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Men!Chloe thought, wondering if Noah was sorry. Would Matt be sorry when she lefthim?Ifshe left him, she corrected with her next breath. There could still be an explanation, something that would persuade her to ignore the evidence of her own eyes once again.
Her cellphone rang, interrupting her reveries. She was hunched over her kitchen table, drinking her third cup of coffee and scrolling through Perfect Strangers and Match Sticks on her laptop. The kids were asleep. The laundry was almost done, the stuffies returned to their near-normal fluffiness. It was almost ten thirty. Matt still wasn’t home.
Chloe glanced at the caller ID before answering. “He’s not home yet,” she said instead of hello.
“How are you doing?” asked Paige.
“Not great. I’m sorry I didn’t call you. I know I said I would.”
“It’s okay. I was out anyway. I was just worried.”
“Don’t be.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Like what?” Chloe asked.
“I don’t know. Slap Matt around a bit? Go all Solange in the elevator with Jay-Z.”
Chloe laughed through her tears. “We don’t have an elevator.” Besides, “going all Solange” was more Matt’s style than hers.
Not that she could ever admit that to Paige. It was too humiliating.
“Look,” Paige said. “It’s late. Why don’t you go to bed? You don’t have to do anything tonight. You can sleep on it.”
“You wouldn’t sleep on it, and you know it.”
“No, but…you have to do what’s right foryou.Not whatIwould do. Or whatIthink you should do. It’s whatyouthink that counts.”
“What’s to think about? My husband is a liar and a cheat,” Chloe said, her voice gaining vehemence with each word. “He’s on multiple dating sites, for God’s sake. Who knows what kind of STDs he’s exposing himself to, exposingmeto. How can I stay with someone like that? Someone who shows so little respect for our marriage. For me. How can I have any respect for myself if I do?”
“Respect”—that word again.
There was a moment’s silence. Chloe knew what Paige was thinking because she was thinking the same thing: Because you’ve stayed before. Because you always do.
This time was different, she realized. This time he’d gone too far.
Chloe heard the key turn in the front door lock. “He’s home,” she whispered into the phone.
“Call if you need me.”
