He grimaced at her vernacular and she got a dart of pleasure at his discomfort. “You’d taken the girls to Melbourne to see Disney on Ice.”

His tone of voice took her straight back to that dark week and some of her volcanic anger momentarily cooled under the onslaught of misery. Instead of welcoming her baby boy, she’d kept herself frantically busy—anything to keep her grief from felling her.

Her anger reignited like lava erupting. “You went to Sydney?”

“Hell, no. Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know what to think anymore.”

“Jess flew down here to surprise you,” Nick said with an edge. “Remember?”

Libby gagged on the gratitude she always experienced whenever she thought about Jess’s generous gesture that weekend. Even though Libby had been out of town and had missed her, she’d always considered it a hallmark of what made their friendship special: unconditional love and support.

Her mind raced. “So, while I was in Melbourne, the two of you drank rum and relived your sordid, drunken trysts.”

He stiffened as if she’d offended him. “It wasn’t anything like that.”

“What was it then?”

He remained silent, his gaze fixed on his feet.

“Tell me!”

“I was sad and upset. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

The urge to scream and pound her fists into his chest was so strong she gripped the edge of the counter to steady herself. “Are you saying that instead of telling me you were sad, you had sex with her?”

For the first time, his eyes darkened in anger. “Jesus, Libby. I shouldn’t have had to tell you. I did try, but you weren’t exactly reachable then.”

The black web of grief wrapped its sticky strands around her. “My baby died!”

“Our baby died!” His voice cracked. “My arms ached too, you know. But that week, when we should have been together as a family, you took off to Melbourne without me.”

Libby blew away the guilt that tried to settle. “You’d have hated Disney on Ice.”

“You didn’t give me the option. I’d have come just to be with you and the girls.”

His grief struck hers and a spark ignited. “Don’t you dare pin this on me. You’re an adult. It’s not my fault you slept with her.”

“I thought you wanted to know everything? Or do you only want to hear how badly I’ve let you down and not the other way around?”

“I’m not responsible for your behavior.”

“Do you truly believe I’d have let this happen if my head had been on straight that night?”

For the first time, tears threatened. “I don’t know what to believe. I don’t even know who you are anymore. Or her. You’re both strangers.”

“If you believe one thing, believe me that Jess tricked me that night,” he said bitterly. “It’s why we’re in this mess.”