The Magnolia Affair (13 page)

I nodded and Stella tapped my hand. “Go ahead with your questions, detective. Mrs. Kingston will cooperate in any way that helps with your investigation. We’re as eager as you, more probably, to bring justice to this investigation.”

He placed my cell phone in the center of the table. “Can you tell us where you were the night your husband was killed?”

I thought the questions would start out slow and easy, working their way up to the ones that would hit me in the gut, but Pendleton didn’t live in a world of finesse. He went straight for the neck.

“I-I was next door.”

“Next door? You mean at Mr. Tanner’s house?” he asked.

“Yes. That’s right.”

“And approximately how long were you there Tuesday night?”

“All night.”

“All night. Ok. What were you doing there?”

I couldn’t look at him. I found a smudge on the wall over his shoulder. “We had dinner together. He cooked.”

“And this dinner lasted all night? Seems a little strange for dinner.” He typed on his keyboard. “Could you elaborate on your relationship with Mr. Tanner?”

“We were seeing each other,” I whispered.

“By seeing you mean you had a sexual relationship with him? You were having an affair with your neighbor?”

I pushed down the bile that was in my throat. “Yes.”

The only sound in the room was Pendleton’s typing. “What time did you leave his residence?”

“I think it was around eight in the morning.” I struggled to find my voice.

“Did you see Mr. Tanner leave at any point during the time you were at his house?”

“I didn’t see him leave, but I fell asleep,” I responded.

“So you can’t account for him the entire night?” There was a new lightness in the detective’s voice as if I had just given him a boost of caffeine.

“No, I can’t.”

Stella nodded her approval at me. She continued to write during the interrogation. Two hours later, Detective Pendleton handed me my phone and said I was able to return home. He would check in with me tomorrow.

Stella asked if she could stop by in the morning. Exhausted and humiliated, I rode in the back of the police car.

I shouldn’t have been surprised when I saw the Charleston squad car in Paxton’s driveway. I watched them escort him to the backseat. It looked like there were cuffs on his wrists, but the scene was blurry.

The officer dropped me off in the driveway.

Avery hugged me and Pepper nosed my palms. “Are you all right? You look awful.”

“Thanks.” I slumped into the kitchen chair.

“Did you see what was happening next door? Your neighbor just got carted off.”

I closed my eyes. This had to happen. The truth was going to be headline news in ten minutes. I had to tell her.

“Avery, I think Paxton may have had something to do with Spencer’s death.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I was sleeping with him.”

“Shut up! What?”

“I think he wanted Spencer out of the picture so we could be together. I don’t know. It’s crazy. Nothing makes any sense.”

“I don’t believe what I’m hearing right now. You cheated on Spencer?”

I was six years older. Six years is a lot when you’re a child. Old enough to comfort crying from scraped knees, and calm nightmares. I did everything first. Blazed the trail for Avery, showing her the ropes at school, at college. How to be the perfect bride. How to map out a career and how to balance all of it with marriage. She never had to tell me she looked up to me; I knew it. But now, standing in my kitchen, she was looking at me with disgust. Distain. Repulsion.

“How could you do that?”

“I don’t have a good reason.” I squeezed my eyes together, until I could almost hear the humming in my ears. “It happened and I thought it would stop, but I didn’t stop it. I couldn’t.”

“Yes, you could. Don’t tell me that. Spencer didn’t deserve that. You could have left or something. You cheated on him?” She stormed out of the kitchen.

“Avery, don’t go. Please try and understand.”

“I thought I knew what kind of person you were.”

“You do know me. I’m the same person. I didn’t want to hurt Spence.”

“But you did.”

“He didn’t know. At least he died without that pain.” I was clinging to scraps of light.

“It’s probably why he was driving back early from his meeting.” She slammed the door in my face.

“What?” I called through the door.

It was muffled but I heard her respond. “He was probably on his way back to kick that guy’s ass.”

I had been in a fog. Walking in a haze, drinking bottles of wine, taking sedatives the doctor prescribed after I hyperventilated. It felt good living in zombie skin, zoning out and pretending I was an emotionless bitch.

I didn’t want the fog to lift long enough to think, but for a split second Avery’s fit of anger penetrated the bubble I created. Spencer was supposed to be in Columbia for another twelve hours when he was killed. Someone knew where he was. Someone followed him. Not only that, he was traveling back in the middle of the night. There were no texts or calls from him. Avery might be right. What if he was on his way back to catch me or to confront me?

