Page 89 of The Awful Truth

“It really does.”

“I finally feel like I can let my guard down. I can relax in my own home and just enjoy it all.”

Faith reached over and put her hand on Mercy’s. “You had nearly two decades of being on high alert.”

“Crazy to think that was my life,” she said, leaning her head on her sister’s shoulder. “I feel like I’ve lived in four completely different worlds so far. Our childhood, then my acting days, then my Mrs. Bishop days, and now this. This one’s the best.”

“You’re certainly happier than you were in the second two. You’re more like you were when we were growing up—self-assured, curious, and alive.”

Mercy smiled as her children high-fived each other, having finally managed to set the ladybug down on the pool deck. “Great job, you three!” she called. “I love that teamwork.”

“Thanks, Mom!” Grace said with a wide smile. “We sure saved her!”

“How do you know it’s a her?” Faith asked.

Grace furrowed her brow like her auntie had rocks in her head. “Because it’s a ladybug.”

The two women chuckled and exchanged a glance. “Makes sense,” Faith said.

“Oh yeah. Perfectly logical.” She had another sip of wine, then realizing she had no desire to cook the chicken breasts in the fridge, she said, “Who wants pizza?”

The kids started to cheer, then chant the word ‘pizza’ until Mercy yelled, “Okay! Pizza it is! Quiet down you three so I can order it.”

As she dialed the number, she said, “It really is the small things in life, isn’t it?”

Faith nodded. “Amen to that.”

ANTONIA

The better part of the last year had been pure hell, and it had only been a few weeks ago that Antonia felt like she had clawed her way back up to earth. She had survived the public humiliation of being the butt of a dozen late-night talk show jokes, which Winslow had texted were dull at best and he was right. She’d survived being dropped by the network, who put out a statement with words like ‘shocking’ and ‘breach of trust with both the network and the public.’ She had come to terms with the fact that her husband of twenty-eight years had nearly murdered her, which wasn’t something she would ever really get over, but rather had to learn to live with.

Antonia was still dealing with survivor’s guilt that her marriage, and her actions in the hours leading up to that moment, had cost a man his life. Not exactly a man that the world would be better off having, but still, Travis was someone’s son, someone’s husband, and the father to three small someones.

She’d survived selling the compound in Seattle (which had been snapped up by their neighbor, a multi-billionaire who quickly leveled everything they built to build a private gym, including an Olympic-sized pool, a regulation basketball court, and four pickleball courts).

And she’d gotten through it all with the help of her children, who were far more capable than she had previously believed. Quinn took care of preparing the Paris apartment to sell, and Xavier had helped by taking care of the sale of their Kauai home and being there for Antonia to go to all the many bank and real estate meetings. He’d been there during the lonely late hours of the day, as the sun was setting and Antonia would start to feel as if this nightmare would never end.

Neither of them had suggested that any of this was her fault, which surprised her. She had assumed that in their worst moments—the dark hours when they were grieving the man they thought they knew—that one or both of them might have blamed her too. If you weren’t so hard on him all the time, he wouldn’t have cheated. You made him desperate. Shouldn’t you have known that would happen? Aren’t you supposed to be a psychiatrist?

But that had never happened. Instead, they offered compassion, understanding, and a surprising amount of wisdom for people in their twenties. They were each in touch with Ted via email but hadn’t gone to see him. He was locked up in a prison in Zagreb, still awaiting trial. His legal fees had made it so he had quickly signed off on selling their properties, each of which had been a symbol of a different dream she’d shared with Ted. The Paris home was a romantic fantasy, Seattle was where they’d met and built an empire, and Kauai was their future.

So she’d sold them all, quickly divorced Ted, and they’d split what was left. It had been enough for her to buy a home overlooking the Pacific on Whidbey Island. The home was just outside a town called Oak Harbor—a charming place where people minded their own business, and if they did know about her past, had the decency not to mention it. She had been offered book deals and guest spots on talk shows, but she’d declined them all. That part of her life was over now. The famous part. She and Enid had parted ways, but Enid called her every month to ‘stop her from getting bored.’ They chatted about world events and Enid would share stories about her other clients without using names, of course. That would be a breach of confidentiality. Antonia could always figure out who she was talking about though, based on the details.

Now, she would live quietly, with dignity and peace. She sat on her covered porch in a cozy armchair, watching the gentle rain come down, soaking the green of her yard. Inside, she had a pot of seafood chowder staying warm on the stove and biscuits in the oven. Upstairs, Quinn, who had come to live with her, was busy working on her book. She would come down when the biscuits were ready and they’d eat dinner and watch Succession together.

Antonia’s phone rang, and her heart pounded, like it did every time. Her first thought was always, what if that’s Ted? They’d had to speak several times over the past year, and it always left her feeling confused and angry and grief-ridden. But she saw Xavier’s name and was able to shrug off those feelings in place of happier ones. “Hey you, how’s school?”

“It’s hard,” he said. “No wonder I avoided college all these years.”

Antonia chuckled. “I hate to say it, but it gets worse.”

“Seriously?”

“Wait ‘til midterms,” she told him.

“You’re supposed to make me feel better.”

“Here’s the better part: it’ll be hard, but you’re going to get through it. And there is nothing better in the world than knowing you did it.”