cold, slashing rain, unseasonable in its fury, crashed water against the windows in waves. The gray clouds, which had drifted in uneventfully the night before, brought with them morning mist and a wind that shook the last of the blossoms from the dogwood trees. It was early May, and there were only three days until the wedding. Jeremy had made arrangements to meet his parents at the Norfolk airport, where they’d follow him in a rented car to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Buxton. Until they arrived, he busied himself with helping Lexie make final calls to verify that everything was ready.

The gloomy weather did nothing to dampen the renewed passion Lexie and Jeremy felt for each other. On the night he’d returned, they made love with an intensity that surprised them both, and he could vividly recall the electric feel of her skin against his own. It was as if, in their lovemaking, they were trying to erase all of the pain and betrayals, the secrets and anger, of the past few months.

Once the burden of their respective secrets had been removed, Jeremy felt lighter than he had in months. With his impending marriage, he had a valid excuse to avoid thinking about work and had little trouble doing so. He went jogging twice and made the decision to take it up regularly again as soon as the wedding was behind him. Although the renovations on the house weren’t complete, the contractor promised that they would be able to move in well before the baby was born. It would probably be the end of August, but Lexie felt confident enough to go ahead and put her bungalow up for sale, promising to bank the entire proceeds to shore up their dwindling savings.

The one place they didn’t go was Herbs. After learning what Rachel had told Alvin, Lexie couldn’t fathom the idea of seeing her-not yet, anyway. The night before, Doris had called, asking why neither Jeremy nor Lexie had even dropped in to say hello. On the phone, Lexie assured Doris that she wasn’t angry with her and admitted that Doris had been right to take her to task when they last spoke. When Lexie didn’t follow up with a visit, Doris called again.

“I’m beginning to think there’s something that you’re not telling me,” Doris said, “and if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to march over to your house and perch myself on your porch until you fill me in.”

“We’re just busy and making sure everything is ready for the weekend,” Lexie said, trying to appease her.

“I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck,” Doris said, “and I know avoidance when I see it, and the fact is, you’re avoiding me.”

“I’m not avoiding you.”

“Then why not swing by the restaurant a little later?” When Lexie hesitated, Doris made an intuitive leap. “Does this have something to do with Rachel, by any chance?”

When Lexie didn’t answer, Doris sighed. “That’s it, isn’t it. I should have known. On Monday, she seemed to be avoiding me, too. Same thing today. What did she do now?”

Lexie was wondering how much to say when she heard Jeremy enter the kitchen behind her. Thinking he was coming in for a glass of water or a snack, she gave him a distracted smile before she noticed his expression.

“Rachel’s here,” Jeremy said. “She wants to talk to you.”

Rachel flashed a nervous smile when Lexie entered the living room, then quickly looked away. Lexie stared at her without speaking. In the doorway, Jeremy shifted his weight from one foot to the other, then decided to slip out the back door so the two could be alone.

Lexie heard the back door close before she took a seat across from Rachel. Devoid of makeup, Rachel looked anxious and exhausted. In her hands, she twisted a tissue compulsively.

“I’m sorry,” she said without preamble. “I never meant for any of this to happen, and I can only guess how angry you are. I just want you to know I didn’t want to hurt you. I had no idea that Alvin had done what he did.”

When Lexie didn’t respond, Rachel brought her hands to her head, massaging her temples. “He called me at home this past weekend and tried to explain, but I was just so horrified. If I’d known, if I’d even had an inkling of what he was doing, I would never have talked to him. But he fooled me. . . .”

She trailed off, still unable to meet Lexie’s eyes.

“You’re not the only one. He fooled Jeremy, too,” Lexie said.

“But it was still my fault.”

“Yeah,” Lexie agreed, “it was.”

Lexie’s comment seemed to stop Rachel’s train of thought. In the silence that followed, Lexie watched her, trying to assess whether she was feeling contrite because of what she’d done or because she’d been caught. She was a friend, someone Lexie had trusted, but then again, Jeremy would have said the same thing about Alvin.

“Tell me how it happened,” Lexie finally said.

Rachel sat up straighter; when she spoke, it sounded as if she’d been rehearsing her words for days.

“You know that Rodney and I have been having problems, right?”

Lexie nodded.

