“Well, look who it is,” I said.
Jeremy jolted back. “Jesus, Erin. What the fuck?”
I stared at him in disbelief. “You didn’t pick up Til from playgroup!”
He dumped his leather briefcase by the door. “It’s not like that uptight bitch would have left Matilda there on her own.”
“Jeremy! You can’t call the playgroup teacher a…a…”
“Have you met the woman?”
“She has her own life. And Til has a father. Where were you?”
His keys slid along the hall table after his careless toss missed the bowl. “I had something on.” He stalked past me.
“You had something on?” The memory of Matilda’s disappointment pitched up my voice, no matter how much I tried to stay calm. “What the hell is more important than picking up your daughter, Jeremy?”
“Something.”
Another round of Guess the Problem, was it? “You can’t be serious right now!”
“You said no details, remember?”
I reeled backward as if he’d punched me. “No… no…” I shook my head. This couldn’t be happening. “No…details?”
He flashed an annoyed look over his shoulder but didn’t respond as he shrugged off his suit jacket. Unfamiliar perfume burned my nostrils.
“We only talked about that a couple of nights ago,” I said. “And Ineveragreed to it! I joined the gym tonight. I’m trying! I didn’t expect you to…to…” I pressed my fist into my chest. I couldn’t breathe. “Jeremy, that’s…” The room spun around me. My hand flailed for the banister.
“I don’t have the energy for all your emotional shit tonight, okay? I put a roof over your head by listening to other people’s problems all fucking day. I shouldn’t have to put up with it when I get home, too.”
“But I’m… I’m yourwife.”
“Look, I don’t want to do this right now. Tallulah rode my dick for fucking hours. I just want to take a shower and go to bed.”
Tallulah. “Who the hell isTallulah?”
Jeremy pounded up the stairs.
“Who is she?”
Gone. Just like that. No answer.
I forced down a deep breath, the air struggling to reach my lungs. My legs were too wobbly to stay standing. I sank to the bottom step, fumbled in my pocket, and with shaky fingers, pulled out my phone. Callan would answer. I could rely on him.
“Ez?”
“C-Cal… Oh God… He…”
My words caught on jagged breaths. I couldn’t breathe. Family photos lining the wall above the stairs swam in a stream of muddled colors. I slumped against the banister. I should havefought harder for counseling. If I’d signed up for the gym when Jeremy had dropped the hint weeks ago instead of in a panicked frenzy when I was so stressed I hadn’t been able to remember my middle name, wouldTallulahhave been his choice tonight?
Yes.
I knew the answer was yes.
When did Jeremy fall out of love with me? When Matilda was born? Before that? Had he ever really loved me, or was it just the thrill of walking out of the bar with me the night we’d met instead of it being one of his friends? He’d found it so easy to throw away our marriage…
Callan filled the silence. “Your man was out exploring his options?”
