Page 26 of Hard Evidence
A nod.Well, that was easy.Justin found a casserole dish for water and a soup bowl for the food.The dog didn’t make a sound when he opened the bathroom door, just sat beside the shower and watched him carefully as he turned on the faucet.The mutt’s cowed demeanour reminded Justin of its owner.What the hell had the pair of them been through together?
With the dog eating, he returned to the kitchen and found a feast laid out on the counter, and Jessalyn must have used every serving dish he owned.They’d have to run the dishwasher twice.
“Is this okay?”she asked.
“Looks great.”
Justin heaped food onto a plate while Jessalyn helped herself to tiny portions.Was that all she ate?He’d never say anything, but he thought she was too thin.Thinner even than Melanie, and Melanie had been under industry pressure to maintain her weight.Gaunt, even, although she had a body built for curves.
“You have a beautiful home,” she said.“How long have you lived here?”
“Three months, give or take.”
“Does your girlfriend live nearby?”
Why would she think…?Ah, the make-up.Justin had scooped up a bunch of shit Melanie left behind and dumped it in one of the baskets his interior designer seemed so fond of.Baskets and candles.Knickknacks and fire hazards.Someone might as well use that stuff, and he didn’t think Melanie would be back to pick it up.She’d gotten most of it for free anyway.After her modelling career took off, companies sent her stuff all the time in the hope that she’d be seen using it.
“My ex-girlfriend lives in New York.”
Her face fell.“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.It was in the cards for a while.”He decided he should try addressing the elephant in the room before it grew any bigger.“I guess that’s something we have in common, huh?”
Silence stretched between them as Jessalyn stopped chewing and stared at her plate.
“You must think I’m such a fool,” she whispered.
“Why would I think that?”
“Because I ran without a proper plan.Because I married a man like that in the first place.”
She was married?Well, fuck.She wasn’t wearing a ring, so Justin had figured they were dealing with an asshole boyfriend rather than an asshole husband.
“I think you’re brave for leaving and smart for doing it sooner rather than later.What was the plan before your car broke down?”
“Put as much distance between myself and Maine as I could, then find a job.”
“What sort of job?”
“Server, short-order cook, cleaner.Anything that pays money.”
“Did you work back in Maine?”
A quick nod.
“What did you do?”
“I cooked.”
“In a restaurant?”
“On the internet.It started out as a hobby.My friend Saylor lives overseas, and I was basically recording cooking lessons for her and putting them on a blog.Then other people began watching, and companies started sending me free products to use, and there was ad money…”
“I didn’t realise internet cooking was a thing.”
“Honestly, neither did I, but Ridge—my husband—realised we could make money out of it, and it accidentally turned into a whole career.”
“They” could make money out of it, yet Jessalyn was driving a fifteen-year-old clunker.Justin didn’t need three guesses to work out where that money had gone.
