24. Tara

I stared out into the darkness, a glass of wine in my hand. Amanda and John talked quietly behind me. The visitor had been and gone, a tidal wave that soaked our world in tears and blew us away with a tornado of words.

“I lied. I needed the money, so I lied. Where’s Galen? I have to speak to him, I have to take it back. I want to make it right!” She’d pushed me past the door, a tall woman in heels, without a care of who I was or why I was standing in his doorway.

“Sarah, he’s not here. My husband is not home. What do you mean you lied?”

She was looking around the house, her gaze passing over Rikki as if she didn’t exist, the same as it passed over me. It irked me, not that she’d looked through me but that she’d looked through Rikki.

I took an offensive stance; my arms crossed over my chest, my left eyebrow rose in a way I hoped screamed “who the fuck are you”?

“What do you mean he’s not here? It’s after five, he should be home by now!” She said it as if she knew his schedule well enough to know he never deviated from it.

I glared at her as John and Amanda came to stand on each side of me.

“That’s none of your business, and if you’re going to continue to be so rude, you can leave, please. There’s the door.” I waved at it casually, not letting my irritation come through in my voice. I said it quite pleasantly.

“Rude? Stupid woman.” She looked around again, a sound of disapproval coming from her as she dismissed me once again. “Why isn’t he here?”

“Sarah, that’s about all I’m going to take. Now, you can leave or I’ll call the police.” She had ruined Galen, or tried to, and now she was in our home. Calling me stupid was a mistake too. I was far from stupid. Naive maybe, but never stupid.

“That won’t be necessary, Tara. I’ll see her out.” John took Sarah by the elbow, her obvious agitation increased, and she looked at him as if he’d appeared out of thin air.

“Where is Galen? Is he hiding from me? Where is he? I have to fix this!”

“Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong and I’ll tell Galen when he comes home?” John offered as he went out on the front porch with the mixed up young woman.

“I needed the money. My father cut off my credit cards when he found out I was having an affair with a professor. I had to get new books for school and pay rent. So I took the money they offered.” She sank into a chair, her head at an angle that said she was trying to be defiant but she didn’t look like she was managing it well. “Daddy was tired of my fascination with professors. He told me if I liked them so much they could pay for my education.”

“It doesn’t sound like your father is a very reasonable man.” John was good at putting people at ease; Sarah settled right down and started to chat as if she and John had been best friends for ages.

“No, he’s not. He kept going on about our good name and how I was going to ruin it.”

Her perfectly smoky eyeshadow brought out the beautiful blue eyes that were now rolling so hard I thought they’d fall out of her head. Her manicured nails waved in circles, as if it was her father that had gone loopy and not her.

“He doesn’t understand the pressures of med school, you see? How hard it is, and how, well, sometimes you have to blow off some steam don’t you? I bet you know a thing or two about that.”

I felt Amanda bristle behind me as a manicured finger came up to stroke John’s perfectly maintained beard. He was in the chair beside her, the pair facing each other. I heard Amanda hiss from behind me and turned to her. I gave her a ‘shut the fuck up’ look and turned back to listen to them with my phone’s camera recording it all, just in case something more was said that needed recording.

“I do, but that doesn’t explain what you mean when you say you lied, Sarah. What did you lie about?”

“About Galen of course!” She looked at John as if she expected him to know the whole sordid mess. “Kayla’s parents needed something dirty on Galen and somehow they found me. They told me they’d pay the rest of my school fees if the information I had on him was good enough. I fought with myself about it, but as the date to register for my next classes neared, I gave in.”

She started to sob then and I wanted to go out there and give her something to cry about! She’d lied! I knew she had! I left the camera running and waited, letting her have her moment of self-pity. She was here to ease her own conscience, not to right a wrong.

“I wish Galen was here so I could talk to him! He deserves to know!”

More like you want to try to curl him around your finger, you evil cow! I thought.

“He’s not here, Sarah. Have you thought about trying to find Galen’s lawyer?”

You’re a good man, John, a very good man, I thought. Even if you are a hipster!

“You know, that might be a good idea.” She tapped a nail on the arm of the chair as she thought and I wondered how painful it would be to punch her in the face. Would I break my natural nails? “Our affair ended before Galen even met Kayla. It’s the only way to make this right, you know?”

“It is. Let me ask Tara what the lawyer’s number is we’ll call him from here shall we?” John stood, heading in my direction, but Sarah stopped him.

“Who’s Tara?” She sounded as if she really had no idea who I was!

“Galen’s wife, Sarah.” John spoke far more gently than I would have.

“Oh, the mouse. Well, if she must be involved.” Her face looked as if it was melting and being eaten at the same time.

I hated her.

“Yes, she must. It’s her life too, you know. And Rikki’s, his daughter.”

“Is that who the little girl was? I thought she might be the maid’s daughter.” Sarah gave another careless wave.

“What maid?”

“That blond one in there.” Her chin pointed in the direction of the house.

“Amanda? She’s not the... sheesh!” Even John was starting to lose his patience with her.

I had an arm across Amanda’s chest, holding her back.

“Girl, we can get our country on later. Right now, we have to stay calm. For Galen,” I whispered to Amanda, her angry eyes drilled into mine.

“For Galen, but it’s killing me,” Amanda all but hissed back at me.

“Shh, stay calm.”

I texted John the number and he went out to make the call. Five minutes later he came back into the house and closed the door.

“I’m going to take her over to Bill’s office, he’s going to meet us there. You two stay here and wait for Galen. Do not leave, alright? I don’t need another one of you missing right now!”

I gave him a sweet smile but Amanda shot him a rather baleful glance. I couldn’t help but laugh, my own hysteria starting to overcome my self-control. She was going to admit to the lawyer that she’d lied! This would have to be the end of it all, surely!

John hopped in his truck, Sarah following behind him in some kind of tiny sports car. I sank against the closed door and stared at Amanda.

“It has to be over now, right?”

“I doubt it will be for her, but for Galen it has to be!” For the first time in my life I stood up and I danced around, hugging my best friend, cheering loudly.

Poor little Rikki was afraid and came running to find out what was wrong with me. I scooped her up and cuddled her close, kissing her little neck with glee. She started giggling immediately and we all went into the living room to sink onto the couch.

“I wish he’d just come home now.”

“He’ll be back soon, I’m sure of it.” Amanda sounded far more positive than I felt.

That had been hours ago. I watched and waited for his return. Where was he?