How would he have found out? No one knew. We had been discreet. Other than the text messages, there was no trace of us.

“Avery, can’t we talk?” I beat on the door. “Avery!”

She had always been stubborn. I used to think it was because she was the baby of the family. My parents seemed to give in to everything she wanted. She had a later curfew than I did; she got to go to horseback camp and I didn’t. Her allowance was almost double mine. Being the younger sister had worked to her advantage despite how she complained about it.

I walked away.

“Where are you going?” The door was ajar. She blotted her face with a tissue.

“If you don’t want to talk, then I don’t want to force you. It’s not worth arguing anymore. I don’t have the energy to fight you on top of everything else going on.”

“I want to help you through this. I can see you’re hurting. It’s just…I don’t know if I can.” She wiped roughly at her eyes, smearing mascara in the corners. “I know I’m not supposed to judge you, but it’s still there.”

I wondered what I looked like to her now.

“Are you going to leave?” I didn’t expect anyone to understand what I had done. But faced with total abandonment, I was desperate for an ally, just a single glimpse of empathy. Although, I knew I didn’t deserve it.

“I don’t know. This is complicated. I want to be here for you. I do, damn it, Audrey. I’m mad at you right now.”

“I get that. I’m angry at myself.”

“Do you love him?” Her voice was quiet.

“Of course I love Spence. I’ll always love him.”

“No, I meant
him
. Did you at least love him?”

The word ripped at me. “I think I did for a little bit.”

“How can you love two people at the same time?” She was grasping, trying to make sense out of something that was illogical.

“Because
they
were different. They made me different.”

“And you couldn’t figure out that you needed something different without cheating?” Every question made me feel as if I was back in the police conference room, only this time my sister was dissecting my raw emotions.

“No. I didn’t even know it. I couldn’t know it.”

“I don’t get it. You’re not making any sense.” She rubbed her temples. “You had all this? This beautiful house, this life with a nice guy who was head over heels in love with you, and you gave it up for nothing.
Nothing
!” Her voice escalated. “I stood next to you at your wedding. I helped you move in here. I’ve been with you every Christmas, and you know what I was thinking the whole time?”

I shook my head, afraid to talk.

“I wanted this. I have prayed that I could have a husband like you had. I envied your life with him. I compare everyone I date to Spence. I wonder if we’ll have what you two had.” She glared. “And you just didn’t care.”

“Avery.” I didn’t know how to calm her.

“I think I’ll go in the morning. I need more time.” She walked backward. “I can’t do this.”

The next morning, we drank coffee in a quiet kitchen. I was surprised she was still willing to hug me when she threw her bag in the trunk. She promised to check on me later, but we both knew later was open-ended.

I stood in the driveway, watching her car turn out of the neighborhood. I lingered too long, a minute later a news van pulled in front of the house. A reporter ran toward me, shoving a microphone in my face.

“Did you have an affair with Paxton Tanner? Did you know he’s in police custody? What are your comments?”

I ran. My bare feet carrying me through the garage. I smacked the button before she could duck under the door. I closed the blinds and the curtains, and crouched on the floor next to the office window. There were more news trucks parked between my driveway and Paxton’s.

I crawled to the TV in the corner of the room and turned it on. There it was, scrolling along the bottom of the screen.

The entire world had just found out I had an affair with Paxton Tanner.

I
opened the door for Stella.

“It’s quite the circus out there.” She marched into the house.

“Can you get them to leave?” I asked.

“As long as they aren’t on your property and aren’t physically hurting you, they are free to report and hang out.” She opened her portfolio case. “I stopped by to check on you and see how you’re holding up.”

“I’m fine.”

She looked at me skeptically. “Fine isn’t how I would define this.”

I liked Stella. She was practical and she wasn’t trying to shove food down my throat.

“Then I’m shitty. Fucked up. Destroyed. Nervous. Does that sound better?”

She smiled. “Yes, that I can believe.”

“Do you want some coffee?” I poured another cup for myself.

“No, I’ll pass. I’m only here for a few minutes.” She sat at the kitchen table. “Now that the news of your affair has broken, I’m afraid you’re going to be slaughtered in the press. I just wanted to check on how you’re handling everything.”