before she married Jared? She had an urgent need to know and berated herself for allowing her feelings to run her out of the office before making Joseph tell her. Humiliation didn’t make her eager to face him again. Or Lucas.
Not wanting to go home with all the chaos mixing in her mind, Rachel stayed on the bus, and then two hours later found herself walking toward Joseph’s house. She remembered his address from some documents that had required she list it. All she needed was information. The truth. Not knowing who Lucas truly was would prevent her from getting closure. She’d rather face Joseph than Lucas. Joseph should be home from work by now. She’d talk to him and then she’d put this behind her and move on with her life.
Another hour later she walked up Joseph’s spectacular street, huge and luxurious houses spaced far apart on giant lots. She went up to the front door and knocked.
A woman answered. Dyed blond hair, average height and weight, she looked well preserved and warily curious.
Rachel heard a television somewhere inside; the sound echoed in the cathedral-like entry. She had never seen anything so grand in her life. On TV, but not in person.
“Yes?” the woman asked.
“Is Joseph here?”
“He isn’t home from work yet. Who...” The woman searched Rachel’s face as though trying to place her.
“I work for your husband. A-at least, I used to work for him.”
More understanding smoothed the woman’s face, but her confusion remained. “What are you doing here?”
“I...” Rachel lowered her head, at a loss for how to explain and not sure she should. This woman was a stranger, and Rachel didn’t feel like explaining what had occurred.
“Wait a minute.” The woman pointed her finger as something dawned on her. “You’re that girl. The one who had the affair with our daughter’s husband.”
“I’m sorry.” Rachel started to turn, expecting animosity. “I intruded. I’ll go now.”
The woman stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm. “Wait.”
Startled, Rachel looked into blue-gray eyes much like Lucas’s, and instead of wrath, she saw kindness. Warmth.
“I assume you found out?” Lucas’s mother said.
“Really, I should go. I shouldn’t have come here.”
“Joseph said you would.”
Rachel didn’t understand what she meant.
“Find out,” the woman clarified, hooking her arm with Rachel’s. “Come in. Let’s talk.”
The woman guided her inside, taking her to a wide-open living room that magnetized Rachel.
“Have a seat and we’ll talk this through. My son and husband don’t give the technique much credence when they really should.”
Rachel didn’t resist the woman’s wishes. Joseph must have told her some things, things he’d asked Rachel to believe.
She sat on a gigantic sectional. Something shifted in her, a deep, long-forgotten sense of caring, of being cared for. This woman could have turned her away. Instead, she welcomed her. Since her affair and the loss of her one good job, Rachel had alienated herself from her friends. She had no family, other than a few distant cousins too far removed to count.
“I’m Gloria Tieber. Why don’t you start by telling me how you did find out?”
Rachel would have retreated, were it not for Gloria’s simple approach. “I overheard Marcy talking.” She turned away with the renewed sting that memory packed.
“Don’t mind her. Whatever she said, she said it because she’s jealous. Joseph was going to transfer her no matter what. He isn’t a game-player. He won’t tolerate anyone who is. He prefers people who shoot straight. Like you.”
Rachel brought her thoughts back around.
“It’s not like him to lie,” Gloria said. “But he’d do anything for Lucas. They’ve been close ever since Joseph and I met. Took to each other right away.”
“Lucas isn’t his son?” She already knew, only needed confirmation, or maybe just to have it embedded into her head so she didn’t imagine there’d ever be any hope for her with Lucas.
“Next best thing. Stepson. My first husband died at a young age, when Lucas was just four. Luella was just a baby back then.”
Rachel watched as the woman’s thoughts wandered. The awfulness of losing a husband and the good memories of Luella had to feel like sorrow sprinkled with sugar.
“That must have been very difficult,” Rachel said.
Gloria smiled, the sorrow remaining. “It was such a long time ago. And Joseph is a wonderful man.”
Rather than continue down that line, Rachel asked, “Lucas and Luella weren’t adopted?”
“We decided not to arrange for Joseph to adopt them, in memory of their father.”
She could see Joseph being the kind of man to go along with that. An insecure man may not be so understanding. Lucas was a lot like that, too. As that thought popped into her head, the hurt churned on a new wave. “Why did he lie?” Rachel asked. “Does he think I had something to do with Luella’s murder?”
“I think he needs to investigate every possibility.”
The neutral way she answered told Rachel that he hadn’t ruled out any possibility.
“I didn’t know about Luella until after her murder,” Rachel said, feeling obligated to, as though she had to defend herself. “I saw it on the news.”
“Joseph told me.”
One morning she’d awakened like any other, with the sunrise, the news and a cup of coffee while she prepared for work. Her new schedule. She’d finally arrived. She was one of the commuters in the traffic report. Might seem insignificant to most, but she’d never had a job with hours that coincided with rush hour.
Then a breaking story had come on with video of Luella Palmer’s crime scene. When the screen changed to her place of residence, she’d recognized the house instantly. Jared had taken her there on a few occasions, not often, but often enough to keep her from becoming suspicious. Luella must have been traveling or out with friends. She’d stood there, stunned with a mounting storm of emotion. Betrayal, disbelief, a surreal unreality. He couldn’t have...
But he had.
How could he?
Next, the news showed Jared Palmer walking into the police station for questioning. The husband was always one of the first suspects, but what motive would he have?
“He tried calling me afterward,” Rachel said. “I didn’t answer. I never wanted to talk to him again. I didn’t even want to hear his explanation, because to me, there was no explanation worthy enough to hear. He lied about
