Chapter 11: The Guest List

I pulled the phone out from under the pillow and held it up so Shea could see.

"It's a voice memo," I said. "I was practicing my vows."

Jared turned his head. "You were what?"

"You said you wanted a clean take for the wedding video."

I made a face. "I wanted to hear how I sound. I sound terrible."

Shea looked at the red light, and then at me.

Her smile stayed exactly where it was.

"Let me hear."

"No. It's embarrassing."

"Mel."

"I'll delete it if it bothers you."

I tapped stop, then delete, then the red confirmation, and I turned the screen so she could watch the file go.

Jared laughed, relieved, and dropped back onto the bed. "You're the most sensitive person I've ever met."

"I know," I said.

Shea stood up slowly and smoothed her robe.

"Good night, you two," she said from the doorway. "Don't stay up planning the honeymoon."

When her door clicked shut down the hall, I let myself breathe.

Jared fell asleep in the spare room twenty minutes later.

I sat in the dark with my phone and opened the school's shared drive.

Lorna and I had traded lesson plans in that folder for six years.

Every voice memo I made synced to it within seconds.

The file was there, just over nine minutes long.

Under it, in the activity log, was a gray line that said "Lorna Beck viewed this file."

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