BooksBarbecue
Back One White Lie
Chapters (59)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. DEDICATION
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. Acknowledgments
  59. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Rachel swiped tears away with the back of her hand. ‘Rumors were circling us, too, you know, as absurd as that sounds, me and John.’ She laughed bitterly, and her eyes found her hands. ‘He and I were working on this project together, and we were close, but I never – we never – if you ever thought that, if it so much as occurred to you, or if it ever occurred to Vera, I just want you to know that it’s not true. John was like a brother to me, I swear to god. I would never, ever, ever have done anything to hurt her.’

She looked up, as if begging for some sort of mercy that wasn’t even mine to give, and John’s words, that first night, echoed in my head.

Vera can be very black-and-white in the way she sees the world.

‘Then what happened?’ I asked.

Rachel set her cup down. ‘When people started talking, about him and Claire, I guess I didn’t react to everything like Vera thought I should.’

‘What do you mean?’ I asked.

Her lips drew into a thin, even line. ‘I mean that I believed what people were saying about John and Claire. Vera didn’t.’

‘Oh,’ I said as my cup dropped from my hand, spilling tea all over the floor. Already, Rachel was jumping up, rushing to the kitchen, grabbing a towel. Before I could do anything, she was down on her knees, sopping up the spill, lifting the cup, which had split in two.

‘Sorry,’ I said quickly. ‘You don’t have to do that.’

She stood, shaking her head. ‘Don’t be sorry. It doesn’t do anyone any good. What happened, happened. Shit,’ she said, her eyes catching mine. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you. I just wanted you to know. And if Vera has any doubt, any doubt in the slightest, that something happened between me and John … if she ever asks you, I hope you’ll tell her the truth. It was never like that.’

‘Okay,’ I said, brushing moisture from my eyes. I was the one who had betrayed Vera, not Rachel, and yet I was the one who was still in Vera’s good graces. It wasn’t fair. The realization stung.

‘Why did you believe what people were saying about that girl, though? About Claire? You and John were friends. And there were rumors about you, too, which you clearly knew were false. Do you really think …’