Chapter 8 - The Unexpected Visitor
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A woman who appeared to be in her mid-forties was standing awkwardly on our front porch, clutching a large, brown manila envelope tightly against her chest. Her dark blonde hair was plastered to her forehead by the morning rain, and she looked incredibly uncomfortable.
"Are you Claire Morgan?" the woman asked as I opened the door.
"Yes, I am."
"My name is Bethany Shaw," she introduced herself, her voice slightly shaky. "I own the small cottage directly next door to your property on Lake Canandaigua."
Lorraine suddenly appeared in the hallway behind me, her eyes darting suspiciously between me and the stranger.
Bethany glanced at Lorraine, then focused her attention back on me.
"I am so incredibly sorry for showing up unannounced like this," Bethany said, shifting her weight. "Especially today, of all days. But I really think you need to see what is inside this envelope."
Bethany politely declined Lorraine’s rather aggressive invitation to come inside the house. She insisted on speaking with me privately on the porch, but Lorraine stubbornly stood just inside the doorway, close enough to hear everything. I could have easily asked Lorraine to step back inside. Instead, I allowed her to stay. I was learning that some brutal truths are much easier to establish when the other side cannot deny having heard them firsthand.
Bethany handed me the thick envelope.
Inside was a stack of photographs, printed somewhat grainily on standard office paper.
The very first photo showed Andrew standing on the deck of our lake cabin. His arm was wrapped intimately around the waist of an attractive, younger blonde woman I had never seen before in my life.
The second photo showed them kissing passionately beside the wooden railing.
In the third photo, the blonde woman was standing inside the cabin's kitchen, smiling brightly. She was wearing a familiar blue apron embroidered with small yellow lemons.
May you like
That apron belonged to me.
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