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“I think that’s what really came between him and finishing school,” Terrell said. “He was never the same after that.”
Jace seemed confused. “He told you what Remy did that night, didn’t he?”
“WhatRemydid?” she said.
Jace and Terrell looked at each other. “Yeah,” Terrell said. “You don’t know?”
“I know Remy and Bastian got into a fight over something and knocked over a candle. That’s how the fire got started.”
“That’s not what we heard,” Jace said.
Bastian came out of the bathroom. “Let’s forget it,” Ismay said, lowering her voice because she didn’t want Bastian to know what they were talking about.
But Terrell didn’t let it go. He turned to Bastian as soon as Bastian reached them and said, “You’re going to let her marry Remy without telling her what happened to Lyssa?”
A deep scowl etched itself into Bastian’s face. “Why would you have anything to say about Lyssa? You didn’t even know her!”
Terrell’s eyes widened as he leaned back. “I met her once and clearly remember what you told me,” he snapped. Then he got up and walked out.
Ismay’s heart was racing. She felt bad she’d caused a sudden blowup. But she was also curious—and frightened—about what Terrell had said. What didn’t she know about Lyssa? And Remy’s involvement?
“Thanks for lunch,” Jace mumbled tersely and, taking Holly’s hand, led her out of the dining area to join Terrell before heading down the street toward the hotel.
“Why’d you go off on Terrell like that?” Ismay asked Bastian once they were gone.
“Because it’s none of his business, that’s why. What makes him think he knows anything? I just bought the bastard lunch, and he calls me down like that, as if I’ve done something wrong?”
He was almost shouting, so everyone was staring at them, including the waitress who’d come out to finish cleaning off their table. There was a lot Ismay wanted to say. She needed clarity. But Bastian didn’t seem to care that he was disrupting a business and disturbing everyone’s lunch. “We can talk about it later,” she said softly. “Let’s go.”
“You can take the Jeep. I’ll call an Uber,” he said and threw the keys at her.
She could hear the people around her murmuring as she rubbed her arm where the keys had struck her before bending to pick them up, and he stalked out.
Ismay was so shaken by Bastian’s outburst she didn’t want to go back to the cottage for fear that was where he’d gone. She didn’t want to call Remy, either—not after learning about Sam. It wasn’t just that he’d slept with another woman, although that was bad enough. It was more that he’d been seeing Samantha Whoever She Was since early January, and Ismay had never suspected a thing. Everything he’d told her during the past several months was now suspect in her mind.
That he could hide an affair that easily said something about his ability to compartmentalize and deceive. She could no longer trust him.
As she climbed into the Jeep, she thought about calling her mother. Whenever something upsetting happened, it was a natural inclination to want to call home, she supposed. She adored Betty. But she knew she wouldn’t get the consolation and advice she needed. Her mother would only hate Remy if she learned he’d been cheating. And she’d think Ismay was suffering the consequences of her choices—for leaving the church, getting involved with a man who wasn’t a member, and becomingworldly.
Bo was whom she wanted to talk to, anyway.
She started the Jeep and drove around the corner so the people at the restaurant could no longer stare at her. Then she parked again and messaged Bo.
How’s the fence-building going?
He didn’t answer, which meant he was probably still digging holes and mixing cement for the posts. She got out and meandered down the street—from shop to shop to restaurant to art gallery—until she heard her phone ding.
It’d taken nearly an hour—it was three thirty—but Bo had finally gotten back to her.
Just finished. Heading inside to shower. We’ll add the slats tomorrow.
What are you doing after you shower?
The dots that came on the screen when someone was typing appeared and then disappeared twice, as if he couldn’t decide how to respond.
Eventually, she got a message from him.
No plans. Do you want me to take your brother somewhere?
