The Lake House

by Laura Wolfe

Genres: Amateur Sleuth; Thrillers; Crime Fiction; Psychological Thrillers; Suspense

Synopsis

‘WOW!! Just wow!!... mind-blowing, jaw-dropping, gripping… Once you pick up the book you just can’t put it down… My jaw was locked open… Never did I imagine that ending.’ Heidi Lynn’s Book Reviews ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

You can always trust your closest friends. Can’t you? This trip was a chance to reconnect away from our busy lives. The five of us used to be so close—going right back to our college days, when we shared a rickety house and all our favorite clothes, as well as every high and low of our lives—but that was then. Now, the thought of three days in a small cabin far from anywhere, surrounded only by water and trees, with my four oldest friends makes my stomach sink and my hands sweat. Because if they knew what I’d done—the betrayals I’ve committed—they’d never forgive me. And neither would you. The straight-A student, the sports star with a bright future ahead of her, the sheltered girl who blossomed away from her family and the hippie child who was going to save the world. Their lives have turned out so differently to how we pictured all those years ago. I try not to think about why. But then danger strikes, and too late I discover I’m not the only one keeping secrets. And I wonder: who will go furthest to keep the truth hidden? Gripping, addictive and totally unputdownable, Her Best Friend’s Lie will have you reading late into the night. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, The Woman in the Window and Big Little Lies. Readers can’t get enough of Her Best Friend’s Lie: “ WOW!… nearly impossible to put down ( I finished this in one sitting). The twists and turns kept me guessing throughout the book and I just had to keep reading.” Enter Page Left ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“ Completely gripping… An absolutely sensational read which had me hooked from page one. It had me guessing throughout… unputdownable and addictive! I completely devoured it.” Bookworm86 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“ Wow! That was one suspenseful and thrilling read. I’m still at a loss for words… one of the best psychological thrillers that I’ve read… five stars from me. A sensational read.” Books Only ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“ Holy cow, this was so good!… so twisty with many OMG moments, it’s fast paced and unputdownable.” NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“An absolutely sensational read which had me hooked from page one. It had me guessing throughout… especially the shocker at the end!!!… Every chapter seemed to end on a cliffer and it was definitely unputdownable and addictive! ” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“ Brilliant! I thought I had the plot figured out and then boom… Just pick it up and read it! I promise you won’t regret it.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“An exciting and unpredictable read and a fast moving one at that… with a big whopping reveal that will have you saying—OMG! ” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“ Unputdownable. Addictive. Wow this book was something else! One of my favourite books of the year! I loved it, loved it, loved it. Just amazing.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“ Oh my goodness! This book had me turning pages really fast… Waiting for my heartbeat to finally slow down. ” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release date: March 17, 2021

Publisher: Bookouture

Print pages: 350

Sample

Five years had passed since we’d seen each other. My insides hummed along with my car as I eased my foot against the brake. The drive from my house in Brookfield to Charlotte’s address in Hartland was less than thirty minutes—a straight shot west on the highway through Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The quick trip made it difficult to ignore our recent lack of effort to get together. My arms felt heavy as I approached the driveway. I let my car idle in front of the modest ranch-style house where Charlotte lived with her second husband, Reed, and her teenage son, Oliver. An open garage door revealed a blue-and-white cooler, two large suitcases, and several reusable grocery bags waiting behind Charlotte’s red minivan. A silver hatchback filled the other half of the garage.

I took a breath, turning up the driveway and parking under a rusty basketball hoop and next to a gleaming blue Tesla. Kaitlyn had beaten me here, even though her drive was twice as far. We would stop at the airport later to pick up Sam and Jenna. Nerves held me in place as I leaned my weight into the upholstered seat. People always said old friends could pick up where they left off, but I wasn’t sure that was true. Five years was a long time.

