SETH DOESN’T LOOK any better than I do.
His dark hair is disheveled, and his shirt is a bit wrinkled, which is unusual for him. Seth is all about crisp white shirts. I was never sure if he took them out to be dry-cleaned or if his wife ironed them for him. Given the continued absence of his wedding band, the latter could explain why his shirt is wrinkled.
“Hey, Nat.” His brown eyes are full of concern when he sees me. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” I croak out as I settle into the chair in front of his desk.
“Jesus, what a mess.” He rakes his fingers through his hair, which makes it even messier. “I’m sorry I didn’t take you seriously yesterday.”
“It’s okay. I can’t blame you.”
“I’m kind of surprised you didn’t call out today,” he says. “If you need the day off…”
I shake my head. “No, I’d rather work.” “You sure?”
“Absolutely. Better to keep my mind off of it.”
“Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.” He closes his eyes and rubs them with his fingertips. “I hope Dawn is okay.”
I want to say something like, I’m sure she is. But that wouldn’t be what I really think. So I keep my mouth shut.
“I spoke to a detective on the phone this morning,” Seth adds. “Detective… Santoro? He said he’s going to come by and interview everyone.”
“Oh.” I squirm in my seat. The last thing I want is to get grilled by that detective a second time. He was nice enough, but the thought of talking to him again makes a cold sweat break out on the back of my neck. “You know what? I think I might go home after all. I just… I feel like my head is spinning. And I hardly slept at all last night.”
“Of course.” Seth’s eyes soften. “Take the day off. If you want, you can forward all your calls to my office.”
My shoulders relax. “Thanks, Seth.”
“Just stick around until the detective gets here, then you can head home.”
The cold sweat returns. “What?”
Seth looks down at his Rolex. “It’s no big deal. He should be here in thirty minutes. Maybe less. He said before ten.”
“Yes, but…” I press my fingers into my left temple. “I have a splitting headache. And I already talked to that detective yesterday. So I’m sure he doesn’t need to talk to me again.”
“Actually, he specifically asked me if you would be there and said he needed to talk to you.”
“Oh.” Fantastic. “I guess I’ll stay then.”
I shift in my seat, wondering what else that detective could possibly want to ask me about. I already told him everything I know. It seems like a waste of time, but now that Seth has told me I have to stay, I don’t have much of a choice. I can’t walk out and claim ignorance.
Seth toys with a ballpoint pen on his desk. Once again, my eyes are drawn to the tan line from his missing wedding band. He follows my gaze to his ring finger. I look away, but it’s too late.
“Melinda and I split up,” he says. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”
He arches his right eyebrow. “Are you?”
Something catches in my throat. I’m not sure what to make of his tone of voice. He doesn’t sound angry. More like… curious.
“I am,” I say.
His eyebrow stays raised. “Are you still seeing Caleb?” “Yes.”
He nods. “He seems like a nice guy.” “He is.”
“Good.”
I still have that catch in my throat. I feel like I’m going to choke or something. “I better get back to my desk.”
Seth nods and turns back to his computer screen. But I can feel his eyes on me as I leave the room.
