Chương 7
My wallet and car keys were inside.
“Please let me say something.”
I punched in the code.
My first attempt failed because I used the last four digits of Daniel’s phone number without thinking.
I stared at the red light.
Then I tried again with my mother’s birthday.
The safe clicked open.
Susan said my name once more.
I took out my wallet.
“What?”
“I didn’t know about the money.”
“I believe you.”
She blinked.
The answer clearly surprised her.
“I didn’t know about the apartment either.”
“I believe that too.”
Her face tightened.
“That doesn’t mean I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“No.”
She looked down.
“I kept telling myself it was Daniel’s responsibility.”
I put my wallet into the tote.
“It was.”
“And I used that as an excuse.”
I stopped.
Susan’s voice had lost the polished control she usually carried through everything from Thanksgiving dinners to family emergencies.
She sat on the edge of the makeup chair.
“When Claire told us she was pregnant, I was furious with him.”
My mother looked up sharply.
Susan continued anyway.
“I told him he had one week to tell you.”
I laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Four years is a long week.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He said you had just started a new job.”
I stared at her.
“He said you were overwhelmed, that you had finally gotten settled, and that telling you then would ruin everything.”
“So you agreed.”
“Not at first.”
She rubbed her palms over her knees.
“He kept saying he would do it when things were calmer.”
My mother zipped the tote.
“There is always something.”
Susan looked at her.
“I know.”
“No, you know now.”
The words were not loud.
They were worse because my mother sounded tired.
Susan’s eyes filled.
“You’re right.”
I picked up the tote.
“Was Evelyn the only one who kept pushing?”
Susan nodded.
“At first.”
“What changed?”
“Daniel stopped bringing you around as much.”
That landed somewhere I hadn’t expected.
“What?”
Susan looked immediately sorry she had said it.
I thought of family dinners that had become less frequent after our first year together.
Daniel had blamed schedules.
Then he had started visiting Susan alone because, according to him, she needed help with things around the house.
“How often was Lily there?”
Susan closed her eyes.
“Sometimes.”
My fingers tightened around the tote handle.
“Did I ever almost meet her?”
“Yes.”
The room tilted.
“When?”
“Last Christmas.”
I stared at her.
“No.”
Susan’s mouth trembled.
“You were supposed to come for brunch.”
A memory surfaced immediately.
Daniel had woken that morning with a headache.
He told me his mother had called to say she wasn’t feeling well either.
We stayed home.
I made pancakes.
He burned the first batch because he was answering messages.
We watched an old movie on the couch.
At noon, he said he needed to take Susan some soup.
He was gone three hours.
“Lily was there.”
Susan nodded.
I set the tote down because my hand had started shaking again.
My mother stepped closer.
“Emily.”
I raised one finger.
“Please.”
She stopped.
I looked at Susan.
“What did he tell you that morning?”
“That you had food poisoning.”
My mother muttered something under her breath.
I sat down.
There was no graceful way to do it in the dress.
Fabric bunched around my legs.
The mirror in front of me showed a bride with carefully curled hair and a face I barely recognized.
I had paid a woman two hundred dollars to make me look luminous.
The result now seemed cruel.
“Did Lily know about me?”
Susan hesitated.
“That’s not a hard question.”
“She knew Daniel had a girlfriend.”
“Did she know my name?”
“Yes.”
That hurt more than I expected.
A four-year-old knew my name while I had not known hers.
“What did he tell her about me?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ever ask?”
“No.”
I nodded slowly.
Susan started crying then.
Not beautifully.
Her face folded.
She pressed both hands over her mouth and looked down at the floor.
“I kept thinking he would fix it.”
I stared at her reflection.
“That was your mistake.”
She looked up.
“I know.”
“No.”
My voice was flatter than I intended.
“Your mistake was thinking this was something he could fix without me.”
She went still.
I picked up my bag again.
The door opened.
Daniel stood there.
My mother moved immediately between us.
He stopped.
“I need to talk to Emily.”
“No,” my mother said.
“Please.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
His tie was crooked now.
The boutonniere had come loose on one side.
He still had my ring in his left hand.
“What?”
He looked at my mother.
“Alone.”
“No.”
“Emily, please.”
“Say it here.”
He swallowed.
“I transferred some money back.”
I stared at him.
“How much?”
“Five thousand.”
“Why only five?”
“Because the rest isn’t liquid.”
My father appeared behind him.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel looked irritated.
“It means some of it has already been paid out.”
“To whom?” I asked.
“The attorney, the landlord, filing fees.”
Claire’s voice came from the hallway.
“And the investigator.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
I looked past him.
Claire was standing beside Evelyn.
“What investigator?”
Daniel turned.
“Claire.”
She walked closer.
“You paid somebody to follow me.”
Susan looked horrified.
“What?”
Claire’s hands were trembling, but her voice was steadier than before.
“I found out because he attached photographs to the custody filing.”
I looked at Daniel.
“You hired a private investigator with money from our account?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
I laughed.
There was that sentence again.
“What was it like?”
“He documented things.”
“What things?”
Claire answered.
“My apartment.”
Daniel snapped, “That is not all he documented.”
“Then tell her.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
Claire folded her arms.
“Tell her what your big evidence is.”
He looked at me.
“Claire leaves Lily with her sister overnight.”
Claire laughed in disbelief.
May you like
“Because I work evening shifts twice a week.”
“She’s also had men at the apartment.”
