The Perfect Life (The Perfect Stranger #4) - Charlotte Byrd Page 0,27

the karaoke. If Isabelle were here and we looked into each other's eyes, we’d forget about the rest of the people in the room for a few minutes.

That's what we would look like. Despite the hurt and the pain that we caused each other, that's how we would look at each other.

“Please don't worry about that,” Liza, a nurse practitioner and one of her closest friends says, whispering into my ear. “There’s nothing going on between them.”

“I'm not,” I say with a shrug.

She looks at me and I can tell that she can tell that I'm lying.

“Seriously, that's just an act. At least on her part.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Michael is an asshole. They are friendly now, but she's just trying to be nice because we all work together. Do you know what he did to her?”

“She mentioned that he cheated on her.”

“He cheated on her a lot. They were always making up and breaking up. He cheated on her when they were apart and he cheated on her when they were together. Sometimes she kicked him out, but a lot of the times she took him back. They are terrible together.”

I nod.

“You don't believe me?” Liza asks.

I shrug, not sure how to respond.

“I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Rachel was pregnant. They were together and she got pregnant. She suspected that he was cheating on her, so she followed him somewhere and caught him in the act. She was so distraught that she ended up having a miscarriage that night.”

“Wow,” I say, shaking my head. “That's really fucked up.”

“I know that they look happy up there right now, but it's just show. She has not forgiven him for any of that stuff. She's just trying to move on.”

“I understand,” I say, finally believing her.

“I've never seen Rachel so happy,” Liza continues to drive her point home. “She's so relaxed with you. She's not worried about anything. You’re like a rock and she knows that.”

“I would never cheat on her,” I say categorically.

“She knows that and she really appreciates that.”

When the song ends, Michael gives her a warm hug and tries to kiss her on the mouth, but she pulls away.

Instead she bounces into my arms and wraps me up in an embrace.

“I had no idea that you could sing so well,” I say, kissing the top of her head.

“Yeah. I took a lot of lessons when I was a kid.”

“Have you ever wanted to pursue it?”

“What? Singing?” She looks at me like it's the most preposterous thing in the world.

I shrug and say, “People are singers, you know.”

“I know, but it's not serious.”

“I don't know, you look like you were… Glowing up there.”

“I'm sorry that I did that song with him,” she says quietly, casting her eyes away from me.

She looks like she's guilty when I know that she did nothing wrong.

I put my finger underneath her chin, forcing her to look at me, and say, “You were wonderful and I'd love to hear you sing again.”

“You’re not mad?” she asks, looking like a traumatized puppy.

“No. What would I be mad about?”

“I had no idea that he was going to choose that song until we got up there. We just used to karaoke a lot back in the day, but we would always do some fun song, not that one. I had no idea that he was going to choose that song.”

“I don't know why you're so worried,” I say as casually as possible. “I trust you. You were amazing. I got goose bumps.”

This seems to put her at ease and she gets a big wide smile across her face. Leaning against my shoulder, she looks up into my eyes and looks completely at peace.

She has never told me the details of what happened with Michael, but now that Liza has, I realize just how hurt she must've been.

I'm surprised that she's even able to be in the same room with him. Relationships are hard and difficult to judge. For example, on the surface, Rachel and I seem to be like the perfect couple. We get along well, we laugh, we have fun. I love being with her.

The truth is that sometimes when I'm not in control of my wandering thoughts, they still return to Isabelle.

She betrayed me.

She lied to me.

She ran away and took all of my money.

Still, I think about her.

Still, I wonder where she is and how she's doing.

Still, I miss her.

Still, I love her.

13

Isabelle

It's been a week since I met up with