad.”

William appeared beside her, a long-sleeve shirt snug on his strong chest, a baseball cap hiding his dark hair. In workout pants and Nikes, he looked good enough to eat. “Ready?”

“Ready.” I gave her a cheery wave. “We’ll be back in an hour.”

“I—” She searched for an objection. “Will, do you need a water bottle or—”

“I’ll be fine.” He planted a quick kiss on her mouth, then moved out the door, lifting his chin in my direction. “Good morning.”

“Morning.” I turned my back to her and jogged down the steps. I reached the wide drive and bounced up and down in place, warming my muscles. “You want to lead the way?”

He nodded toward the main road. “Sure. We’ll pick up the trail off Britnon. It’s a four-mile loop, if that’s okay with you.”

I scoffed and flashed a cocky grin. “Just try and keep up.”

I started down the long drive, and William ran easily beside me, his strides almost twice as long as mine. It didn’t matter. My closet had a stack of marathon T-shirts in a dozen different colors. When I’d noticed him leaving on early-morning runs, I’d started pounding out miles on my treadmill, increasing the speed and distance until I was back in race mode. And . . . just like that, another check in the Neena Is Better Than Cat column.

I let out a huff of air, reminding myself to be patient with William. While our progress had been slow, it was beginning to ramp up. Our contact had transitioned from business to personal, my text messages answered with increasing speed, our inside-joke collection growing, my suggestions of lunch no longer met with stiff reluctance but quick agreement. He didn’t recoil from my casual touch and had lost the stiff air and foreboding manner he typically carried with Winthorpe Tech employees.

We rounded the bend, almost to his gate, and I looked up into the ceiling of tree limbs and inhaled the crisp morning air, giving myself