Chapter 1 - The Tie Eli Wasn’t Supposed to SeeMelanie had less than ten seconds.
The sound of the front door opening traveled upstairs.
Then Landon’s voice.
“Eli, leave your backpack by the stairs.”
Melanie’s face went white.
Wyatt was still standing beside the bed.
His shirt was buttoned wrong.
His dark hair was disheveled.
And his shoes were on the floor beside Landon’s side of the bed.
“Oh God.”
Wyatt stared at her.
“That’s him?”
“Yes!”
Melanie shoved his jacket toward him.
“He wasn’t supposed to be home until seven.”
Footsteps sounded downstairs.
A child laughed.
Six-year-old Eli.
Melanie’s panic doubled.
“Hide.”
“Where?”
“I don’t care. Just—”
She pointed at the walk-in closet.
Wyatt grabbed his jacket and moved.
“Mel—”
“Go!”
He stepped inside.
Melanie slammed the door.
Then she saw the shoes.
Wyatt’s expensive black loafers sat beside the bed.
She lunged toward them.
Too late.
Footsteps reached the stairs.
Melanie kicked the shoes partially beneath the bed.
Her hands trembled.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
Hair messy.
Cheeks flushed.
Lipstick smeared.
She wiped her mouth.
Straightened her sweater.
Breathed.
Then the bedroom door opened.
Landon appeared.
Thirty-seven.
Still wearing the charcoal suit he had worn to his downtown office that morning.
Eli stood beside him, holding a blue toy airplane.
Melanie forced a smile.
“Hey.”
Landon smiled back.
Completely unsuspecting.
“Surprise.”
She crossed the room quickly and hugged him.
Too quickly.
Too tightly.
Then kissed his cheek.
“You’re home early.”
“Meeting got canceled.”
“That’s great.”
She was talking too fast.
Landon didn’t notice.
Not yet.
“Maybe we should go out,” Melanie continued. “Dinner. Somewhere Eli likes.”
Eli immediately said, “Pizza.”
Landon laughed.
“Of course.”
Melanie kept herself between Landon and the closet.
“We can leave now.”
“I just got home.”
“Exactly. No reason to cook.”
Landon raised an eyebrow.
“You never want to go out on Thursdays.”
“I changed my mind.”
Behind her, the closet remained silent.
Melanie could hear her own heartbeat.
Landon loosened his tie.
“Give me five minutes.”
“No.”
He stopped.
Melanie corrected herself.
“I mean—you don’t need to change.”
Landon smiled faintly.
“Since when do you let me wear work clothes to dinner?”
Eli wandered toward the bed.
Melanie watched him.
“Buddy, stay here.”
But Eli had noticed something.
A thin strip of burgundy silk protruded from the closet door.
He frowned.
Melanie saw it.
Her stomach dropped.
Wyatt’s tie.
Not just any tie.
A burgundy tie patterned with tiny silver foxes.
Wyatt wore it constantly.
Eli loved it because he thought the foxes looked like dogs.
Eli pointed.
“Dad.”
Landon looked over.
“That looks like Uncle Wyatt’s tie.”
Melanie stopped breathing.
Landon’s eyes moved toward the closet.
The burgundy strip hung motionless.
Melanie stepped forward.
“Eli, don’t touch that.”
The urgency in her voice made Landon look at her.
“Why?”
“It’s nothing.”
Eli had already reached it.
“Eli.”
He pulled.
The closet door opened.
Wyatt stood inside.
Nobody moved.
Not Landon.
Not Melanie.
Not Wyatt.
For one absurd second, the only sound was the ceiling fan.
Eli smiled.
“Uncle Wyatt!”
Landon’s face went blank.
Wyatt slowly stepped out.
“Landon.”
Landon looked at his brother.
Then at Melanie.
Then back.
“What are you doing in my closet?”
Wyatt opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Melanie stepped forward.
“Landon, I can explain.”
That sentence changed everything.
Because innocent people rarely began there.
Landon looked at her.
His eyes moved over her messy hair.
Her flushed face.
Then Wyatt.
His shirt.
His missing shoes.
Eli tilted his head.
“Uncle Wyatt?”
Wyatt looked down.
“Hey, buddy.”
“Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”
Silence.
Melanie’s face drained.
Eli pointed beside the bed.
“There.”
Landon followed his finger.
One black loafer protruded from underneath the bed.
Landon walked over.
He bent.
Pulled it out.
Then the second.
Wyatt’s initials were stamped inside.
W.R.
Wyatt Reed.
Landon stood slowly.
His brother had been hiding barefoot in the closet.
His shoes had been beside Landon’s bed.
Melanie’s lipstick was smeared.
And his six-year-old son was watching all of it.
“Eli.”
Landon’s voice had changed.
“Go downstairs.”
Eli frowned.
“Why?”
“Please.”
“Is Uncle Wyatt playing hide-and-seek?”
Landon closed his eyes briefly.
Melanie started:
“Eli, sweetheart—”
Landon looked at her.
“Don’t.”
One word.
Cold enough to stop her.
He crouched in front of his son.
“Buddy, go get your backpack.”
“We already got it.”
“Then take your airplane downstairs and wait for me.”
Eli looked between the adults.
Children knew when rooms changed.
He nodded.
As he walked toward the door, he stopped.
Then looked at Wyatt.
“Are you staying for dinner again?”
Landon froze.
Melanie looked terrified.
Wyatt whispered:
“Eli.”
The boy looked confused.
Landon stood.
“What did you say?”
Eli shrugged.
“Uncle Wyatt eats here sometimes.”
“When?”
“When you’re at work.”
Melanie closed her eyes.
Landon looked at his wife.
Then his brother.
The question that had already been destroying him became something worse.
This wasn’t about how Wyatt ended up inside the closet today.
It was about how many times he had been inside Landon’s house when Landon wasn’t there.
Landon looked at Eli.
“Go downstairs, buddy.”
Eli left.
The bedroom door closed.
Landon turned the lock.
May you like
Then looked at the two people he had trusted most.
“Start talking.”
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