“She should have left him. A clean break’s better.”

“I heard that Jess and Libby are bi and they shared Nick.”

“Yeah? Lucky bugger.”

“Wonder if Jess is looking to be part of another threesome?”

“I feel sorry for the kids.”

Wherever Jess went, she heard hundreds of variations on a theme, because despite her being within earshot, the fact she was the “other woman” meant her feelings didn’t matter. That and the urge to gossip was greater than people’s restraint. As hard as it was to listen to the talk, she craved it as a way of staying connected to Libby and Nick.

What the hell was wrong with Libby? Was she going to blow up her marriage? If she was stupid enough to do that, then Jess would grab the chance she hadn’t had in years and change that look in Nick’s eyes. She’d be there for him in ways she’d never been allowed to be before. She and Leo. They’d be the three musketeers. That hope had kept her going for months.

At least it had done until four days earlier.

Jess left the bakery as usual to pick up Leo from daycare but as she turned left onto the esplanade, she’d stopped short. Libby and Nick were walking toward her. Unlike the previous months when she’d glimpsed them from a distance and seen the vibrating wall of Libby’s antipathy separating them, this time they were holding hands.

Her unfulfilled hopes for Leo and herself detonated around her and she swayed.

When Nick saw her, he radiated discomfort, but at that moment, Jess only had eyes for Libby. “How can you forgive him and not me?”

“The fact you need to ask answers your question.”

Jess had stumbled home. Knowing Libby had forgiven Nick changed everything. The only gains Jess had managed to get for Leo had been by mining the fault lines between Libby and Nick. Now all the fissures had sealed shut and she was firmly locked out. Was access to Nick even worth it if Leo bore the brunt of Libby’s antipathy? If he became aware he was treated differently from his sisters? Less valued. Less loved.

Not loved.

Jess was all too familiar with the effects that sort of insidious harm inflicted. The hoop- jumping involved to get any scraps of attention. The self-blame and loathing that inevitably followed. She didn’t want any of that for her beautiful little boy. But her not wanting it for her son wouldn’t stop Libby’s savage rejection inflicting thick and livid scars on Leo’s pure soul.