Chapter 2
Daniel did not answer immediately.
Lena folded her arms against the cold. Behind the window, someone carried out Lena’s birthday cake. No one at our end of the table looked ready to celebrate.
“Daniel,” I said. “What did you promise Megan?”
He glanced at Lena.
“She doesn’t need to stand here for this.”
“I’ll go if Claire wants me to,” Lena said.
“I want you to stay,” I told her.
Daniel looked at the pavement.
“Megan helped me with a business decision.”
“What decision?”
“I put money into her photography studio.”
I stared at him.
Megan had talked about opening a studio for years. She had told me last month that an investor had finally given her a chance.
“How much?”
“Fifteen thousand.”
I thought of our joint savings account. We had been putting money aside to repair the bakery roof before winter.
“From where?”
He said nothing.
Lena’s eyes moved between us.
“From our roof fund?” I asked.
“I was going to replace it before you knew.”
The same words seemed to echo from two different directions. Megan had treated my husband like a private joke. Now my husband was telling me he had treated our savings like his own secret.
“The roof is leaking,” I said.
“I know.”
“Did you give her money or lend it to her?”
“It’s a short-term loan.”
“Where’s the agreement?”
“At home.”
I had never seen one.
Lena touched my shoulder.
“I’m sorry. I only heard what she said. I didn’t know what it meant.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
She went back inside after asking if I wanted her to call a cab. I said I might.
Daniel moved closer.
“I should have told you.”
“You should have asked me before taking it.”
“I believed in the studio. She said she could pay us back by December.”
“It’s November.”
“She still can.”
“Is that why she sat on your lap? Because you hadn’t told me about the money?”
“I think she was angry I kept putting it off.”
“You think?”
He reached for my hand again.
I stepped away.
“Are you sleeping with her?”
“No.”
“Have you ever kissed her?”
“No.”
He answered fast. I wanted to believe him, but I had believed I knew what was in our account.
“Show me the messages between you.”
His face tightened.
“They’re private.”
“So were our savings.”
I watched him struggle with that. He pulled out his phone, opened the conversation, and gave it to me.
At first I saw messages about rent, cameras, and paint for the studio.
Then the tone changed.
Megan: You can tell me things you can’t tell Claire.
Daniel: She worries about every dollar. I don’t want another fight.
Megan: I would never make you feel small for trying to help someone.
I kept reading.
Two nights earlier, after I fell asleep beside him, he had written to Megan that he felt more understood by her than by anyone at home.
I handed back the phone.
“You told her about our marriage.”
“I was stressed.”
“You told my best friend that I make you feel small.”
“I shouldn’t have said it that way.”
“Do you mean it?”
He looked at me.
“Sometimes I feel like every decision I make gets questioned.”
“That’s something you say to me, Daniel.”
“I know.”
The door opened again. Megan came outside with her purse. Ryan followed a few steps behind.
“Are you going to stand here all night?” she asked.
I faced her.
“You accepted fifteen thousand dollars from our savings.”
Daniel said, “Claire—”
Megan lifted her chin.
“He wanted to help. That’s between us.”
“No. It came from an account with my name on it.”
“It’s a loan.”
“Then show me the signed agreement.”
She looked at Daniel.
He said, “I have it.”
“Good,” I said. “I want to see it tonight.”
Ryan had stopped near the door.
“You told me the money came from your aunt,” he said to Megan.
She turned sharply.
“I said I had an investor.”
“You said your aunt.”
“That isn’t important.”
Ryan looked at me, and I saw the same shock I felt.
Megan tried to take his arm.
“Let’s go.”
He stepped away.
“You lied to me too.”
For the first time all evening, she had nothing ready to say.
I called a cab.
Daniel asked if he could come with me. I told him I needed to ride alone.
As the car pulled away, I saw him standing beneath the awning while Megan argued with Ryan.
At home, I went straight to the desk where we kept our financial papers. The loan agreement lay inside an unmarked folder.
I turned to the last page.
May you like
Beside Daniel’s signature was mine.
I had never signed it.
