Chapter 38

As Fern and I stepped onto the sidewalk, I felt as if I had conjured Carl from my thoughts, spying him at the table in the window of the very restaurant we were going to. But… a dark-haired woman leaned over the small, circular table between them planting a kiss on his lips.

I grabbed Fern’s hand, marching her off in the other direction. Getting out my phone, I called Carl. I didn’t expect him to pick up, but he did.

“Hey Hun, is everything all right?”

I almost choked but mastered myself. “Sure, I just wanted to hear your voice. How are you doing?”

“Good, thanks. Just working. No rest for the wicked, right?”

Sickness roiled through me. Wicked indeed. Fury and hurt twisted through me, but once again, I managed to contain it and said, “I’ll leave you to it, and see you soon, night.”

“Night, Hun,” he said, hanging up.

I dialed Lara next and managed to placate Fern with the change of plan, and I pretended to her that I’d just remembered a client’s dress that was being picked up from the st