They had both left.
I felt a lump in my throat so big that it hurt to breathe.
The pastor went ahead.
"We gather today," he said gently, "to celebrate the life of Lily Reed, a beloved daughter, sister, wife, and mother-to-be."
The words became blurred in my ears.
Future mother. She never had the chance.
The doors opened
The pastor had just begun his eulogy when it happened.
The heavy wooden doors at the back of the church creaked open.
At first, nobody turned around.
Then, a wave swept through the room like wind over water.
Heads began to turn.
The whispers continued.
I squirmed in my seat.
And my blood ran cold.
Jason Reed was on the threshold.
My brother-in-law looked perfectly serene in a tailored black suit.
But he was not alone.
A tall, dark-haired woman was standing next to him.
She had her hand around his arm.
Her black dress hugged her figure as if she were attending a cocktail party instead of a funeral.
For a moment, my brain refused to process what I was seeing.
Then my mother took a deep breath beside me.
"My God," she whispered.
His grip on my hand intensified painfully.
—Are you serious?
My heart began to beat strongly.
Because I recognized the woman.
Not because I had met her.
By a name.
A name that had appeared on Lily's phone months ago, while we were sitting at the kitchen table.
Rachel.
The co-worker.
The romance.
Lily tried to downplay it with a laugh when I asked her about it.
"Only someone from Jason's office," he said quickly.
But her smile didn't reach her eyes.
Later that night he called me back.
"Um," she said quietly, "do you ever get a feeling about someone? Like your gut knows something your brain doesn't want to admit?"
—Yes —I said—.
I think Jason is lying to me.
I asked him if he wanted to confront him.
He said he had already done it.
"He says I'm imagining it."
That was three months before his death.
Now, the woman from those messages was standing at the door of my sister's funeral.
CONTINUE READING...>>