A door slammed. Kaitlyn emerged from the garage, the sun catching her blue-green eyes. She flashed her Hollywood smile, wavy tendrils of auburn hair reaching past her shoulders. She was still breathtaking with her lithe frame and carved features. A fashionable linen pantsuit skimmed her curves, and she wore lipstick the shade of ripe berries. It had always been a struggle not to feel frumpy in Kaitlyn’s presence.

Charlotte followed a step behind, her head barely reaching Kaitlyn’s shoulders. Her billowy sundress fluttered in the wind, and she pulled her jean jacket closed. I did a double take. Charlotte’s cheeks were the same rosy pink I remembered, but her face was rounder and her hips wider. She’d grown her dark hair to just below her shoulders, and her brown eyes held their familiar girl-next-door charm. She waved and bounded into the air.

I abandoned my nerves and jumped from my car, hugging Kaitlyn first, then Charlotte.

“Yay, Megan! You’re here.” Charlotte pulled away and smiled at me.

I wondered what changes they noticed in me. I’d made an effort to cover the gray hairs poking up from my light brown roots, but my hand instinctively moved to cover the paunch in my gut that had formed after Wyatt had been born, becoming even more pronounced when I’d stopped training for marathons two years ago.

“Can you believe we’re forty?” I lowered my hand.

Charlotte closed her eyes and tipped her face toward the sky. “No. How the hell did that happen?”

“In my head, I’m still twenty-five,” Kaitlyn said.

Charlotte fluttered her eyelashes at Kaitlyn. “How have you not aged? You probably still get carded.”

“Bitch,” I said.

We laughed. I’d been silly to feel nervous. Despite the long absence, we’d slipped back into our friendship easily, like rediscovering a favorite pair of shoes in the corner of the closet.

My group of college friends and I turned forty this year, and we deserved a weekend away to celebrate. At least that’s what Jenna had claimed in the barrage of texts that began three months ago: Happy Birthday to us! Girls’ weekend. No excuses! No husbands or kids allowed! Jenna, a New York City attorney and always the organizer, was the one who sent the initial message urging us to plan an exotic getaway.

Charlotte and Kaitlyn had immediately responded with sentiments like Count me in! and Yes! I’ll be there! Even Sam, who lived in Denver and ran a multimillion-dollar corporation, quickly joined the fun. I didn’t share their unbridled excitement. The talk of planning a trip stressed me out, my jaw tightening and my finger flicking across the emails the same way I’d bat away a pesky fly. I’d hoped the planning would fizzle out like it had when Jenna had made a similar push two years ago. But my friends were two steps ahead of me; an Excel spreadsheet soon followed with each of our names above the top row and three months of weekend dates across the side. I couldn’t write no for all of the dates; that would be too obvious. I was trapped. Anxiety had gripped my chest at the mention of faraway destinations—a luxury spa in Tucson or an all-inclusive eco-resort in Costa Rica. I worried about my kids, eight-year-old Marnie and five-year-old Wyatt. Four nights was a long time to be away. My husband, Andrew, was perfectly capable of caring for them, of course, but he’d have to waste two vacation days for my trip to work. Either that or I’d have to get my mother-in-law involved. They were both options I preferred to avoid.

How about something closer to home? I’d suggested, hoping Kaitlyn would offer to host again, but she hadn’t.

Now I hovered in Kaitlyn’s shadow on Charlotte’s driveway, thinking back to how our unlikely crew had become friends in the first place. By accident or fate, the five of us had met freshman year at Marquette University in Milwaukee. I’d chosen the private Jesuit school over several others, even though I wasn’t Catholic. Marquette was only forty minutes from my parents’ house, had an excellent academic reputation, and was about the right size—not as big as a state school, but large enough to keep my anonymity if I desired. Out of nearly 2,500 incoming first-year students in 1997, Campus Housing had placed me, Sam, Charlotte, Kaitlyn, and Jenna in the same corridor in the utilitarian 1950s dormitory. That was twenty-two years ago. Even though we didn’t see each other often anymore, we had forged our loyalties. We’d shared too much to abandon each other, no matter how much time had passed.

