“Fat lot of good that did me. I feel so stupid!”

“You’re not stupid or foolish or any other of those words you keep using. And you’re not alone. Mom and Dad and I didn’t notice, and neither did Rosa or Rick. I doubt anyone in the bay noticed. And let’s be honest, if any of the hardcore muckrakers suspected, we’d have heard about it ages ago.”

Libby’s mouth dried and she took a slug of water. “I keep going over and over twenty years of friendship. It can’t have been fake for all those years, can it?”

Alice chased a stray pine nut around her bowl. “I suppose not. Then again, if she loved you, how could she do that to you?”

“Nick says he loves me but he did it to me!”

“He does love you,” Alice said quietly.

“What makes you so sure?”

“I’ve googled. Most men leave their wives when their mistress gets pregnant. Nick didn’t do that.”

“He says it was never an affair. He says it only happened once.”

“Do you believe him?”

Libby sighed. “Sometimes. Other days I’m convinced he’s lying. I mean, I know if the timing’s right, it only takes once for a woman to conceive, but the fact he lied to me about it for two years drives me crazy! It makes me think he’s hiding information.”

“It’s hard, but doesn’t it help that he truly hates himself for causing all this pain? I mean he’s done everything you’ve asked so far. Did the counselor have any suggestions?”

Libby shuddered as she recalled the two sessions she’d attended by herself. “None that were useful. She said that for this to have happened, I must have ‘given away my power’ to Jess and Nick and ‘lost myself.’ I told her she’d lost me.”

“That sucks. But well done you. Bad help’s worse than no help.”

“Exactly. That’s why I’m reading self-help books.” Libby stabbed at the chicken breast in her Caesar salad. “It’s the double whammy that undoes me. Two people who supposedly love me hurt me.”

“She hurt Nick too.”

Libby was finding that hard to acknowledge. “You should be on my side.”

“I’m on both your sides,” Alice said sadly. “But not hers.”

“You know I’ve always believed that underneath her ‘don’t give a damn’ layer, she was a kind and decent human being. Hell, dogs love her! She’s always been generous to me, but it turns out I’ve been deluding myself about that too. I mean, God! Not only did she do what she did, she can’t see anything wrong with it! She hasn’t even hinted at being sorry. She’s acting as if she’s been wronged.”

“And that surprises you?”

“Yes!” Libby realized Alice had stopped eating. “What?”