Chapter 1
I had barely climbed the porch steps when Diane opened the door.
My arms ached from carrying the baby seat. Ava and Eli stood on either side of me with their overnight bags, worn out after the drive. Inside, I could see the warm light of the hallway.
Diane blocked it with her body.
“You can’t stay here,” she said.
For a moment, I thought I had heard her wrong.
“You asked us to come.”
“I know what I said. Plans changed.”
Ava pressed against my leg. Eli shifted his bag from one hand to the other.
I looked over Diane’s shoulder. Our coats still hung on the hooks where we had left them two weeks ago. Marcus’s running shoes sat beside the stairs.
“This is our home,” I said. “The kids need to get inside.”
Diane gripped the edge of the door.
“Marcus doesn’t know you’re here.”
The baby stirred in her seat. I had spent the last four hours imagining Marcus taking her from me, kissing the children, and telling me I could finally sleep. He had gone home ahead of us to help Diane after her fall. Diane had called three days later and said he wanted us to join him tonight.
“What do you mean he doesn’t know?”
“I told him you decided to stay at your sister’s.”
I stared at her.
“You told him that after arranging this drive?”
“I did what was best for this family.”
Ava’s fingers tightened around my coat. She was nine, old enough to hear what Diane meant, and too young to make sense of it.
“Where’s Dad?” she asked.
Diane’s face softened in a way that made me angrier.
“He thinks you’re with your mother, sweetheart.”
“But I talked to him.”
Diane’s eyes flicked toward her.
Ava opened the front pocket of her bag and took out her phone. “He left me a message this morning.”
“Ava, give me that.”
Diane stepped onto the porch. I moved in front of my daughter.
“Let her play it.”
Diane looked at me, then at the phone. She stayed where she was.
Marcus’s voice came through the small speaker, warm and clear.
“Hey, sweetheart. I can’t wait to see you guys tonight. Tell Eli I’ve got his favorite pizza. Drive safe. Love you.”
Eli brightened at the sound of his father. Then he saw Diane’s face and fell quiet again.
I waited for her to explain.
She looked away.
“So Marcus was expecting us,” I said.
“I can explain.”
“Then do it.”
Her gaze slid toward the hallway. An overnight bag sat near the staircase, large and dark blue. I had never seen it before.
“Whose bag is that?”
Diane’s mouth opened, but she gave me no answer.
Eli leaned around me. “Mom, is somebody else here?”
The baby began to cry. I rocked the seat with one hand while trying to keep my eyes on Diane. She had called me every day that week. She knew which road I was taking and when I would arrive. She knew Marcus wanted us home.
She had counted on us turning back when she opened the door.
“What were you planning?” I asked.
Diane’s face went pale.
Somewhere deeper inside the house, a door opened.
I heard footsteps.
A woman appeared at the end of the hall. She wore a cream sweater and held a folder against her chest. I recognized her before she spoke.
Simone Carter.
Marcus had dated her years before he met me. Diane still sent her birthday cards. In eight years of marriage, I had tried to ignore how often Diane brought up her name.
Simone stopped when she saw the children.
“Oh,” she said softly.
Ava looked from Simone to me. “Mom?”
I put the baby seat down carefully. My hand was shaking.
Simone’s bag was by the stairs. She stood inside my house while my children waited outside.
Diane reached for the door again.
“Please,” she whispered. “Let’s talk before Marcus gets back.”
“Gets back from where?”
“The pizza place.”
I looked down at Ava. Marcus had promised dinner. He would be home any minute.
I picked up the baby seat.
“Move, Diane.”
She stepped aside at last.
I brought my children into the hallway, past the bag, and past Simone’s stricken face. My key still hung on the hook beside Marcus’s. Eli reached for it, as if touching something familiar would make the evening normal again.
Then I noticed a sheet of paper beneath Simone’s folder.
At the top was my full name.
Below it, in handwriting I didn’t recognize, were the words: “I have decided to live separately from Marcus.”
May you like
I looked up at Diane.
She shut the front door behind us.
