Ties That Bind by Kathryn Shay

said we’d wait for the police report to take a position. If Bingham’s death is ruled a homicide, you’re off the hook. If it is indeed ruled a suicide, you have to make a choice. I vote to blame Reese, if it comes to that. After all, he’s accused of the affair.”
    Kate had felt a sinking in her stomach. “The note says I was in collusion with him.”
    “We can imply that Reese lied to her about that.”
    “I don’t know, Carl. I simply don’t believe it of Reese.”
    “He had another affair, Kate. That gives you the upper hand.”
    “I know. But that was right before the divorce. The thing with Bingham was supposed to have happened when Reese and I were both thirty-five. We’d just celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. Things couldn’t have been better between us.”
    “You’ve got a way out of this. Think about taking it.”
    So Kate had talked about it to Tyler…
    “I think Wakefield’s right,” he’d said over dinner two nights ago at La Dolce Vita, her favorite Italian restaurant. She used to dine there with Reese. Tyler’s blue eyes were sober and he’d looked like he hadn’t been sleeping well, either.
    “You think he’s guilty?” she asked.
    Ever fair, ever the good guy, his face had flushed. “I didn’t say that. I think blaming him can clear you, which is what I want.”
    “Don’t you want the truth?”
    “Maybe not.” He’d sat back and sipped his wine. Shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m jealous enough to say this, but I’d do almost anything to get you away from that guy. If you thrust this off on Reese, that would solidify your break with him.”
    “Tyler, the divorce solidified it.”
    “No, it never did. And now, you’re getting drawn back into his life. I can feel it.”
    Because Tyler might be right, because the notion scared her, she’d given a lot of thought to turning on Reese Bishop.
    Only Jillian had suggested any reason to think she shouldn’t…
    “What was going on in your marriage at the time?” Jillian had asked at Gavels where they met for a glass of wine after work last night.
    “Oh, Jillian. It was a heady time. We’d opened the law firm and were doing great. We’d just gotten those classy offices. We couldn’t handle all the clients we had. Sofie was six and had started school. She was a happy, sunny child, and loved life then. And we’d bought and renovated that farmhouse just outside of town; I loved that place so much it broke my heart to sell it.”
    “Doesn’t sound like he had time to cheat, even if he did have the inclination.”
    “I can’t make myself believe he’d want to. We were so close. I would have known if he was seeing someone else, like I did with Malibu Barbie.”
    “Well then, there’s your answer. If you do believe him, I know you won’t turn him over to the sharks to cover your own ass…”
    Still running, Kate had made her way to town and stopped at a bench near the coffee shop on Main Street. She checked her watch. The place was due to open in ten minutes. Maybe she’d grab some coffee and then head home. Dropping down on the bench, she knew she had to make a decision. And she knew she could only find the answer in her heart. Would Reese really have screwed their client ten years ago? Think, Kate, think. All of what she’d told Jillian was true. And so much more.
    They’d gone on a trip to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary that year, right before they took on Anna Bingham’s case. They’d returned to Florida, to Siesta Key, where they’d spent their honeymoon…
    “Look, Reese,” Kate had said staring out of a penthouse condo window on Siesta Key Beach the first morning they were there. This time of day the sun gilded the water and the whoosh of the waves was soothing. “That beach is so beautiful.” It was advertised to have the best sand in the world.
    “Not as beautiful as my wife of ten years. “ He’d come up behind her and circled her waist with his arms. He was nuzzling her