When the door opened, I didn’t move. Simon looked like he’d literally run home from Providence. Out of breath and with his hair mussed up, he seemed more frazzled than I’d ever seen him.
“You need to tell me what’s going on.”
I came right out with it.
“Were you with a woman today at a café on the East Side?”
He looked like my words had knocked even more wind out of him.
“How did you know that?”
“So, you were?”
“Answer me. How did you know that?”
“Ginnifer saw you.” I was starting to cry. “Who is she?”
“She’s the plaintiff in the lawsuit.”
My pulse slowed a little. It hadn’t occurred to me that the meeting might have had something to do with the deposition. But still, why hadn’t he mentioned it to me, then? He’d specifically said he was catching up on rest and never uttered a single word about a meeting with a woman.
Wiping my nose with my sleeve, I said, “You lied to me. You said you were home all afternoon.”
Simon’s blue eyes darkened in a way I’d never observed before. It felt like my entire world was closing in on me as he knelt down onto his knees in front of the couch and placed both of his hands on my shoulders.
He looked deeply into my eyes when he said, “First off, I need to tell you that there’s absolutely nothing going on between me and the woman in the café. Her name is Gina Delmonico, and it was the first time I’d ever spoken directly to her.”
My chest grew heavier. “Gina…Gina Delmonico? The woman who Ben worked with? The one who was in the car when he…when he died?”
Simon nodded. “Yes.”
“I’m confused. Why were you with her? What’s going on, Simon?”
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before speaking. “What I’m about to tell you is probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do in my entire life.” When he noticed my hand shaking, he said, “Please don’t be scared. We’re fine. We’re so good, my love. I love you so much. This doesn’t have anything to do with us, but it has to do with Ben.”
“Ben? What about Ben?”
“In the course of the deposition, I realized that the car accident we were discussing was Ben’s accident. I was apparently working the ER at Warwick Hospital the exact night he was killed. The woman who is suing the hospital for her injuries is Gina Delmonico, Ben’s passenger. We’ve never spoken about his accident in detail. I hadn’t even realized that there was someone in the car with him.”
“Yes. Gina was his co-worker. He was driving her home the night of the accident. They were working late, and her car didn’t start. I’ve always felt badly for not sending her a card or calling her. It’s just…I was in shock when it happened. I knew she went to the ER, but his office said it was nothing too serious. I never followed up.”
Simon frowned, but said nothing.
“So that’s why you lied to me? You didn’t want to mention that the woman who is suing you is Gina because…because you didn’t want to upset me by bringing up the accident?”
The way Simon looked at me, I knew that wasn’t it. His face was etched with pain, and he was struggling to say anything at all.
“Simon,” I whispered. “What’s going on?”
“I’m so sorry, luv.” He just kept shaking his head and looking down. When he finally looked me in the eyes, I held my breath to brace myself. “Gina and Ben were having an affair. She admitted to it during the questioning at her deposition.”
Even though I was still sitting, the room started to spin as I grabbed onto Simon for balance. I was staring right at him—his mouth was moving, sound was coming out, yet I couldn’t hear the words that he said. It felt like I was underwater, everything was so muffled. He paused and tears welled in his eyes. Holding my head with two hands as if I was fragile and he was worried I might break, his voice broke through. “She has a daughter, Bridget. She’s three. Gina doesn’t think she’s Ben’s daughter, but she isn’t positive. Apparently, she also had a boyfriend at the time.”
He looked alarmed after a minute. It might have been because I had grown pale. The room started to spin faster and faster.
“Bridget? Breathe, baby. Breathe. Shit!”I woke up with a cool rag on my head and an extremely nervous looking doctor holding my hand. “You scared the living shit out of me, luv.”
“What happened?” I was lightheaded and felt a bit queasy.
Simon went from nervous to full-blown panicked. “Please tell me you remember the conversation we just had. I can’t have it again.”
It all came back to me.
Ben.
Gina.
An affair.