Rina needed to feel comfortable divulging information if Alicia was going to get to the bottom of this, so her response was diplomatic. “You know teenagers, they’re always acting out.”
Rina scoffed. “Maxim punched a classmate—I’d hardly call that acting out. They also found him smoking in the boys’ bathroom.”
“Who told you all that?”
“Oh, you know, Alicia...” Rina leaned back into the sofa. “People talk. Kids talk. Before long, everybody’s in the loop.”
Apparently, everybody but me. “Kat never let on,” Alicia said, then immediately regretted the slip. She wanted to extract information from Rina, not the other way around.
Rina responded with her trademark sass. “Why would she tell you her kid is an out-of-control little snot? You may be her best friend, but you’re the perfect mother with the perfect kids. Maybe she’s ashamed, feels like she can’t measure up as a mom.”
Alicia averted her gaze. A painful lump formed at the back of her throat. Guilt. How could she sit here gossiping about her best friend with a woman who loathed her?
Alicia said, “Maxim’s a good kid who’s obviously struggling.”
“You see the sunny side of everything, Alicia, but it’s clear he’s acting out because of her.”
“Don’t say that, Rina. Kids act out for different reasons. We can’t know for sure. Oftentimes, it has nothing to do with the parents.”
“And that long-suffering husband of hers, Richard. He deserves a medal for putting up with her.”
Anger spiraled from the pit of Alicia’s stomach. Rina’s digs at Kat were usually innocent enough, but this was going too far. She wouldn’t allow Rina to unfairly criticize Kat.
“Everyone struggles at one point or another. Don’t you think you’re being just a tiny bit unfair to Kat?”
Rina huffed and folded her arms, her opinion set. Nothing would change her mind.
Alicia still reeled, however. Something wasn’t right. First, Kat hadn’t mentioned Jack was her new gynecologist until Alicia mentioned it. Then that incident at the cocktail party. And now Maxim was causing trouble at school, and Kat failed to mention that, too. Was her best friend going off the rails and was too proud to ask for help? Kat knew Alicia’s deepest, darkest secrets, so why didn’t Kat feel comfortable confiding in her? She had to find out what was really going on.
Alicia jumped to her feet. “Thanks for stopping by. I still have some packing to do. Tell Mary Beth that I’m sorry I can’t make book club. But I’ll be at the next one. Marston is writing her first novel. Perhaps it will be our pick one day.”
“That daughter of yours is going places,” Rina said, stealing the final donut before making her way back into the kitchen ahead of Alicia. “I can’t wait to read her book.”
“Yes, but that’s a long way off. With high school graduation and college coming up in the fall, she has a lot on her plate.”
“How is Eliot handling his firstborn heading off to college soon?”
“He’s excited for her, but as a parent, he’s nervous.”
Rina didn’t respond as she made her way down the hallway with Alicia on her heels. Rina opened the front door and paused in the entryway. “How are you and Eliot, anyway?” she asked.
“We’re good.” Alicia scratched her cheek, slightly taken-aback by the question. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason.” Rina’s gaze wandered off down the street before refocusing on Alicia. “You and Eliot are a great couple. I would hate to see anything change that.”
What did that mean? The icy finger of unease Alicia felt this morning returned.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Rina said, as if reading the fear on Alicia’s face. “I’m just saying I admire you and Eliot as a couple. You two made it to twenty years. That milestone is rare these days. Cherish it. Protect it, no matter what.”
“Protect it from what?”
“I have to go.” Rina stepped outside and walked briskly down the driveway. “Enjoy Paris!” she called with a final wave.
CHAPTER 8
Alicia was holed up in her bedroom, busying herself with packing for the trip tomorrow morning. Alone in the room, events of late buzzed around her brain like troublesome insects.
Kat’s struggles with Maxim and why she hadn’t shared how serious things were. Rina’s strange comment and Eliot’s suspicious phone call.
Alicia grabbed a few dresses from the massive walk-in closet and dropped them on the bed for closer inspection. At home, her wardrobe was simple, with mostly solid colors and separates. In the summer, she preferred pretty, floral dresses and anything with polka dots. But for this trip, she needed a chic, stylish wardrobe and appropriate jewelry. If there was anything the Parisians knew about, it was style. Looking at the selection, she made a mental note to pack the gorgeous, diamond Cartier bracelet she received as a fifteenth wedding anniversary gift. Eliot had said that she deserved an exquisite jewelry collection, and he never passed up an opportunity to bring home something that sparkled.
As she returned to the closet to pull out another load of outfits, her brain worked backward. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that there was nothing there, she couldn’t let go of the phone call that had caused Eliot to panic. Before Rina’s visit, Alicia had brushed it aside as nothing, but her neighbor’s passing comments had put her right back in the thick of doubt and misgivings.
You and Eliot are a great couple. I would hate to see anything change that.
Alicia ran her hands down the fine wool of Eliot’s dark-gray suit. The scent of his aftershave lingered on the fabric. Eliot often received work-related calls at home, but she had never—in the twenty-one years he worked for Tillerson Brenner—seen him panic like he had that night. There was something about his reaction that had convinced Alicia that the call was personal, not business. And how did Nathan Hunt, who buzzed Eliot this
