I held up the receipt. “And why am I paying for his steak?”
She looked ashamed.
“I didn’t want a separate charge.”
“What?”
“I knew Jake might see it.”
Jake said, “So you buried it in the family bill.”
Megan didn’t answer.
I laughed in disbelief.
“Wait. You invited everyone here, said it was your treat, ordered whatever you wanted, added your secret dinner with Ryan, and then handed me the bill.”
“I panicked.”
“You planned this.”
“No.”
“You asked the waitress to combine the checks before we even sat down.”
She looked at the floor.
I said, “That’s not panicking. That’s planning.”
“I’ll pay you back.”
I blinked. “What?”
“I’ll pay you back for the whole family dinner.”
“As you should. You invited everyone. You said it was your treat.”
“I know.”
“You used your sister-in-law to hide your spending.”
Megan looked embarrassed. “I’ll reimburse her.”
That should have been satisfying.
It wasn’t. Because Jake looked destroyed.
Not because he thought Megan was cheating anymore.
Because she’d built an entire secret arrangement around someone who had already hurt them badly.
We went to my parents’ house afterward.
Nobody wanted to stand around the restaurant discussing addiction and stolen credit cards.
