Chapter 5
Our anniversary had been four months earlier.
Daniel told me he needed to drive his father to an appointment two towns over. His father had died the following month. I had spent the anniversary evening with Mom’s old recipe book open on the kitchen table, planning dinner for when Daniel got home.
I wanted the anonymous message to be a lie.
I called Daniel.
“Where were you on our anniversary?”
“With Dad.”
“Who sent me a message saying I should ask?”
“I don’t know.”
“Were you with Megan?”
“No.”
He sounded certain. I wanted proof.
“Your father can’t answer me now.”
“I know. Call my sister. She drove back with us.”
I called his sister, Erin. She remembered the appointment, the long wait, and stopping for sandwiches on the way home. She also remembered Daniel calling me from the car.
“He was with us,” she said. “What’s going on?”
I told her enough.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I can tell you about that day. I can’t explain everything else.”
“That’s all I needed.”
The message had been designed to make me doubt one more memory.
I showed it to my counselor that afternoon.
“I checked it,” I said. “Now I feel foolish for believing it could be true.”
“You didn’t believe it. You investigated it.”
“I don’t want to investigate every day of my marriage.”
“Then you can decide what information you need to make your choice, and what questions no longer deserve your time.”
I sat with that.
I needed to know what happened between Daniel and Megan. I did not need to let an unknown person direct me through my calendar.
Ryan called that evening. Megan’s appointment confirmed she was pregnant. He did not know who the father was.
“She says it has to be Daniel’s,” he told me.
“Do you believe her?”
“We were together around that time too.”
I closed my eyes.
“I’m sorry she put you in this position.”
“Same to you.”
We agreed not to trade theories. When testing could establish the truth, they would arrange it.
The next day, Megan posted a message online saying she had been “publicly shamed during a private health crisis.” She named no one, but people who attended the dinner knew who she meant.
I turned off notifications.
Lena came to the bookstore with lunch.
“You don’t need to answer the internet,” she said.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“She’s told three different people three different versions of the dinner.”
“What are they?”
Lena counted on her fingers.
“That she slipped. That Daniel pulled her onto his lap. And that she sat there to prove you don’t trust him.”
I laughed once, without humor.
“She can’t explain the joke either.”
Lena looked at the shelves.
“I miss when we all sat together here after closing.”
“So do I.”
That was the part people outside the friendship might not understand. I could be furious with Megan and still miss the woman I called when a customer made me cry. I missed a person who might not have existed exactly as I remembered.
At home, I checked the unknown number. It was not saved in my contacts. I sent one reply.
Who is this?
No answer came.
A few hours later, Erin called.
“Megan contacted me,” she said. “She asked whether I’d confirm Daniel was away on your anniversary.”
“Why would she ask you?”
“She said someone was spreading lies about her. I told her I would only answer questions from you or Daniel.”
“Thank you.”
“Claire, I know he’s my brother. I’m not going to ask you to forgive him because he’s hurting.”
I sat down.
“Is he?”
“Yes. He should be. He hurt you.”
I could hear the love she had for him and the honesty she was offering me. Both mattered.
Before bed, Daniel sent a message asking whether I would meet him with a counselor present. I agreed to one session.
May you like
Then the anonymous number wrote back.
I’m someone Megan told to keep you busy with the anniversary story. She doesn’t want you asking about the hotel receipt Ryan found.
