Gwyn stared down at the table for a bit and when she looked back up, I could see tears in her eyes.
“Gil and I were sorta seeing each other,” she said.
“Just sorta?” I asked.
“I guess that’s not really accurate,” she said, clearly miserable. “The truth is, I loved him and he loved me.”
“Is that what he said?” Gertie asked.
She nodded.
“What about Tiffany?” Ida Belle asked.
“I ignored his flirting for a long time because he was married,” Gwyn said. “But he kept telling me how he should have never married her and that she didn’t love him and never had.”
“That’s what they all say, honey,” Gertie said.
“I know,” Gwyn said and started to cry. “I shouldn’t have done it. It was wrong. But I can’t change that now. At least, knowing that she was his son’s girlfriend first makes me understand things a little better.”
“How is that?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I didn’t have the best childhood. My parents weren’t abusive but they were neglectful. I married the first guy I dated to get out of their house and it ended in disaster a couple months later. He was a lot older than me as well. I guess I figure Tiffany saw a lifestyle with Gil that she couldn’t have with his son—at least not right away given their ages—so she took it. Which means Gil was probably right and she didn’t love him.”
I sighed as she made an attempt to excuse bad behavior. If everyone called out bad behavior, then people like Gil couldn’t keep getting away with it.
“But Tiffany has been married to Gil for seven years,” Gertie said gently. “If she regretted her decision, she would have left already.”
“You’re right,” Gwyn said and sniffed. “I know I shouldn’t have gotten involved. It was wrong of me and I swore I’d never be that kind of woman. But I know Gil loved me. He said he was going to divorce Tiffany. That they just didn’t work anymore.”
“Did he talk to a lawyer?” I asked.
“He said he did,” Gwyn said.
“I don’t suppose you know who it was?” I asked.
“Not for sure,” she said. “I gave him the number of the guy I used. He’s in New Orleans, so I thought that would be better for Gil than using someone from Sinful. I know lawyers aren’t supposed to talk but I figured just to be safe…”
“Will you give me that name, please?” I asked.
She nodded and pulled out her phone. When she found the contact information, I had her text it to me.
“Is it true that the police don’t think it was a carjacking now?” she asked.
“Yes. They’ve changed the scope of the investigation,” I said. “I imagine Detective Casey is going to talk to all of you again. You should tell her the truth. All the truth.”
“I will,” Gwyn said. “I didn’t say anything before because it didn’t seem relevant. We all thought it was one of those horrible, random things.”
“I understand,” I said. “Did Gil ever talk about Liam?”
“Yeah,” Gwyn said. “He was real torn up about their relationship being bad. And before you ask, he never told me about Tiffany dating Liam. Tonight was the first I heard that. He just said they’d had a rift years ago and he was in the wrong. But he didn’t think Liam was ever going to forgive him unless certain things happened.”
“What things?” I asked.
She shook her head. “He never would say. But now I wonder if he meant divorcing Tiffany. I mean, it would be hard for Liam to forgive Gil if he was still married to her, right?”
“Would have been hard even if he divorced her,” Gertie said. “But it might have shifted Liam’s mind some. It’s hard to say.”
“Did you notice Gil acting different lately?” I asked.
“In what way?” Gwyn asked.
“Nervous? Edgy?” I asked.
She frowned. “He was a little strange the last time we met. The night he…anyway, I got a bad headache and had to leave early. He expressed concern, but I could tell his mind wasn’t on me. And the week before, he’d insisted that we walk out together and leave at the same time. Normally, some of us would chat after rehearsal or I would stay to finish up some prop work. But he asked me to leave without finishing up a design I was working on since everyone else was cutting out then.”
“And that was odd?” I asked.
She nodded. “I’ve stayed by myself after rehearsal plenty of times to finish up some work. And besides, Lil was still there that night, but he wouldn’t let it go. I would have liked to finish up but he was so insistent, I figured it was just easier to go along although I knew I’d pay for it the next day. Brigette is a very talented woman but not the easiest to work for. I have to make sure everything is perfect if I want to keep my job and I really enjoy it most of the time, so I usually go above and beyond.”
“So you’re an employee and not a volunteer?” I asked.
“Right,” she said. “Brigette is the artistic director for the theater and I’m her assistant. We’re both on the theater’s payroll. Us and Lil. The actors are paid a percentage of door take based on their contracts. And then there’s some local volunteers, like Lil. She’s paid for her day job but not for working on the plays. Well, except the volunteers get free tickets for family and friends.”
“Did any of the other members of the troupe spend any time with Gil? Someone else he might have confided in?” I asked.
“I don’t think so,” Gwyn said. “I knew he’d talked to Paul some but Gil was a bit much for him. Paul’s a great actor—really comes alive on stage—but in real life, he’s a total introvert. It’s rather interesting really. And then like Paul said, most of the others aren’t regulars or they’re married couples.”
“And how long have you and Gil been involved?” I asked.
“I don’t really know how to answer that,” she said. “I mean, we started talking more personally a little over a year ago. You know, sometimes just a chat after rehearsal and then that turned into going for coffee after rehearsal…”
“And that turned into a relationship,” I finished.
She nodded. “I feel guilty and sad about the whole thing but now I’m also angry. Angry that Gil didn’t tell me the truth about his marriage to Tiffany. Angry that we don’t ever get the chance of a future together. And most of all, angry that no one can ever know how much I loved him because I had no right to.”
She started to cry again and Gertie patted her hand.
“It’s difficult, keeping all that in,” Gertie said. “But you’re doing the right thing. The fewer people who know about your relationship with Gil, the better. Other than the police, of course. It only serves to hurt everyone else and doesn’t change anything.”
She wiped her eyes with the napkin and nodded. “I keep telling myself not to be jealous of Tiffany but it’s so hard. She had him for seven years and she had him all to herself. I never had that and I never will.”
“You’ll get past this,” Gertie said. “And maybe when you’re ready to try again, you pick someone who’s completely unencumbered. I’ve rarely seen a case where a start with a married man ended well. And you deserve better than a man with split obligations.”