Agnes cleared her throat and braced herself. Al's wife seemed to be looking for a fight, and Agnes surmised her attitude had developed before her arrival, and that it had something to do with her walking in on Rachel and Lauren kissing, which had nearly floored her. She knew it. She knew something else was going on with Al, his wife, and this other woman who was their friend. Just the way they all looked at each other, she knew. It wasn't her business, though, and frankly she didn't care, except to remark that Al had grown a little more experimental since the last time she'd seen him, and that she'd never be able to find an opening with him if there were in fact two other women in his life.
She purposefully didn't look at Rachel, choosing to focus on Lauren instead; she at least didn't look angry to see her. "I just came to see how Al was doing," she said.
"We just finished walking him around the room," Lauren said.
"Oh, that's wonderful!"
"It is," Al said. "I want to get out of here as soon as I can."
Rachel was still glaring at her, so she turned to her and asked, "What did you want to chat about?"
"Have you decided on our place, yet?" Rachel asked.
"I'm sorry, no."
"Agnes," Al said, "I thought you needed a place to hide."
"I know, but Patrick's already here, and I've already seen him."
"What?!" all three of them exclaimed together.
She sighed and said, "Yeah." She looked to Lauren and said, "I heard you were watching him yesterday."
"I was. When did you see him?"
"Today."
They all looked at her, expecting her to say more.
What could she say without looking like a spineless jellyfish? She shrugged and said, "He showed up at the house before I left for my shift. He had to work later, he said, but he wanted to see the kids. I had to remind him they were in school. He acted like it was perfectly normal that I'd pulled up stakes and moved home. He didn't even seem angry at me. Maybe it was all a show for my parents, who'd greeted him with more than a little suspicion. Then he asked if we could talk in private, so how could I refuse? We talked outside the house, in his truck."
"You went with him?" Rachel asked. "I guess it must have gone all right, because you're here."
She nodded. "He told me he put the house in Kelowna on the market, and that he was looking for property in Queensborough. He didn't say anything about why I left or why he followed me. I think he's just pretending his problems don't exist. One thing he didn't say was that he expected me to return to the fold once he found a house, but he did say there would be room for the kids."
"You think he won't contest the divorce?"
"I don't know. Maybe he hopes I'll come back but he won't push me."
"Or maybe," Al said, to her surprise, "he already has someone else lined up."
Agnes felt her stomach drop. Rachel and Lauren turned to him. "What are you talking about?" Rachel asked.
"Joanie," Al said. He looked at Agnes and said, "She's RCMP as well, also at the Langley detachment."
"Fuck, of course it's another partner," Agnes groaned.
"Oh, shit," Lauren said. "Joanie did mention she was interested in him. But how do you know, Al?"
"Joanie told me she was thinking about dating this new transfer at her detachment." He cleared his throat and said, "You know, while she was venting about her... choices in men."
He was looking pointedly at Lauren, for some reason, and Agnes wondered what that was about.
"He didn't mention seeing someone else to you, Agnes?" Rachel asked.
Agnes shook her head. "He never even admitted to the first one. I don't even have proof it happened other than my own senses. I should have hired one of your kind, Lauren, then when I filed for divorce I'd get a better settlement."
"File anyway," Lauren said. "Now that you know he's here, get Sunny to draw up the papers and serve him."
Agnes nodded and asked, "What does she look like? This Joanie?"
The three shared a look before Lauren answered. "Tall. Really tall. Almost as tall as my husband, Joe. Muscular. Redhead."
"Jesus, that's about the exact opposite of me," Agnes said.
"I know how you feel."
Agnes blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"
Lauren stammered out an explanation. "Just that... uh... we're friends, and even I feel inadequate around her. It doesn't help that she was awarded a medal for bravery."
"Seriously?!"
"She saved my son," Rachel said, then corrected herself and said, "well, our, Al's and my, then foster son. She shot at someone who was taking aim at him, and got shot herself for her trouble."
"Holy shit," Agnes breathed. "So, not only physically impressive, but a hero."
They all looked sorry for her. Agnes cleared her throat and said, "Well, fine, all the better, if he's moving on. It'll make the divorce that much easier."
"So, you're really done with him, then?" Al asked. Rachel and Lauren stared hard at him, as if his question were more loaded than he'd meant it to be.
Agnes shrugged. "I can't be around him. He's done too much for me to stand by him anymore. I still care for him but... there's only so much I can take..."
"Yeah," Rachel said. "I know how you feel."
That surprised her, and even Al and Lauren looked at her in shock. Rachel closed her eyes and shook her head. "I mean," she clarified, "that my ex-husband cheated on me, too. Oddly enough, he was also a cop."
They only knew about the adultery. So, Sunny and Tej hadn't told them about the murder. They were as confidential as she'd hoped.
