There was a knock on the door. Without waiting for her to answer, Addison’s mother entered, wearing a pained expression on her face. “Honey, are you all right?” she murmured, coming over to sit next to Addison on the bed.
Addison nodded, although her cheeks were probably blotchy with sorrow.
“You’re thinking about Seth, aren’t you?” Her mother touched Addison’s hand and sighed.
Addison was quiet. She didn’t want to betray all the chaos in her head.
“You know, honey, I think you should really talk to a lawyer,” her mother said quietly. “He’s been gone since summer, and I hate to admit it, but I don’t think he’s coming back. I never imagined he had it in him to act like this. You know as well as anyone how much your father and I loved him.” Her mother hesitated, her eyes glassy. “But we have to find a way as a family to move on from this. We have to do it for Kennedy, Penelope,and Gavin. And as your mother, I want you to be able to love again one day. I want you to find space in your heart for new stories. Does that make any sense?”
Addison could hardly move. She didn’t want to lie to her mother. She didn’t want to say that she still felt that Seth—Jack—was doing everything he could to return to his family. It didn’t sound logical.
“Why don’t you come back out?” her mother urged gently. “We’re going to watch a movie. All six of us. How does that sound?”
Addison sniffed and said it sounded nice. Her mother got up, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and said she was going to pour herself a glass of wine. “I think it’s about time. You want one?”
Addison said she did. She smiled until her mother left the room, then let herself sob for a full minute before pulling herself together again. But when she got up, she realized that she had several missed calls and a text on her phone. They were all from Charlotte Whitmore.
Charlotte: Call me. We need to talk.
Chapter Three
Spring of 2010 - Oahu, Hawaii
Addison Hamilton was at her parents’ hotel, working the front desk on a gorgeous seventy-three-degree day in March while her mother swept the lobby floor and cleaned the windows. Her mother, Beth Stapleton, sang softly as she worked, her strawberry-blond-red hair billowing down her back, her elbow churning back and forth as she scrubbed. Their maid had called in sick for the day, but Addison’s mother said she didn’t mind. “It’s good to clean. It gets my mind off the hard stuff in life,” she said, smiling. “But you should get out of here, honey. It’s too pretty a day to be caught inside.”
Addison cocked her head with surprise. She’d been on the schedule for today with plans to work till six or seven that evening. It was true that she hadn’t thought she’d be able to experience any of the gorgeous day, but she and her husband, Chris, badly needed the money.
Beth seemed to read her mind. She pressed her finger to her lips and said, “It’ll be just between us, okay? I know you and Chris haven’t seen much of each other lately. I know how hardit can be when you’re newlyweds, or sort of newlyweds, and lose that connection.”
Addison hurried around the front desk and threw her arms around her mother, surprised at how earnest and empathetic she was. Perhaps she’d never given her mother enough credit.
She knew, too, that her mother desperately wanted grandchildren, that she hoped Addison and Chris would get busy already and build a family. But Addison and Chris were in no hurry, not really. Addison was twenty-eight years old and enjoying “adulthood” without the responsibilities that most of her friends had already taken on: high mortgages, terrifying fears, and babies. It would come for her and Chris soon, she knew. But she’d bide her time.
Addison hurried out of the Golden Sunset Hotel, stripped down to her bathing suit, and flung herself into the water. The waves lapped over her stomach, over her legs. She closed her eyes and reminded herself of the beauty of her life, her Hawaiian island life. And then, she got out of the water, toweled off, and hurried to Chris’s job. She knew he got off at three, and she wanted to surprise him, maybe take him out for fish tacos and cocktails. Maybe they could go to a beach party or go dancing, like they used to.
Addison parked outside the little shack that served as Chris’s so-called office. Chris and their longtime friend Ben had founded this scuba diving instruction company when they were nineteen, nearly ten years ago. Although it generated a pretty good income from tourism, they’d never really done anything to the exterior or the interior, choosing instead to spend their money on beer and food. It meant the shack still looked as though it might be swept away in a storm.
Addison padded across the sand and entered the shack to find one of the secretaries, Roxie, reading a magazine behind the front counter. Roxie was in her early twenties, with long dreadsthat dangled from the back of her chair. She was a passionate scuba diver, but Addison knew very little about her beyond that. Maybe she was from California? That sounded right.
“Hey, Roxie!” Addison said.
Roxie flinched and looked up at Addison as though she’d never seen her before. It had been a few months since Addison had stopped by. Closing her magazine, Roxie said, “Oh, hey, Addy. You need anything?”
“I came to surprise Chris.” She grinned. “I got out of work early.”
“Oh. Great.” Roxie stood and stretched her long arms over her head. They were sculpted and gorgeous. Addison made a mental note to start swimming more. Or maybe she could do yoga? “The boat’ll be here in a few minutes.”
Addison thanked Roxie, then walked around the front desk to fetch a beer from the fridge.
“Whoa, I can get anything for you,” Roxie said. She seemed put out.
Addison wanted to roll her eyes. She wanted to tell Roxie that this was just as much her company as it was Chris’s because they were married and that was how things worked. But as she leaned down to open the fridge, something on the counter glinted and caught her eye.
She froze in recognition, with a beer in her hand. She stood, letting the fridge slam behind her. She couldn’t speak. Chris’s wedding ring sat on the front desk, hidden behind the clock. She couldn’t fathom why he’d left it. She knew that he always swam with it on. They’d gotten waterproof rings for a reason. He’d said himself that he didn’t want to be the type of husband who took it on and off. “Our commitment is forever, and for every day and every season and every situation,” he’d said. He’d really said that!
Roxie followed Addison’s line of sight. If Addison wasn’t mistaken, she was pretty sure Roxie swallowed so hard that her Adam’s apple bobbed. What was she hiding?
Addison knew better than to come out and ask it. She popped the top of her beer, hating that her hands were shaking, and sat in the sunshine, her eye on the horizon. Already, she could see Ben and Chris’s boat coming closer, closer. She sipped her beer and tried to focus on the sun rays on her face. She tried to tell herself that everything was okay.