Kaitlyn smoothed back a lock of her windblown hair. “So much planning, but we made it work!”

“I can’t believe it,” I said, and I really couldn’t. The weeks of back-and-forth texts from my friends scrolled through my mind as I opened the trunk of my car to unload my suitcase.

Megan, you coming? It won’t be the same without you.

Of course she’s coming! Look at the spreadsheet. The weekend of 17 Sept works for everyone! Jenna had responded. I’d shaken my head when I read it. Twenty years later, Jenna was still talking over me.

The messages had continued to pop on my phone, poking and prodding. My friends laid the guilt on thick. Despite my hesitation to commit, the plans rolled forward. I’d cut back my hours as a therapist at the family clinic. Turning forty was kind of a big deal, and I’d been feeling lost both at home and work lately—a possible midlife crisis. When I’d mentioned the plans to Andrew and asked if I should join in on the four-day girls’ weekend, he’d only shrugged and said, “Sure. Why not?”

That was when I realized a weekend away with old friends was exactly what I needed to excavate a forgotten piece of myself, to remember my identity before marriage and kids. Taking a few nights for myself wasn’t such a sacrifice, so I officially committed. Now, the weekend had finally arrived.

Charlotte and Kaitlyn helped me load my things into the back of the minivan, including a case of wine I’d picked up at the liquor store a few days before.

Charlotte widened her eyes at the box and chuckled. “Jeez, Megan! Do you think you packed enough wine?”

“There was a discount if you bought twelve bottles.”

“You did the right thing,” Kaitlyn said, crinkling her button nose. “Now, we don’t have to worry about running out, even with Jenna around.”

We laughed at Kaitlyn’s dig at Jenna, who was the partier of the group. I locked my car.

Reed stepped into the shadowy garage wearing gray athletic shorts and a black Nike T-shirt. He smiled at us, his biceps straining against his shirt. “Hey guys. It’s been a while.”

I stood taller, noticing how he and Charlotte didn’t quite match each other. “Hi Reed. Nice to see you.”

“Likewise.” The stubble on his face became visible as he lowered his chin.

Charlotte gave her husband a playful shove. “He’s counting the seconds until I leave so he can go for a run, watch TV all day, and make whatever he wants for dinner.”

“I’m debating between pancakes and greasy carry-out.”

Kaitlyn chuckled in Reed’s direction. “You and Derek would get along well.”

“We eat pancakes and greasy carry-out at our house almost every day,” I said.

Reed smiled and leaned against the minivan. “How’s the fam, Megan?”

“Everyone’s good. Thanks.”

“Are you still living in Brookfield?”

“Yep. I work there too. The clinic is still in the same building. It’s a short commute.”

Charlotte nodded. “Reed works over in that direction now.”

“We’re about ten minutes down the road, just past Elm Grove.”

“Really?” I motioned toward him and Charlotte. “The three of us should meet for lunch sometime.”

“That would be fun,” Charlotte said.

“We all need to make more of an effort,” Kaitlyn said. “I mean, it only took me an hour to get here, and you guys are all so close.”

Charlotte did a little hop. “Yes. We need to set a regular date, like the third Saturday of every month we’ll meet at someone’s house for dinner. Or we can find a restaurant that’s halfway.”

“Let’s include husbands and kids too,” Kaitlyn said. “Wouldn’t it be fun if our kids were friends?”

“Oliver is a little too old,” Reed said.

“He can babysit,” I said, only half-joking.

Kaitlyn smiled. “Perfect!”

We agreed on striving for more regular meetups and exchanged a few niceties as Reed tightened the laces on his running shoes. He wished us safe travels and promised Charlotte he’d hold down the home front. “Love you,” he said, wrapping his sturdy arms around his wife and kissing her. A pang shot through me. I thought of my departure from Andrew less than an hour earlier. He had only glanced up from his phone call, pointed at my handwritten list of instructions, and mouthed, “Have fun.” I’d nodded and given him a thumbs up, not making any effort to kiss him goodbye either—something I’d later regret.

