Chapter 59

I felt like a deer in the headlights. Even Bob seemed to take renewed interest in the conversation. Funny, considering that he didn’t care to know about my diagnosis when the doctor wanted to tell him.

I knew that I had to give an answer, soon. The longer I waited, the more suspicious it would seem.

I slipped my hand out from beneath Barnett’s and gave my full attention to Thaddeus.

“Yes and no, Chuck,” I began. “Yes, in that I did have a health scare that night when some stomach pains from stress became too much for me to handle. No, in that it turned out to be nothing.”

“Are you sure?” Thaddeus prodded. “The timing is awfully coincidental—”

“It did happen at the same time that Bob and I decided that we were going to divorce, which led to many life-altering changes for me. However, the stomach pains themselves were nothing to worry about. I am perfectly fine.”

The corner of Thaddeus’s lip faltered, as though that wasn’t the answer he had been expecting—or had wanted. I supposed that good health didn’t make for very sensational television.

“Well, that is great to hear,” he said, less enthusiastically than before.

Thaddeus glanced offstage.

“Unfortunately, it looks like we are out of time. Until next time, Chuckleheads—”

Chuckleheads? I thought, barely resisting shaking my own head.

“—stay beautiful!”

“And we’re clear!” someone called from behind the cameras. “That’s a wrap, everybody!”

I sighed in relief.

“Thank you four once again for being here. You did a wonderful job,” Thaddeus said, even as he stared at his phone.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Bob said, a slight laugh in his voice.

“Me either,” Julia added. She turned to Barnett. “So, Barnett—”

“Julia, Bob, why don’t you come over here so we can get those mics off you?” one of the sound techs said.

I couldn’t suppress my smirk as Julia reluctantly trudged over, Bob right beside her. With the two of them gone, Barnett’s attention shifted to Thaddeus.

“Okay, we came onto your show,” Barnett said through gritted teeth. “Now, delete that picture.”

Thaddeus eyed Barnett as one of the sound techs started to assist him in removing his mic.

“I don’t know, you two were very uncooperative with the questions,” he said, “and Anna did march off during the middle of the show—”

“Cut that crap out,” Barnett said in a low, threatening tone. “We gave you what you wanted, now hold up your end of the deal, or we’re going to have some big legal issues. Understand?”

Thaddeus held his hands up in mock-defense.

“All right, all right. Just trying to have a little fun.”

He grabbed his camera from under his desk, showed us the picture, and then made sure we watched as he deleted the picture.

“There, it’s gone. Happy?”

“Be satisfied with not unhappy,” Barnett replied.

Thaddeus huffed.

“Very well, cranky pants.” He stood up and started to walk away, but he suddenly turned back and added, “For the record, you two would make a cute couple. Just saying.”

Before either of us could object, Thaddeus walked away, and we were each pinned down by a sound tech to remove our mic. By the time they were done, Thaddeus was gone, and so were Bob and Julia. Fortunately, it seemed that the studio audience had been ushered out while the crew cleaned up as well.

“I don’t know about you,” I said to Barnett, “but I want to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

“Wait a second,” Barnett said as he placed his hand on my arm. “You might have fooled Thaddeus and everyone else watching, but you didn’t fool me.”

I swallowed against the knot in my throat.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean when you were talking about your health scare. It was more than you were letting on.”

He stared me straight in the eyes, and I found that I couldn’t look away.

“Anna, what did you find out during that hospital visit?”

I tried to lick my lips, but I suddenly didn’t have any moisture in my mouth with which to do it.

“It’s like I said, it was nothing.”

“I was there that night. I know how much pain you were in—”

“That was you, the man who gave me his coat?” My voice dropped to a whisper. “I knew it was you.”

He tore his eyes away from mine.

“That’s not the point, Anna. The point is that you were in enough pain to go to the emergency room. Are you sure that it was nothing?”

“Yes, I’m sure—”

“Because it seemed like it was something a lot worse—”

“I’m telling you—”

“You really had Lily worried, and Chuck is right, the timing of your lifestyle changes does it make seem—”

“Barnett, knock it off! It’s none of your business!”

I clapped my hand over my mouth. I hadn’t meant for that to come out, and especially not so harshly.

“Oh my god,” I said, putting my hand on top of his, “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

He slid his hand out from under mine and stood up.

“You’re right,” he said, his voice cold, “it’s not my business. That’s for when you care about someone.”

His words cut straight to my heart. All I could do was sit there and watch as he walked away.

•* *

That night, I was enjoying a quiet night in with some homemade spaghetti and meatballs when Lily called via video chat. I answered, happy to talk with her after the day I had had.

“Hi Lily. What’s up?”

“Nothing much.” She appeared to be reclining on the deck of her new yacht. “I happened to catch your episode of The Chuck Thaddeus Show.”

I groaned.

“I made a total fool of myself, didn’t I?”

“Not a total fool, but pretty close.”

“Well, it was either that or have another scandal about Barnett and me arise. At least I was able to try and squash a few scandals this way.”

“If that’s what you call it.”

We laughed.

“Speaking of Barnett,” she continued, “he messaged me earlier about another little tiff you two had after the show.”

I rubbed my face with my hand.

“Does he tell you about everything that happens between us?”

Lily shrugged.

“Pretty much.”

“Does that include…you know what, never mind, I don’t want to know.”

“Anyway, I just wanted to follow up with you on this whole health scare situation.”

I tried to not let my expression change so much that it gave away my fear or frustration, but Lily was my best friend, and she would be able to catch on to even the tiniest tells.

“You came to visit me in the hospital, Lily, you should remember. I got stressed, and it caused me to faint. That’s all.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t tell me anything about stomach pains.”

I cringed. Of course, that was the one detail I had left out of my original story.

“You knew I had stomach problems. They come with my stress. I didn’t think that it was important—”

“Every detail is important, Anna! What if you have stomach cancer or something?”

I forced myself not to react to that. I couldn’t let on that she was right about that, not now. This wasn’t how I wanted her—how I wanted anyone—to learn the truth.

“Lily, it’s fine. I got checked out, and I’m fine.”

“I can tell when you’re lying—”

“I’m not. I swear.”

Lily glared at me and set her margarita down. Now, I was in trouble.

“Anna Leonard, if you don’t tell me the truth right now, I swear to God—”

“Lily, I am telling you the truth. Please, believe me.”

For a few seconds we only sat there, staring at each other through our screens. Finally, Lily sighed and shook her head in defeat.

“Fine. Do whatever you want, then. But I will find out the truth.”

Unceremoniously, Lily hung up without saying goodbye.

Tears trickled down my cheeks as I stared at my phone screen. I hated lying to Lily, but I had no choice. There was no reason to make her worry over something that neither of us could control.