I pick at my food, eating half of it as she talks about the shop and the new inventory she ordered. I’m happy she fills the silence because I don’t have much to say.
After we’re done eating, she hurries and grabs the check before I can, then takes care of it.
“No fair! You never let me pay.” I pretend to pout but smile and thank her. We exchange a hug, and before I turn and walk toward the garage, she looks at me.
“Everything okay between you and Tyler?”
Though a cool breeze is blowing against my cheeks, I feel like I’m on fire.
“Yeah, why?” I press, wondering if he said something about me.
She shakes her head. “Just wondering. You’ve both been…weird lately.”
I force a laugh. “No idea what you’re talking about. Everything about Tyler and me working together is weird.”
Waving her hand, she chuckles. “I guess you’re right. If you get bored tonight or tomorrow, come over! We can have a girls’ night since my brother’s gone. We can get drunk watching nineties rom-coms and eating Ben & Jerry’s.”
I grin, remembering I have to decide if I’m going to dinner with Robert tonight. “Maybe tomorrow.”
“Deal!” she tells me, and we go our separate ways. “Hope you sell out of everything today!” I shout over my shoulder.
She chuckles, giving me a thumbs-up.
The rest of the day at the garage is busy as hell. Robert texts me again about tonight, and I decide to join him. Apparently, I need to dress nice because the client we’re meeting is extremely high profile. I read between the lines of his message and know he wants to impress her. A few minutes later, he calls me.
“Hey, darling. What’re you up to?”
I smile at his genuine tone. “Just working my ass off. It’s been a Monday from hell.”
He chuckles. “Hope I’m not bothering you.”
“You’re not,” I say, as I make a fresh pot of coffee because I’m hitting my afternoon slump.
“Oh, I wanted to ask if you could write Winnie a check? She’s ordering some things for the wedding, and I’m about an hour and a half away from the house.”
“Yeah, sure. Not a problem. Can I do it when I get off at five?”
“That’s perfect. The checkbook is in the top drawer of my desk. Write it for five thousand, put it in an envelope, and place it in the mailbox. She said she’d run by after she got done with a client. I won’t have time to make it home before I pick you up for dinner.”
“Will do,” I tell him.
“I miss you and am so happy you’re coming tonight,” he admits. “Can’t wait to see you.”
“I know, baby, me too. Only a few more hours,” I remind him.
“Will you stay the night with me afterward?” he nearly begs. “I know it’s not the weekend, but I bought you something from that lingerie shop you like. Thought you could model it for me.”
A smile touches my lips. It means a lot to see him actually trying to spend more time with me. “Yeah, I’d love that.”
“Thank you for everything. I gotta go. Don’t forget about taking care of that for Winnie. Love you!”
“Love you too, Robert.” I end the call, then get back to work. The rest of the day passes by in a blink. Just as Dad promised, all the vehicles are ready to be picked up before close. He looks and sounds exhausted. We lock up and say our goodbyes.
When I pull out of the parking lot, I head over to Robert’s house and turn off the security alarm, then walk into his office. When I agreed to marry him, he added me to his bank account, though I never use his money for anything.
I sit at his oversized oak desk and open the top drawer. Once I find his checkbook, I write it out for the amount he said, then scribble the information in the registry. Afterward, I notice a handful of payments for three thousand dollars that are all dated within the last month. They’re not written out to anyone in particular, so I flip to the carbon copies to see if there’s more information. I sit there confused because the name is blank and only has the dollar amount and his signature on them.
Sucking in a deep breath, I close the checkbook and place it back in the top drawer. It doesn’t close properly, so I reach my hand in and pull out several wads of crumpled paper. Instinctively, I smooth them out and notice they’re handwritten receipts.
The moment I read the company name, my heart drops.
I can’t breathe and nearly gasp for air when I realize they’re for a private investigator.
With shaky hands and adrenaline rushing through me, I put them where they were, hidden and wadded up behind the stack of files. I grab Winnie’s payment, stuff it in an envelope, and try to calm down.
After I place it in the mailbox, I get the fuck out of there. I’m so angry that I’m nearly in tears, and I can’t think straight. Maybe it was for something else, but I know for a fact I was being followed, and hell, maybe I still am. That means Robert was gaslighting me when he said he didn’t know what I was talking about and made me feel like I was going crazy.
I have a feeling he knew exactly what was going on, and that’s why he didn’t come to my rescue. It makes me sick that he’d do this to me.
How do I even bring this up after we agreed to put more effort into our relationship? This will undoubtedly change everything. I’ve lost complete trust in him and faith in our future. If I hadn’t already agreed to go with him tonight, we’d be discussing it right away.
On the way home, I think about the check registry, and the timeline of when they were written matches when I first saw the SUV parked outside of the garage.
I park in my driveway and allow myself a few minutes. My paranoia is in overdrive, wondering what they must’ve seen. Did they see Tyler come to my house the night they were there? Does Robert have pictures of him leaving? Is he following me because he thinks I’m cheating? A million thoughts and questions hit me, but I won’t get answers until after dinner.
Though I technically crossed a line with Tyler, I stopped it before it went too far and have felt guilty about it ever since. Regardless, it doesn’t justify Robert hiring someone to follow me and invade my privacy.
As I enter the cottage, while losing my goddamn mind, I get a text from Robert. I’ve already agreed to join him tonight, and I’ll have to make sure I play the perfect part so he doesn’t get suspicious. Afterward, when we go back to his house, I’ll confront him. I guess he didn’t remember what evidence he left in the drawer when he asked me to write Winnie a check. Or maybe he thought I was too stupid to find it.
Robert: I’ll be at your house around seven. Don’t forget to pack a bag :)
I feel sick.
This gives me an hour to shower, get ready, and settle down. I don’t want to do this, any of this. But I’ll do it tonight, so I get ready anyway. I slip on a black form-fitting dress and apply some makeup, but my stomach is in tight knots. Right on time, a knock taps on my door, and I open to see him. He’s all smiles as he looks at me from head to toe, then leans forward and kisses me. It feels dirty and wrong, and I try not to tense. There’s bound to be an explanation for this, right?
“You look gorgeous, Gemma. Are you ready?”