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.“Em’ly and Teddy.”I drew in my breath, and Aaron’s already small eyes got even smaller.“Emily and Teddy?” Wayne repeated incredulously.He reached out for the highball glass Tanis held, which was practically empty anyway.“That’s it; no more liquor for you.” He chuckled.“Do you even realize what you just said?”“Oh!” Tanis exclaimed, slapping a palm to her mouth.“I’m sorry.I guess I’m just not used to seeing Em’ly with Aaron.The las’ time I saw her she wazout wit’ Teddy.”“Out with Teddy?” Aaron repeated calmly, but with an unmistakable edge.“When was this?”I laughed nervously, covering my thought of I’m gonna kill that bitch.“Oh, you mean this past summer, when Teddy picked me up after I had car trouble.” I looked at Aaron, whose dubious expression made me nervous.“Remember, Aaron? It was a weeknight.I’d gone down to City Island to have dinner with Valerie, and my car stopped on the way home right after I got off the parkway.I told you about it the next day.”“Oh, yeah.” Aaron nodded, covering nicely, but I knew he didn’t recall.Because I’d never mentioned it to him.Because no such incident had ever happened.I wished Valerie were still here to back me up.I felt fairly certain I could count on Teddy to support my story as well, but he was still dancing with Eliana, unaware anything was wrong.I could practically feel the tension in the air, and something in Aaron’s eyes told me we’d be talking about this some more after the guests left.My eyes met Tanis’s, and the way she unabashedly stared at me told me this was no accidental outburst.The heifer was acting, using intoxication as an excuse to rat me out and create static between Aaron and me.Just as everyone started to relax, Tanis opened up her damn mouth again.“My fahder got sick that night, and I drove down to meet my mudder at the ER.On my way home I stopped at da store furra bottled water.” She shrugged.“There was Teddy at da counter, and Em’ly in his car.” Then she threw back her head and laughed.“Ya know, I never did see what Teddy bought that night.Whatever it was, it was too small to put in a bag.”At that Aaron’s eyebrows shot up, and everyone else looked startled.There are two common purchases that come to most people’s minds when thinking about items too small to be bagged, and the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces left no secrets what they were thinking.Especially since it was pretty obvious that Teddy didn’t smoke.I frantically tried to paint another picture to replace the one everyone was clearly thinking of.“I think he said he needed some gum.”“Oh, I rememba now,” Tanis said, ignoring Wayne’s restrained nudge and for-her-ears only statement.“When I asked you why you were tryin’ ta keep me from seeing your face when I went to my car, you said it wuz ’cause you didden wanna be gossiped about.And here I am, gossipin’.” She giggled.And starting rumors, I thought wryly.“What I said was that sometimes people make something out of nothing, and then unfounded rumors get started,” I clarified, my tone more than a little sharp.“Oh, sure, things like that happen all the time,” Marsha said quickly.“Yes, all the time,” James added.“Parris Island is so full of gossip about who’s doing what with whom, it’s just unbelievable sometimes.”Tanis laughed loudly.“I know if I’d been in a man’s car at ten o’clock at night and I wuzn’t seeing him socially, I wouldn’t want anyone ta see me, either.”This time we all heard Wayne’s response to her.“Tanis, shh!”Elias cleared his throat.“I’m going to get my coat and Eliana’s.We’ve got a long drive home.”Wayne quickly picked up on the vibe.“Tanis, I think we should call it a night as well.”She responded with a loud burp and an embarrassed “Excuse me!” that made us all laugh and helped relax some of the anxiety in the air.Marsha and James said they would go as well, and when Rosalind, John and Teddy stopped dancing, they made it unanimous.Tanis had successfully brought on the end of the party.Aaron and I saw everyone out, but it was too cold to stand in the doorway until they all drove off, so we closed the door, even then shivering from our few minutes in the cold.“It was a wonderful party, don’t you think?” I said chattily, dreading the inevitable.“Yeah, it was.”“I’m just going to put the leftover food away.I’ll clean the kitchen and wash the dishes in the morning.”“I’ll help.”I thought I’d have a few minutes to plot a strategy, but with him offering to help I had to think quickly.I was torn between raising Tanis’s allegedly drunken revelations or letting the matter lie.I decided to address it; if I didn’t it would suggest I had something to hide.Righteous indignation was the way to go.“How about that Tanis?” I began as I covered dishes with plastic wrap.“Trying to make it sound like Teddy and I had something going on when we’ve never been nothing but friends who work in the same building.”Aaron bent to place plates in the dishwasher.“She certainly got my curiosity revving.”“Oh, come on,” I said in my very best “don’t be silly” voice.“Emily, you never told me about having car trouble.Why didn’t you call me?”“Aaron, Valerie and I were at dinner for over two hours.It was about nine-thirty when my car died on me.I didn’t want to call you that late to come to Euliss, especially if you were performing a procedure in the morning.I had Teddy’s cell number in my phone; we’d exchanged numbers before we had lunch.Friday is usually just a half day for him.So it made sense for me to call him.”He walked over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders.“Look at me, Emily.”I tried not to look nervous.Aaron spoke softly.“From the way Tanis was talking, it sounded like he was buying condoms.I know that’s what everybody thought.”“That’s why everyone made such a hasty exit.She really cast a pall over the mood, didn’t she?”“I don’t really care how it sounded; I just care about the truth.Did you sleep with Teddy, Emily?”There was only one answer I could possibly give.“No, Aaron.” I lied, waiting for God to strike me down dead.What I felt was Aaron’s fingertips on my chin.He raised it, leaned in, and kissed me tenderly.“That’s all I wanted to know.Now, let’s get this food put away and go to bed.”I swallowed the breath I’d been holding so he wouldn’t feel me letting it out.I felt lower than a damn limbo stick.Wayne called me the next morning
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