Rachel's face softened, and she said, "Look, why don't you come and see the place now? Do you have a few minutes? You can look at it and see if it might be suitable, just if you need to hide from him for a day, even, if he's giving you bullshit and you just don't want him to find you. You can even just stay there on your own on nights when he has the kids, so you don't have to deal with your parents when it's just the three of you."
Agnes sighed. She suddenly felt exhausted, and Rachel's kindness was making her feel tender and raw. "Are you sure?" she asked.
"Yeah, it's nearby, and on our way back home."
Agnes looked to Al and asked, "Will you be okay if we go?"
Al smiled, and her heart fluttered a little. That was one thing that hadn't changed about him, his warm smile that made you feel like you were being hugged. "Absolutely," he said. "I'll be up and joining you next time, just wait and see."
"Gosh, I wish I was here to see you walking," she said, surprised to feel tears in her eyes.
"I'd give you a repeat performance, but I think I'm too tired. Maybe next time."
"Okay." She took a deep breath, feeling like she was at the top of a roller coaster and about to make the first big drop. She looked to the two women, still strangers to her, but with the potential to become allies if not friends. "Let's go, then."
Rachel bent and kissed Al on the lips. When Lauren kissed him on the forehead, Agnes felt brave enough to at least match Lauren and do the same; if nothing else, she was still Al's good friend.
Al didn't seem to find her gesture out of bounds. He smiled again and said, "Have a good night, Agnes."
"You too."
The townhouse was on a quiet street in the Brentwood Mall area, which was developing rapidly with lots of highrises. It was unfurnished, which wasn't surprising, as Al and Rachel hadn't moved in yet. It had a large master bedroom and ensuite on the bottom floor, then a second floor with living room and kitchen, then two smaller bedrooms and a shared bathroom on the third floor. Agnes wasn't comfortable being two floors apart from her kids, not while they were this young, especially not Melissa. Still, she was being nitpicky and she knew it.
Lauren stayed on the bottom floor while Rachel led her around, not wanting to take stairs if she didn't have to. They joined her there once they were finished.
"What do you think?" Rachel asked.
"It's... really generous of you to offer. I'm sorry, I'm just a bit overwhelmed. There'd be so many details to work out if I decided to take you up on it. Should I move in furniture? I just realized I don't even have any. Would you want to move in your own instead? If I moved the kids here, would I have to enroll them in a new school? I have to admit it would be closer for me to get to work from here, depending on which branch I'm working at..."
Rachel placed a hand on her shoulder. It was the first time the other woman had ever touched her aside from that first handshake. "Maybe you're right," she said. "Maybe it's too much to take your kids with you and enroll them in another school. If you trust your husband not to harm the children, you can stay here on your own while the kids are with him."
"That might not be that often, if I know him. His work schedule is all over the place, with a lot of nights. They'd have to stay with my parents anyway." She sighed and said, "I have to admit, though, the idea of having even a few hours on my own, away from my parents, sounds lovely."
"I understand completely. Before I reunited with Al, Lauren and the others, I was in some financial peril and seriously considering moving back in with my own mother, and the two of us were not each other's favourite person at the time. Luckily it didn't happen; we might have killed each other if it did."
Agnes looked at both of them and said, "I know it's none of my business, but I'm curious. You and Lauren... you're both married to other people, but, that kiss..."
"We're lovers," Lauren said matter-of-factly. "All of our friends know. Our relationship is separate from our respective marriages."
Agnes stared at her in astonishment for a second. "Your husband, Joe, he's okay with it? I assume Al is, if he was watching you do it."
They both cleared their throats, both awkward with this line of questioning. "He is," Lauren said. "And yes, Al is."
"They're pretty understanding, then; I wasn't cool with my husband seeing someone else, even if I lived with it for a while."
"It wasn't smooth sailing," Rachel admitted. "It did start as an affair before I married Al, and it caused some hard feelings for a while, but the four of us came to an understanding and established some rules, and now I think we're better."
What Rachel said sounded true, but Agnes had the feeling it wasn't the whole truth; the way Al looked at Lauren when he mentioned Joanie's "choices in men" seemed to imply other indiscretions one or all of them might have committed. She wasn't going to push any harder, though; this was awkward enough, and she didn't want to peel away the layers of the onion and find a rotten heart in the centre. "I guess, being such old friends," she said, "it must make it easier for you to forgive each other's sins."
Rachel shrugged. "Well, we did only reunite about four years ago."
"Maybe that makes it even easier, since you don't have all those years in between to weigh you down."
"I don't know," Rachel said stiffly, and Agnes knew it was time to drop it.
"So, if I decide to take you up on his," she said, gesturing to the place, "would I get a key?"
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To see what happens between Rachel and Joe while they're moving in items for Agnes' comfort before she moves in, click on "Continue reading."