He turned onto Greenbriar, heading back to the house to do a little more work before he turned in for the night. He’d been sleeping there off and on for a couple weeks. It made it easier to get things done. They had fallen a bit behind because of a couple of the setbacks, but they weren’t too far over.
Aaron’s heart stopped when he turned into the driveway. It felt like he was starring in his own horror movie. Everything he’d spent the last two hours putting in his stomach threatened to come back up. Had he fallen asleep on the drive home and not realized? Because he had to be in the middle of a horrible nightmare.
In pink spray paint, the words I Hate You were written across the garage door. The windows that looked into the dining room were broken. It was possible that was where the missing landscaping bricks had gone. The front door was kicked in, and Aaron could only imagine the horrors that would be waiting for him inside.
He dialed 911 and cried while he waited for the police to come.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
IN BONNIE’S MIND, there was only one person who would have done this. There was only one person who was mad enough, hateful enough and out-of-touch-with-reality enough to do this.
“It had to be Lauren,” she said to the police officer who was interviewing her. Who else would have chosen pink paint? It was like she wasn’t even trying to hide that it was her.
Not only had the outside been defaced. All of the kitchen cabinets had gotten spray painted, and the beautiful quartz countertops were ruined. The chandelier in the dining room was hanging by one wire. The fireplace had the words Blame Bonnie written across the brick. Classic Lauren.
“It wasn’t Lauren,” Aaron said. His eyes were red and swollen. “She wouldn’t do this to me. She wouldn’t.”
“Why not? You said yourself that she’s mad at you. We know she’s mad at me.”
“I know it’s hard to think the worst about a family member, but is there anything that might lead you to believe that what Miss Windsor is saying might be true?” the officer asked Aaron.
Tears fell down his face, and Bonnie’s heart broke in two. How could Lauren do this to him? It took him a good minute to speak. His voice cracked as he explained the situation.
“She felt like I deserted her. That I was disloyal to her and chose Bonnie and Mitch over her after everything that happened at the wedding. I talked to my mom today, and she said she hadn’t been able to get ahold of her lately and that she was worried. She was afraid that Lauren might be struggling with Mitch back in town. That would have easily pushed her over the edge.”
“When was the last time you talked to your sister?”
“I texted her a few times tonight, and I called her right before I came back here. She didn’t answer the texts or the call.”
Because she was a coward. Because she was coldhearted. Bonnie watched as her dad stood in the middle of the living room with his hand over his mouth and tears welling in his eyes. It was unbelievable all the hard work that could be undone in a matter of minutes.
“Is there anyone else who would do something like this? Anyone who has it out for you?”
“She has a whole posse of followers. They could have all been here with her. I bet she had help from Theresa Gilmore, Kathy Cole, Wendy Hillbrand, and Jeanne Watson. Even Mary James and Cheryl Cooper could have tagged along.” It made Bonnie sick to her stomach, but everyone she used to call friend could easily have had a hand in this. Everyone knew that if Lauren said something had to be done, they all would have done it, because no one questioned Lauren. No one stood up to her. No one told her she couldn’t have something, do something, say something. Lauren did whatever she wanted, and this time, she’d gone too far.
The officer took all the names down and promised he would follow up with every one of them.
“Bad, bad Lauren,” Sasha said from where he sat on the floor. He hadn’t even gone into the bedrooms to see what had been done in there, because he had collapsed on the ground when he walked in.
“She wouldn’t do this,” Aaron repeated.
Bonnie walked over to where he stood and wrapped her arms around him. This was one tough pill to swallow, but the proof was written all over the house.
“I have to go talk to her. I need her to tell me to my face that she did this.”
“I think you should let the police handle it. I don’t think it’s a good idea to confront her when everything is still so raw.”
Aaron let her hug him, but he stood like a statue, motionless and rigid. She couldn’t think of any words of comfort to offer him. While he was devastated and despondent, she was full of rage. If she were to confront Lauren right now, Lauren wasn’t the only one who would be spending the night in jail.
“We should go,” her dad finally said. “We need to get out of here and come back in the morning and make a punch list.”
“Ha!” Sasha’s laughter lacked any and all humor. “That’s going to be one long punch list.”
“There’s nothing we can do about this tonight. It’s best we rest up and start fresh in the morning.” He offered Sasha a hand up.
Bonnie let go of Aaron and held out her hand. “Come on, let’s go.”
“She wouldn’t do this to me,” Aaron said again.
Denial was not easy to overcome. It was going to take a lot for the truth to sink in. Even when Lauren admitted to it, Aaron would probably still grapple with the reality of it.
“Do you want me to drive you home?” she asked, taking his