We buckled ourselves into the minivan with Kaitlyn riding shotgun and me in the back.

“I can’t believe this is finally happening!” Charlotte said as she started the ignition.

Kaitlyn looked over her shoulder. “We did it. Yay!”

It had taken weeks for everyone to complete the spreadsheet, work out a date, and agree on a location. We decided to stay in Wisconsin. That way, only Sam and Jenna had to book flights. I remembered the vacation rental listing of the quaint cottage on a private lake that had caught everyone’s eyes: Secluded Cabin on Crooked Lake Sleeps Six. The cabin we’d rented for the weekend was almost a five-hour drive from Milwaukee, but it wasn’t too far from a small airport. Charlotte had plenty of room in her minivan and had offered to drive us. We would make one pit stop to pick up Jenna and Sam, who had coordinated their flights from New York and Denver into the remote airfield.

The drive was long in miles, but with all our talking, it passed quickly. The suburban houses transformed into endless farmland and, eventually, dense forest. We stopped once for gas and two more times for bathroom and snack breaks as we took turns updating each other on our lives—husbands, kids, careers, and in Kaitlyn’s case, charity work. We reminisced about Jenna’s failed attempt to get the group together two years ago. The plan had evaporated as soon as a couple of us had conflicts with the proposed dates.

Our last girls’ weekend had been a little more than five years earlier. Kaitlyn had hosted at her posh house in the upscale Madison suburb of Shorewood Hills. I’d gasped when I’d first laid eyes on her sprawling brick colonial, which looked like someone had plucked it from the pages of House Beautiful magazine. Not that my spacious home in Brookfield was anything to complain about, but Kaitlyn and Derek’s house surpassed another level of luxury with an infinity-edge swimming pool, golf course view, wine cellar, and movie theatre. Derek’s finance career had skyrocketed faster than Kaitlyn’s, and she’d decided to stay home after their second daughter was born. Derek had taken their girls to stay with his parents that weekend. Still, traces of their daughters appeared everywhere—stuffed animals neatly stacked against a wall, tiny chairs sitting beside the regular chairs, and Tupperware containers filled with cookies. I remembered feeling guilty about displacing them.

Kaitlyn had given us a tour of the property, pointing out all the renovations she and Derek had done. The rest of us had smiled and nodded and said all the right things as we admired the many upgrades, but there’d been an undercurrent of tension as we paraded around the patio, the afternoon sun searing our skin. My sandals had clicked against the natural stone slabs surrounding the pristine swimming pool as Kaitlyn led us around the edge. I glimpsed defeat (or was it jealousy?) flickering behind the eyes of my friends, their jaw muscles twitching, almost as if they wouldn’t mind if Kaitlyn slipped and fell into the water. Or maybe I’d only been projecting my feelings onto the others. Kaitlyn had one-upped us all, not that she would ever say that. She was too kind. I’d dropped my gaze, letting it drift across the chlorinated water; it stopped near my toes, where stray leaves and a handful of dead bugs floated in the corner.

There had been more uncomfortable moments as daylight dwindled. I’d been pregnant with Wyatt then, so I hadn’t been able to drink alcohol like everyone else as we gathered around a massive table positioned beneath a wisteria-covered pergola. Jenna sat with arms crossed, throwing back glass after glass of wine as she gazed out at the fairway and described the grueling hours she worked at the law firm. She’d been going through a difficult period. Her dad had recently passed away, only weeks before her latest boyfriend had dumped her. Jenna’s face contorted as she critiqued the form of the occasional golfers passing at dusk. The rest of us gabbed about our babies and toddlers, told birthing stories, and complained about our husbands. Jokes were made, many of them by Jenna and most in bad taste. That was Jenna in a nutshell—loud, dramatic, intense, funny. Memories were dug up. Past tensions surfaced, leading to gaping silences, tightened jaws, and sideways glances. Because of my training as a therapist—and without the haze of alcohol—I’d probably noticed the defensive body language and backhanded compliments more than the others. My eyes kept traveling back to Kaitlyn’s shimmery pool, landing on the pile of debris floating in the corner.

