“Is this . . . are you responsible for the money, Aaron?”
“Yes, because it’s my business. Those are my customers. I made some risky investments that thank God paid off. And then I drained every cent out of our bank accounts, mortgaged the house, did what I had to do to pay those people back. Almost two million dollars.”
I stilled, but didn’t say anything about the discrepancy. I had a lot more money than that in the garage. My God, Ethan, what were you doing?
“Are you here for the money?” I’d gladly give it. I didn’t want anything to do with stolen funds.
But Aaron shook his head. “No. I paid those people back with my own money and they agreed not to go to the authorities.”
“But you should be reimbursed—”
“I don’t want it, Is. As far as I’m concerned, that money is yours. What Ethan was doing . . .” He shook his head, what looked like true sorrow in his eyes. “It would have left you and Elise destitute.”
I lowered my gaze to my hands, staring unseeing for a moment. If only. If only Elise and I had been left destitute, but together. God, if only that had been the worst of it. I would sell my soul to live that “hardship.” Grief wrenched my heart, but hot, prickly anger vibrated under my skin. “Do you think he was going to leave us for another woman?” I asked woodenly.
Aaron paused, but sadly didn’t look surprised at what I was asking. He hadn’t trusted his friend. “I don’t know. All I know is I’m sorry. I never wanted you to deal with any of this.”
My gaze flew to his. “You weren’t going to tell me?”
“Why would I? Are you glad you know?”
“I . . .” I shook my head. “I’m not sure.” My heart squeezed tightly in my chest. “Do you think it had anything to do with what . . . what happened?” Oh, God. What if he said yes? Perhaps Aaron was right. Maybe I didn’t want to know, especially if it meant learning that Ethan was partly responsible for that night. My horror, my everlasting sorrow.
He stared at me for a moment then looked away, his expression disturbed but thoughtful. Finally he shook his head. “No one knew at that point. No one had any reason to harm Ethan.”
I nodded. And like I’d told Brant, the man who’d broken into our home had never said a word about any money. I considered Aaron for another moment—his haggard expression, his rumpled clothes. “Is this why . . . I mean the stress of what you’ve been going through . . . is it why you and Paige have split?”
He pulled in a deep breath. “I suppose. She’s so angry.” A shadow passed over his face, dark and morose. Angry? Well, yes. But he’d left out hurt, devastated. His eyes met mine. “I’m so sorry, Is. After everything you’ve lost, this is the last thing I wanted you to have to grapple with. I never wanted to taint your memories of Ethan when it’s all you have. I tried to avoid it, I really did.”
He looked so lost sitting there, so distraught and despite what I knew, I couldn’t help the softening of my heart. He’d made such terrible mistakes. But I knew there was good in him too. I’d seen him with my daughter, watched him as he played tea party with her as she’d giggled and handed him a plastic tea cup . . . For a moment it hurt to breathe and I closed my eyes as the pain expanded, then grew less and less . . . allowing my lungs to take in air once more. “The truth is, Aaron, Ethan and I didn’t have a good marriage.”
He frowned slightly. “I didn’t know.”
“No one did.”
He regarded me for a moment. “I guess it’s hard to know what’s going on inside a marriage unless you’re in it.” He looked like he was speaking of himself as much as me, but I supposed it was true of us both.
“Yes. I only told you that to let you know I had no illusions about Ethan. I . . . I’d fallen out of love with him long before he died. I wish that weren’t true, but it is, and it helps me to acknowledge the truth, or everything feels like a lie, you know?”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I do know. I do.” Something passed between us, an understanding, camaraderie, though it still made me uncomfortable, as if I were betraying my friend somehow.
I stood. “Thank you for coming here. And if you
change your mind about the money, let me know. I don’t think I want it either.”
“I won’t. And I trust you to give it to a good cause if you decide you don’t want it.”
The door opened and closed down the hall and then I heard my name being called. Brant. Aaron’s eyes shot in the direction of Brant’s footsteps and he stood abruptly.
“In here,” I called.
Aaron and I met Brant in the large, open living room doorway and Brant’s expression took on a look of surprise when he saw Aaron.
“Brant, this is Aaron, Paige’s husband. Aaron, this is Brant.”
They shook. “Nice to meet you, Brant. I was just leaving.”
Brant gave him a suspicious look but nodded. “Nice to meet you too. I’ll walk you to the door.”