“I cheated too,” Addie whispered.
Grace stared dumbfounded at her as Kira nearly fell off her chair.
“Bullshit!” Harper said. “Masturbating to thoughts of Preacher is not cheating. Hell, half the married women in Harmony Falls masturbate or fuck their husbands to thoughts of Preacher.”
“Harper! I didn’t tell Gracie and Kira who… I mean…”
“Don’t worry,” Kira said. “We’re not going to say anything to anyone. And Harper is right, it’s not cheating.”
“It’s emotional cheating,” Addison said.
“So fucking what?” Grace said. “Harrison was actually physically cheating on you. That is far worse than you thinking a few naughty thoughts about Preacher while you’re polishing the pink canoe.”
That made Addison laugh like she knew it would, and Gracie squeezed her tight. “Honey, you have nothing to apologize to Harrison for or feel guilty about. He’s the asshole here.”
Addison’s phone dinged again, and Addie glanced at the screen. Fresh tears leaked down her cheeks. “He’s super upset.”
“Why is he upset?” Grace said. “He’s the cheating scumbag.”
Addie bit her bottom lip. “So, I had to tell my mom. I mean, I didn’t want to tell her, but I was supposed to meet her this morning to put the deposit on the wedding flowers. Only, I don’t even know if there’s going to be a wedding.”
She paused, and Kira gave her a fresh tissue to wipe her face. “I tried to make up some excuse for why we couldn’t do it, but if we didn’t pay the deposit today, we’d lose our reservation with the florist. So, she was pretty insistent about paying because who doesn’t have flowers at their wedding, you know? But the deposit is non-refundable, and my parents don’t have that kind of money to waste. Anyway, she could tell I was upset, and I finally blurted out that I didn’t think Harrison and I were getting married and I couldn’t talk about it right now.”
“What did she say?”
“Not much at the time,” Addison said. She seemed kind of stunned. I told her I would talk to her later and ended the call. But then…”
She sucked in a shaky breath, her voice cracking.
Kira shifted closer and put her arm around Addie’s waist. “It’s okay, honey.”
Harper barked harsh laughter. “Addie’s mom told Daniel. Daniel went over to Harrison’s house and pounded on the door until he opened it. He was super pissed, and I guess -”
“Harrison thought I’d told my brother that he was cheating on me, so he started trying to – I don’t know – explain why he was having sex with Crystal,” Addison said. “Daniel, well, he lost it and he… he…”
“What did he do?” Grace said.
“He punched that lying nut knob right in his face!” Harper’s voice was full of diabolical glee. “He broke Harrison’s nose.”
“Holy shit,” Grace said.
“You know that I’m still kind of pissed at your brother,” Kira said to Addison, “but him breaking Harrison’s nose is probably enough to make me forgive him.”
“He shouldn’t have done that.” Addison was crying again, big fat tears that dripped off her chin and landed in her lap. “Harrison called 9-1-1 and said he wanted Daniel arrested for assault. Gideon showed up at Harrison’s house and-and Daniel told him what Harrison did.”
She stared wildly at Grace. “Gideon knows! He knows that Harrison was cheating on me! I want to die.”
Grace kissed her forehead. “Honey, Gideon isn’t going to say a word to anyone. You know he won’t.”
“He won’t,” Kira said. “He keeps shit like that locked up in a damn vault. He’s never once gossiped about anything he’s seen on the job. Even when he knows that everyone else in the town knows all the details.”
“So, do we need to bail Daniel out of jail, or what?” Grace said.
“No. Gideon convinced Harrison not to press charges. I don’t know how, but he did. He sent Daniel home and then he took Harrison to the hospital.” Addison checked her phone again. “Harrison’s back home and now he won’t stop texting me. He says we need to talk.”
“He can fucking wait until you’re good and ready to talk,” Harper said. “Even better, ghost that cocksucker and let him sit with his ass in the wind until the end of fucking time.”
“It might be better if she talks to him,” Grace said.
Harper frowned at her and Grace shrugged. “It would be different if they weren’t engaged, but the wedding is coming up fast and Addison needs to start canceling shit now, rather than later. Maybe she can get some of her deposits back now, but in another month or so… it’s not gonna happen.”
Addison took a deep breath. “I’m not even sure if I’m canceling the wedding.”
“Addison!” Harper looked like she was about to have a stroke. “Baby, you don’t need him! He’s a toxic dickhead and you’re better off without him.”
“I’ve been with him since I was a teen,” Addison said. “We have a lot of history together, and I’m not sure I’m ready to just give that all up because of one indiscretion.”
“One indiscretion? One indiscretion?” Now Gracie was certain the top of Harper’s head was just gonna blow wide open.
“You deserve better,” Harper said. “Just because he’s the only boyfriend you’ve ever had, the only guy you’ve ever fucked, doesn’t mean you have to marry him!”
“Harper,” Grace said, “take it down a notch, sweetie.”
Harper sat back, visibly taking a few deep breaths. “I’m sorry, Addie.”
“It’s okay,” Addison said. “I just – I need to talk to Harrison first. I know you guys want to put all the blame on him because you love me, but there must be a reason he was having that type of sex with Crystal. I mean, I had no idea he was like that but maybe it’s because he was afraid to tell me. And if he was… well, that makes me feel awful.”
“It’s no excuse for cheating,” Kira said. “Sorry, honey. But it isn’t.”
“Kira is right,” Harper said. “I get that you need to talk to him but, Addie, don’t let him make you think this is your fault. It is not your fault. Don’t let him gaslight or manipulate you into believing he cheated because of some perceived flaw of yours. All right?”
“All right.”
Harper leaned forward. “Honey, you know I will always support you, no matter what. But you need to be clearheaded about this. If that means you take another day or two before you talk to him, that’s okay.”
Addie shook her head. “I don’t want to wait. I just – I need to know why he did this. And Grace is right, if the wedding isn’t happening, I have a ton of calls to make.”
She half-laughed and half-cried before shaking her head. “God, why is this happening to me?”
“It’ll be okay,” Grace said. “Do you want Kira and me to go with you when you talk to Harrison?”