I lead him over to the sofa, explaining as I go. “Grady thinks she’s here to celebrate our engagement. He’s making a dinner reservation,” I say, both of us sitting down. “She wants to ambush him.”
Tyson shakes his head.
“It’s a bad idea, isn’t it?”
“Not necessarily. I guess it depends on how you feel about it?”
“Well, I like the idea of having her there with me. Even better if you’re there, too. I really don’t think I can do it alone.”
He nods.
“But she wants me to get all dolled up. It seems a bit—I don’t know—”
“Needlessly cinematic?”
“Yes. Exactly,” I say.
“What does your gut say?”
I sigh, thinking. “My gut tells me to let Lainey do her thing. Burn him,” I say, a little shocked by my answer. I’m even more shocked that the last two words give me a small rush.
“Well, then,” Tyson says. “Let’s do it.”
I nod, hoping I can go through with it.
“I’m so sorry this is happening to you, Hannah.”
I feel a but coming on just as he says it.
“But I never liked that guy.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because that always backfires. And ultimately you are the only one who can decide what’s right for you. I’m just glad you saw his true colors. The circumstances suck, but better late than never.”
“Yeah,” I say. “That’s probably true.”
“It is true. You’re a really good person, Hannah. You deserve so much better.”
I feel myself getting teary again just as Lainey rounds the corner in a short red robe. Her wet hair is wrapped in a towel, turban-style. She stops in her tracks when she sees Tyson.
“What the hell?” she says, grinning. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
“I know how much you love surprises,” he says. “Speaking of surprises, I heard about your ambush plan.”
“It’s good, isn’t it?”
“I don’t hate it…and it is probably easier to extricate Hannah from a restaurant than his house.”
“Exactly,” Lainey says. “And I also want to stick him with the big, fat bill.”
“That’s so petty,” Tyson says.
“Yep.” Lainey grins proudly.
“What happened to ‘when they go low’?” Tyson says.
“When they go low, I go lower.” Lainey laughs.
“Okay. But remember, I don’t want to make a scene,” I say.
“No scene,” Lainey says. “Soft voices. All smiles.”
“So what are we going to do, exactly?” Tyson asks Lainey. “We sit down, toast the happy couple. And then—BAM. Hannah drops the bomb that she knows he cheated?”
“Something like that,” Lainey replies. “You can refine the script. Maybe infuse it with some sort of cross-examination technique leading up to a gotcha moment.”
Tyson nods, then looks at me. “What if—and I’m just spitballing here—you break off the engagement without telling him why?”
“So I wouldn’t tell him what I saw?”
“Correct. You’d just tell him that it’s over, and that you have your reasons.”
“What’s the point of that?” I ask.
“It’s always an advantage to hold your cards close,” Tyson says. “Knowledge is power.”
I mull this over as Lainey shakes her head. “I don’t like that plan. She has to bust him. It’ll be so satisfying.”
“In the moment, sure. She’d have instant gratification,” Tyson says. “But long term, the wondering what happened will wreck him.”
“He’ll want a reason,” I say.
“Tough. Tell him you had a change of heart…. That you just aren’t ‘feeling it’ anymore,” Tyson says. “Be vague.”
“He won’t buy that.”
“He won’t have a choice if that’s all you give him.”
“But won’t he know that I know?”
“He might suspect it, yes. But he won’t know for sure. And he can’t very well ask you if it’s because he cheated, now, can he?”
“Oh. Wow. True,” I say.
“And the sense of rejection will feel exponentially greater if you don’t provide a concrete reason.”
“Okay. So when would I do this? In the middle of dinner? With y’all at the table? Or would I ask for a moment alone?”