“That’s where it started,” Rachel said. “I know that you and Rodney always saw your relationship differently. To you, he was just a friend, but to Rodney . . . well, you were like some kind of fantasy, and even now, I’m not sure whether he’s ever going to get over you. When he looks at me sometimes, it’s like he really wants to be seeing you instead. I know that sounds crazy, but I felt it every time he showed up at my door. It’s like I was never quite good enough, no matter what I was wearing or what we planned to do. And then, one day when I was running something into Doris’s office, I found Alvin’s phone number, and . . . I don’t know . . . I was feeling depressed and lonesome, and I just decided to give him a call. I didn’t know what to expect-I really didn’t expect anything-but we just got to talking, and I started telling him about the troubles that Rodney and I have been having in our relationship and how he can’t seem to get over you. Well, Alvin got real quiet and then told me you were pregnant. The way he said it let me know that he wasn’t sure Jeremy was the father. And that maybe Rodney was.”

Lexie felt her stomach sink.

“I want you to know that I never thought it was Rodney’s baby. Never, not once. I knew that you and Rodney had never slept together, and I said something to that effect. I didn’t think twice about it. Honestly, once I hung up, I didn’t even think we’d talk again, but then Alvin called me sometime later, and all I could think was that it was nice to hear from him. And after Rodney and I got into another fight, I just wanted a break from it all . . . so on a whim I decided to head to New York for a few days. I can’t explain it other than to say I had to get out of town and it was a place I’d always wanted to go. So I called Alvin when I got there, and we ended up spending most of the night talking. I was upset and maybe I drank too much, but somehow you came up again and I let it slip that you’d been pregnant before and that it was even noted in Doris’s journal.”

When Lexie raised her eyebrows, Rachel hesitated before going on.

“Doris kept the journal in her office and I was looking through it when I saw your initials and Trevor’s name in there. I know it wasn’t any of my business and I know I shouldn’t have said anything, but I was just talking. I didn’t have any idea that he was sending Jeremy e-mails and trying to break you two up. I didn’t find out about that until this past weekend, after Jeremy was already back here. Alvin called me in this panic on Saturday and blurted out everything, and I got this sick feeling. Not only because of what I’d helped to set in motion, but because he’d been using me all along.” Her voice wavered as she stared at her shredded tissue. “I swear, I didn’t mean to hurt you, Lex. I thought we were just talking.”

Rachel’s eyes filled with tears. “You have every right to be angry with me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you never wanted to see me again. If I were you I don’t know that I would want to see me. It’s taken me this long to even work up the courage to come here. I haven’t been able to eat for the last couple of days. I know that probably doesn’t matter, but I wanted you to know the truth. You’ve been like a sister to me over the years, and I’m closer to Doris than I am to my own mother . . . It breaks my heart to think that I hurt you or even to think that I might have played a part in what Alvin was doing. I am so sorry. You’ll never know how sorry I am for what happened.”

When she finished, silence settled between them. Rachel had spoken without pause, and the effort seemed to have drained her. The tissue was in tatters, small pieces raining onto the floor, and Rachel bent over to pick them up. As she did, Lexie tried to figure out whether Rachel’s story diminished her responsibility, and how she wanted to respond. She was ambivalent. She felt justified in telling Rachel that she never wanted to see her again, but overpowering her anger was a growing sense of sympathy. She knew that Rachel was flighty and jealous, insecure and occasionally irresponsible, but she also knew that betrayal wasn’t in her nature. Lexie sensed that she’d been telling the truth when she said she had no idea what Alvin had been up to.

“Hey,” she said.

Rachel looked up.

“I’m still angry,” Lexie said. “But I know you didn’t mean it.”

Rachel swallowed. “I’m so sorry,” she repeated.

“I know you are.”

Rachel nodded. “What will you tell Jeremy?”

“The truth. That you didn’t know.”

“And Doris?”

“That I’ll have to think about. I haven’t told Doris anything yet. To be honest, I don’t know that I will, either.”

Rachel exhaled, her relief evident.

“That goes for Rodney, too,” Lexie added.

“What about us? Will we be able to stay friends?”

Lexie shrugged. “I suppose we have to, being that you’re my maid of honor.”

Rachel’s eyes brimmed over. “Really?”

Lexie smiled. “Really.”