Chapter 3 - LAURA WASN’T HIS GIRLFRIEND
The crowd decided they were having an affair before I did.
That was the obvious story.
Husband tells wife he is traveling.
Husband appears on Kiss Cam beside attractive woman.
Woman wearing child’s keepsake.
Public panic.
People nearby started filming.
Someone shouted:
“Busted!”
I wanted to disappear.
But then the woman did something unexpected.
She stepped away from Adam.
Not toward him.
“I’m leaving.”
Adam grabbed her elbow.
“Laura.”
She pulled free.
“Don’t.”
So her name was Laura.
Jerry was still staring at Adam’s fist.
“Give it back.”
Adam finally opened his hand.
I took the keepsake before he could change his mind.
Then crouched.
“Jerry.”
He held out both hands.
I put it in his palm.
His lower lip trembled.
“Why did she have it?”
I looked at Adam.
“Excellent question.”
Adam glanced at the hundreds of people watching us.
“We’re not doing this here.”
Laura laughed once.
“Now you care about appearances?”
I turned toward her.
“Who are you?”
She looked at Jerry first.
That mattered.
“My name is Laura Benton.”
“Do you know my husband?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Work.”
Adam immediately said:
“Megan.”
I held up one hand.
Laura continued.
“I’m director of private acquisitions for Heritage Sports Auctions.”
I knew the company.
Dad had once bought a vintage program through them.
My stomach tightened.
“What does that have to do with Adam?”
Laura looked toward him.
“He approached us about a private collection.”
Adam closed his eyes.
There it was.
Not sex.
Something else.
I looked at Jerry.
“Sweetheart, Uncle Nate is three sections over with the Parkers. I want you to go sit with him.”
“No.”
“Jerry.”
“I want to know.”
“I know.”
He clutched the keepsake.
“But this is an adult conversation.”
His face crumpled.
“Dad took my thing.”
That sentence almost broke me.
I hugged him.
“You have it back now.”
“Did he take other stuff?”
I did not know.
That was worse.
Laura crouched slightly so she was closer to Jerry’s level.
“I didn’t know this belonged to you.”
Jerry stared at her.
“Dad said it was being fixed.”
Laura looked sick.
“He told me it was his childhood keepsake.”
Adam snapped:
“That’s enough.”
Laura stood.
“No, it isn’t.”
Then she looked at me.
“I am not having an affair with your husband.”
Adam stared at her.
She continued.
“He told me he owned a sports collection inherited from his father-in-law and wanted to sell portions privately.”
My chest tightened.
“He doesn’t own it.”
“I understand that now.”
“Why were you wearing Jerry’s necklace?”
Laura touched her bare collarbone.
“Adam gave it to me today.”
“Why?”
“He said it was a thank-you for getting his consignment considered quickly.”
Adam muttered:
“Laura.”
She ignored him.
“I thought it belonged to him.”
That explained her sentence.
You said it was yours.
The Kiss Cam had not exposed a mistress.
May you like
It had exposed a sale.
And if Adam was trying to sell one piece of my father’s collection, I needed to know how far he had already gone.
