Looping.
Careful.
I read:
Thank you for keeping this between us. She can never know until the right moment. — R
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The meaning became worse each time.
She.
Me?
Who else?
I opened the receipt.
Sterling & Sons Jewelers.
Three weeks before our wedding.
The total at the bottom was high enough to buy a decent used car.
There was no item description.
No diamond description.
No watch model.
Nothing.
Just the amount.
My stomach dropped.
I called Felicia.
She answered on the second ring.
“Valerie, it is eight in the morning.
Please tell me you are calling to say marriage is fantastic.”
“I found something in Callum’s tuxedo.”
Her voice changed immediately.
“What?”
“A key.”
Pause.
“A note from somebody signed R.”
Longer pause.
“And a jewelry receipt for an amount that could probably buy your car.”
“My car is old.”
“Felicia.”
“Sorry.
Read me the note.”
I did.
She became quiet.
“That sounds bad.”
“Thank you.”
“I said sounds.”
“It is bad.”
“No.
We don’t know that yet.”
I leaned against the wall.
“Who is R?”
“I have no idea.”
“Exactly.”
“Do not do that.”
“Do what?”
“Turn missing information into proof.”
I closed my eyes.
Felicia knew me too well.
PART 3 — SCARED GUESSES
“Callum doesn’t keep things from me.”
“I know.”
“He checked those pockets.”
“But you also have four years of evidence about who Callum usually is.”
I pressed the tiny key into my palm.
“What if the four years were the lie?”
Felicia sighed.
“That sentence is Darren talking.”
I hated how quickly she identified it.
“This is not Darren.”
“I know.”
“Mitchell?”
“No.”
“Then don’t make Callum answer for men he has never met.”
My eyes filled.
“I just got married yesterday.”
“I know.”
“What if I made the biggest mistake of my life?”
