because you knew I’d figure it out sooner or later, and well, it’s better to get this ugly business over and done with in the comfort of my home, instead of, say, the middle of the supermarket with the entire town watching and listening.”
She inhaled raggedly and then blew out a long, tortured breath. “You’re here, and you’re going to listen to me, Samantha, to the unfiltered me, because you used to be my best friend. You used to be my person. You will sit and you will listen because you owe me that.”
The two women stared at each other for several moments, and when Samantha settled back, Emily dug in.
“I knew about the other women. Hell, I’m pretty sure all of Crystal Lake did. I wasn’t dumb. I knew why people gave me a second glance or pointed at me after I walked by them. I knew. We had multiple conversations about it, you and I. You kept telling me to leave, that I was dumb to stay with a man who treated me like that. You even got mad at me because I couldn’t because…” She threw her hands up in the air. “I don’t why I couldn’t. I loved him. And I hated him. Rick was all I knew, and I was so afraid to be alone. Afraid he’d leave like my dad left my mom and I’d be alone, and the thought of that devastated me. I was a chicken. I never called him out. It was easier to ignore his cheating than it was to face it.
“But that last week, I found a text message from S, and there was talk of a pregnancy. I’d been trying for so long to have a baby, and you knew…” Emily had to take a moment because her anger was so strong. “I talked to you about it. Told you a week before he got on his bike and took it out to River Road that I was leaving him. And you said nothing. You held my hand and told me it was going to be okay. You told me you’d be there for me. Did you know you were pregnant?”
“Emily…”
“Did. You. Know?” She all but spat the words at her.
“Yes,” Samantha slowly admitted. “I knew. He wanted me to get rid of it.” She glanced over her shoulder to where Chloe was playing with the dog. “He told me he didn’t want kids. Not with me. Then he told me that he’d never leave you. That he couldn’t live without you.”
Emily let that settle a bit before she asked the one question, the only question, really, that she wanted an answer for.
“Why? Why Rick? Why him?”
Samantha had the grace to look ashamed and glance away. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“I don’t believe you. A woman doesn’t fall into an affair with a married man. That’s a decision she makes. A choice she decides on. So tell me why you decided to sleep with my husband? You could have had any guy in town.”
“Ethan didn’t want me,” Samantha replied, head a little higher. “He didn’t have eyes for anyone but you.”
Emily wanted to punch Samantha in the throat. If there hadn’t been a child in the other room, she just might have.
“You’re telling me that you fucked my husband because Ethan wouldn’t have sex with you?”
“You always had what I wanted. I’m telling you I wanted Ethan Caldwell and he didn’t want me. I’m telling you I had sex with Rick because I wanted to make Ethan jealous, and he didn’t want me either. Or the baby. Rick told me to go to hell and to leave him alone and to get rid of it. He said if I didn’t, if I told anyone he was the father, he’d deny it. He said no one would ever believe me. Said that you would never believe me. I’m telling you Ethan was so in love with you back then that he offered to take care of Rick’s little problem, which was me, in order to protect you. God forbid the girl he loved, the girl who was married to his best friend, might shed a tear or two.”
“Wait,” Emily took a step back. “Ethan knew about this? About your pregnancy?”
Samantha was silent for a few moments, as if considering her words. After a bit, she sighed. “A week after Rick’s accident, he came to me and offered to help me out. If I wanted an abortion, he’d