That other weekend had only been for two nights. This time we were meeting for four. At least now I could drink. I exhaled, envisioning the twelve bottles of wine clinking in the back.

As Charlotte sped along the highway, we lamented the two times we’d planned to meet for dinner but had to cancel at the last minute, once because of an emergency illness with Marnie and the second time because of an unexpected conflict with one of Kaitlyn’s daughters. Just like our weekends away, life had gotten in the way, and we’d stopped trying.

My legs ached by the time we reached the tiny airport, which was located amid dozens of empty fields carved into the forest. I perched in the back seat, staring out the window. A single prop plane accelerated down a runway beyond the underwhelming brick building that housed only four gates.

My phone beeped with a text message from Sam: Got our luggage. Out in a sec!

“They’re coming out.” My hands sweat as I waited for my first glimpse of Jenna and Sam.

Kaitlyn turned from the front passenger seat and clapped her hands excitedly. “It’s happening!”

Charlotte’s fingers gripped the steering wheel. “I’ll pull into the pickup lane.” I caught a glimpse of her eager smile and reddened cheeks in the rearview mirror. She must have been tired after so many hours of driving, but Sam and Jenna’s arrival had energized all of us.

“There they are.” Kaitlyn lowered her window. “Hey guys!” She waved and smiled as her designer sunglasses reflected in the late-afternoon sun. “Oh my gosh. Look at what Jenna’s wearing!”

I craned my neck to see Sam and Jenna ambling toward us, pulling wheeled suitcases behind them. A sparkly, silver headband with the number “40” stuck up from two antennas on top of Jenna’s head. I couldn’t help but smile. Jenna had always loved being the center of attention. But the lilt in her step caused me to lean forward and hold my breath. Even after all these years, she hadn’t fully recovered from the accident.

“Too funny.” Charlotte unlocked the doors and jumped out.

I watched my friends hop up and down and load their suitcases in the back. I moved back to the third row as nerves bubbled in my stomach. The doors swung open.

“Megan!”

“Hi! So good to see you.” I extended my arms as they ducked inside, taking turns hugging Kaitlyn and me while we commented on Jenna’s headband. The flowery scent of Sam’s perfume, coupled with the low-pitched intonation of Jenna’s laugh, immediately soothed me, like the time I’d returned to my childhood home and found the rusty swing set standing in the same corner of the backyard. My friends had changed but were recognizable in all the important ways—Sam’s vibrant white smile set off against her dark skin and black hair, the sparkle in Jenna’s sea-blue eyes as she slid the glittery headband over her blonde crop cut. Only minor differences had emerged—a few more crow’s feet around the eyes, deeper lines around the mouth, a stray silver hair peeking through from Sam’s ebony tresses. It was both comforting and disconcerting to know that time didn’t stop for anyone. Well, maybe except for Kaitlyn.

“I’m so happy you found flights that landed at the same time.” Charlotte peeked over her shoulder as she pulled away from the curb.

“There was only one flight from LaGuardia every day,” Jenna said.

Sam shook her head. “I know. Same from Denver. It’s crazy how it worked out.”

As Charlotte exited onto a two-lane highway and drove toward our destination, Jenna updated us about her life in New York City and a case she was working on representing an environmental group fighting to keep pesticides out of the city. She motioned with her arms as she talked, sitting a few inches taller than me and looking over her shoulder every minute or two. She’d been a soccer player in college and hadn’t lost her athletic build.

I slipped my phone out of my purse and texted Andrew: Just picked up everyone from the airport. On our way to the cabin. Not sure if I’ll have time to talk later. Kiss Wyatt and Marnie for me. xx.

