It’s Always the Husband. Michele Campbell

will take you up on that.” He started to turn away. “Oh, but first, can you point someone out to me? I understand Kate Eastman is here today, and I’m interested in interviewing her.”

      Suddenly it felt very hot in the sun. Sweat prickled on the back of Jenny’s neck. “Kate—?” she said.

      “Kate Eastman, the trustee’s daughter. I believe she was a friend of yours.”

      “Why do you want to talk to Kate?”

      “Well, the Eastmans are important to the college. I thought her return might make a good story. That’s all.”

      But as he spoke, the reporter shifted his gaze, not meeting Jenny’s eyes, and her suspicions grew. Could this “local interest” story actually be about something else? Something in the past, that had happened in their freshman year, that Jenny had worried would be stirred up by Kate’s return? Or was she being paranoid?

      “I don’t think Kate made it to the party, unfortunately. Now if you’ll excuse us, Tim and I have to mingle.”

      Jenny grabbed Tim’s arm, pulling him toward the throng on the lawn. “Come on,” she said, when he resisted.

      Jenny hadn’t seen Kate yet, but that didn’t mean Kate wasn’t here somewhere. She wanted to find her, and warn her to stay away from that damned reporter.

      “No. Stop it,” Tim said, and headed instead for the sliding glass door that led to the kitchen.

      Jenny followed him. She knew Tim well enough to see that he was upset. Was it the reporter asking about the real estate deal that set him off, or the mention of Kate?

      Inside, the kitchen was deserted and sparkling white, air-conditioned to an arctic chill.

      “Don’t let that reporter upset you,” Jenny said. “I can handle the press. And didn’t I tell you not to wear that hat? It looks shabby.”

      “Stop telling me what to do,” he said.

      Tim went over to the sink and ran the water, filling a glass and chugging it. She came to stand beside him, and glanced out the window to the deck. The reporter had disappeared. Presumably he was out in the crowd, searching for Kate. Jenny couldn’t go after him, not until she calmed her husband down. Tim looked worn out. There were lines around his eyes that hadn’t been there a few months ago. Her hours as mayor had taken a toll on Tim, and on their marriage. He had to pick up the slack with the kids, because Jenny was gone all the time. Meanwhile, bidding for the new Carlisle arts center project had reached the make-or-break stage. Tim wanted to take over the bidding, when in the past he’d been content to let her handle things. The timing could not be worse. Tim was too damn honest for the business he was in, and he would screw up everything. Into the middle of this tinderbox walks Kate Eastman, holding a lit match.

      “Everything’s under control, babe,” she said soothingly. She reached out to touch him, but he backed away.

      “I’m starting to think I can’t trust you when you say things like that,” he said.

      “Come on. We’re a team.”

      “Are we? Then why do you keep me in the dark, Jen?”

      “We agreed that when it comes to the business, I handle bids and you handle operations.”

      “Not just about that. Tell me the truth. You know what that reporter was implying. We’ll bid on the arts project, and we’ll win, because we always win when the college is involved. Why is that, Jen?”

      “Because you do good work at a reasonable price. You’ve built up a reputation. They trust you.”

      “You’re telling me your pal Keniston Eastman has nothing to do with it?”

      “What are you getting at?”

      “I don’t want to be in bed with him and his filthy daughter anymore.”

      “Kate has nothing to do with this.”

      “I don’t believe you.”

      Tim’s blue eyes were troubled. She felt bad for him, she really did, but he needed to suck it up and back off. Too much was at stake here. Next he’d be asking her about that incident again, from freshman year, when Kate got in trouble. When an innocent person died. They couldn’t talk about it. It had to stay buried.

      “Babe,” she began, squeezing his arm.

      Aubrey stepped through the sliding glass door. Thank God, just in time.

      “Let’s talk about this later, okay?” Jenny said.

      “Yeah, whatever you say, Jen,” Tim said bitterly. “You call the shots.”

      He brushed past Aubrey on his way out the door without so much as a hello.

      “Sorry about that. We were in the middle of a spat, but I’m glad you’re here. I need to talk to you about something,” Jenny said, thinking of the reporter.

      But her words barely seemed to register with Aubrey, who looked pale and ill.

      “Are you okay?” Jenny said, looking at her friend with concern. “Ethan said you were sick.”

      “I’ve been better. He said I was sick, like physically? Hah,” Aubrey said, with bitterness in her voice.

      “Are you two having problems again? Ethan didn’t—?”

      “Oh, yes he did. And you’ll never guess who the woman is this time,” Aubrey said, sinking into a chair at the kitchen table.

      Jenny filled a glass of water and brought it over to her.

      “Who?” Jenny asked. Oh great, was this about to turn into some big drama? Aubrey’s marital problems were nothing new, and Jenny had other things to worry about, like her guests, and the reporter who was looking to track down Kate Eastman and possibly start asking a lot of questions.

      “It’s Kate,” Aubrey said simply. She looked through the glass of water like she didn’t see it.

      “Kate? You mean—?”

      “Yes! Ethan is sleeping with Kate this time.”

      “Oh,” Jenny said. She did her best to appear shocked, but privately, she had suspected this for a while. Those two had a chemistry that, given their well-known proclivities, could only mean one thing.

      “It’s been going on for a while,” Aubrey said, “but I just found out. I know Ethan is a – well, a sex addict I guess – and a liar. I’ve put up with that for the sake of the children. But to go after my best friend, it’s too much.”

      Aubrey shook her head numbly. Her eyes were dry. Jenny might have been tempted to offer comfort anyway, to pull Aubrey into a hug, but instead she backed away, and leaned against the kitchen island. Aubrey’s words stung. Kate barely gave Aubrey the time of day over the past twenty years, and now she was sleeping with Aubrey’s husband. Jenny was there in every crisis. Yet Aubrey called Kate her best friend.

      “What is wrong with me, Jenny? I’ve been playing the fool for years. I have to do something about this. I have to make them stop,” Aubrey said.

      “I don’t mean to say I told you so,” Jenny said, “but I’ve always said you should leave Ethan.”

      “Then he’d win. They would win. Ethan and Kate would get to be together, and I’d be alone. I’d probably have to sell the house. He’d get joint custody. It’s so unfair.”

      “As far as Ethan and Kate running off together, I doubt they have any interest in that. They’re so shallow. It’s probably just a fling. And the rest – well, you need to talk to a lawyer. A good one. Take Ethan to the cleaners, and you’ll feel better.”

      Aubrey shook her head. “After the way they betrayed me, that’s not enough. I’m so angry at both of them. How could I have been so blind?”