Chapter 1
I bought the flowers because Nia once told me our house felt colder without them.
For three weeks, we had lived apart. I was staying with my brother, and Nia remained in the house with our nine-year-old daughter, Ava. Nia said she needed space. I gave it to her, though every evening away from Ava felt longer than the last.
That morning, Nia had sounded tired on the phone.
“I don’t know what to do anymore,” she said.
I spent the rest of the day thinking about those words. By evening, I had convinced myself that if I came over, we might finally talk honestly. I picked up her favorite white flowers and a small gift for Ava, a set of colored pencils she had asked for.
Nia’s car was in the driveway. So was Vanessa’s.
Vanessa had been Nia’s closest friend since college. She was at the house often, helping Nia through what she called “a difficult time.” I had thanked her for it more than once.
I let myself in with my key.
“Ava?” I called.
No answer. Her school bag was gone, so I assumed she was still at her grandmother’s.
I walked upstairs with the flowers in one hand and the gift bag in the other. As I neared our bedroom, I heard Nia speaking.
“He can’t see it until Monday.”
Another woman answered. Vanessa.
“He won’t. You said he never checks.”
I stopped outside the door.
Nia said something too low for me to hear. Then Vanessa replied, “By the time he understands, Ava will already be gone.”
I pushed the door open.
Nia and Vanessa sat close together on the bed. Papers lay between them. Nia grabbed her phone and turned it facedown. Vanessa swept the papers beneath a folder.
Neither woman said a word.
I had pictured Nia smiling when she saw me. Instead, she looked frightened.
“Marcus,” she said. “Why are you here?”
“I came to see you.”
“You weren’t supposed to come today.”
I looked at the flowers. I had chosen them carefully, and suddenly I felt foolish holding them.
Vanessa stood. “We were just talking.”
“About Ava leaving?”
Nia’s eyes darted toward Vanessa.
“She’s at my mother’s,” Nia said.
“I know where she is tonight. What happens Monday?”
No one answered.
On the bedside table sat a phone I didn’t recognize. A message lit its screen. I saw only the first line, from someone saved as Mr. Price.
The school transfer is ready once we receive—
Nia snatched it up before I could read the rest.
“Marcus, please.”
“What school transfer?”
Vanessa stepped between us. “This has gotten out of hand. We can explain.”
“Then explain it.”
I waited. Downstairs, the refrigerator hummed. It was the only sound in the house.
Nia began to cry.
“I was going to tell you,” she said.
“When?”
“After I knew it was certain.”
“What was certain?”
Vanessa put a hand on Nia’s shoulder. Nia moved closer to her without seeming to notice.
I looked at them, then at the papers sticking out beneath the folder. I recognized our address on the top page.
“Is this about selling the house?”
Nia shook her head too quickly. “It isn’t sold.”
I had not asked whether it was sold.
My chest tightened. “How long have you been making plans without me?”
Nia covered her face. Vanessa spoke for her.
“You two have been separated for weeks. Nia had to make decisions.”
“Decisions about our daughter need both her parents.”
“You haven’t been listening to what Nia needs,” Vanessa said.
I turned to her. “I’m asking Nia.”
Nia lowered her hands. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
I wanted to ask everything at once. Where was Ava going? Why was the house in that folder? Why did Vanessa know more about my family than I did?
Then I saw the calendar on our wall. Ava had drawn a heart around Saturday, the day of her school concert. I had promised to be there. Whatever Nia had planned for Monday, Ava was still counting on me for Saturday.
I placed the flowers on the table.
“I came here because I still love you,” I told Nia. “I thought we might find a way to talk.”
“I do want to talk.”
“Then tell me what you’re hiding.”
Nia looked at Vanessa again. That glance told me I would get only the answer they had agreed on.
I put Ava’s gift bag beside the flowers. I wanted to take it to her myself, but she wasn’t here.
“I’m going to pick Ava up from your mother’s tomorrow, like we arranged,” I said. “I’ll call before I come.”
Nia nodded.
I reached the bedroom door, then turned back.
“I deserved the truth.”
I walked out before either of them could answer.
In the car, I sat with my hands on the steering wheel. I did not know whether my marriage was over. I knew I had to find out what they meant by Ava being gone.
My phone buzzed. It was a message from Ava’s grandmother, Denise.
Ava says you might come to the concert with us. I hope you do.
I wrote back that I would be there.
May you like
Then I called the school’s main number and listened to the recorded message. The office was closed until morning.
I would have to wait through the night.