A minute later, he texted back: Have fun! Love you.

Despite the flippant goodbye this morning, Andrew was good to me. Sometimes I didn’t think I deserved him. I tried to remember the last time he’d taken a weekend for himself, away from the kids, but couldn’t. I swallowed back the guilt rising in my throat and focused on Sam’s voice as she filled us in on her family in Denver. Her sons, Leo and Brett, were eight and six now and obsessed with Legos.

“How’s your MedTech company?” I asked, remembering all the hard work Sam had put in over the last fifteen years. She’d left her research position at a major hospital to pursue an idea to make affordable prescription drugs available online for everyone.

“It’s going great. We had our biggest profit margin ever this year. I can tell you more about it later.” Sam’s brown eyes found mine as she tucked her thick hair behind her ear. She had plucked her eyebrows into perfect arches and her maroon lipstick accentuated her dark complexion. Her hair wasn’t frizzy anymore, like it had been in college. She was even more beautiful, more confident.

“Wow. Look at you, overachievers.” Kaitlyn flashed her movie-star smile from the front seat.

Sam threw her head back. “Look who’s talking! How many charities are you running this year, PTO President?”

“I dropped out of the PTO. Some of the parents were too much.” Kaitlyn waved her manicured hand in the air. “I’m focusing my time on a new initiative to get books into the hands of inner-city and rural kids. And I’m still helping new immigrants get settled.”

“Kaitlyn saves the world. Again,” Charlotte said, a smile pulling at her lips. Jenna and I chuckled.

Sam nodded her approval. “Good for you, Kaitlyn.”

“I love that.” I nodded toward Kaitlyn and noted the familiar sinking feeling she had always sent through me, like I should be doing more with my life. Kaitlyn had never stopped using her privileged position to help others. I imagined she didn’t quite fit in with the country club set where she lived.

The trees flitted past outside the car windows as we caught each other up on our day’s travels. I looked around at the women who sat near me inside the minivan. They were my closest friends in so many ways, but the passing of time had also made them strangers. Besides an occasional photo one of us posted on social media, I knew close to nothing about their day-to-day lives. I studied their faces as they talked, wondering which of us would still be friends if we met each other today, rather than twenty-two years earlier. My eyes traveled from Sam to Jenna in the second row to Kaitlyn and Charlotte in the front seat. I pinned my elbows close to my body and didn’t let myself think too long about the answers.

The tires hit another pothole and I pressed my palms into the seat to steady myself. The forest swallowed the minivan, blocking out the sunlight. Eventually, Charlotte turned down another road identical to the one we’d just been on, but with even fewer cars. It was the second weekend in September and the summer travelers had already returned south for school and work.

Jenna narrowed her eyes out the window. “Where is this place we rented?”

Kaitlyn squinted at the GPS directions on her phone. “I don’t know. I knew it was kind of far out there, but this is crazy.”

“I’m looking for a sign for Crooked Lake,” Sam said, craning her neck toward the far side of the car.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere.” Charlotte kept her eyes focused on the bumpy road. “But don’t worry. I have a cooler of food, Kaitlyn brought four bags of groceries, and Megan brought every bottle of wine in her house.”

“True story,” I yelled from the back, picturing the bags of groceries and twelve bottles of wine rattling behind me.

“What more could we need?” Kaitlyn motioned toward the window. “This is what we wanted, right? Seclusion, nature, no distractions. Just four days of catching up.”

Jenna stared at the passing landscape. “I’ve never seen so many trees before. It’s such a nice break from the city.”

We sat in silence for a minute, watching the trees flit by, the same scene repeating over and over, like the backgrounds of old cartoons.

“I’m hungry. What time do the food trucks come by?” Jenna asked, making the rest of us laugh.

“We’re having pizza tonight. I hope that’s okay. No meat.” Kaitlyn winked at Jenna and then looked back at me. Jenna and I were vegetaria. . .