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Chapter Thirty-Five
Elisa held it together for the rest of the day. Josh lingered, hanging out and playing with Nathan until Harris came home. Instead of staying for dinner, Josh excused himself, saying he had a date with Rachel. But Elisa knew the subject of the conversation when Josh asked Harris to walk him out to the car and they stood in the driveway talking for almost twenty minutes—her.
Josh’s plotting, laying the groundwork for whatever he planned to do to her, had switched to full speed. He no longer dropped subtle hints. He’d moved to full-scale warfare.
The ongoing emotional battle made her sick. She’d been dizzy and nauseated for days. It took her longer than usual to crawl out of bed. She couldn’t focus. At almost all times she felt two seconds away from blowing apart or crashing to the floor.
Her former therapist had explained how depression could manifest with physical issues. Sometimes headaches and flu-like symptoms were really Elisa’s body’s way of begging her to stay down. The first step to shutting off completely.
Not today.
Plastering a fake smile on her face and marching through her usual day was not helping, but she couldn’t let Harris see the reality. That would play right into Josh’s evil hands. So, she stood there, washing dishes and humming. Pretending she was fine. Her life was fine. Her marriage was fine.
It was all bullshit.
“Do you need help?” Harris asked as he walked back into the kitchen after playing with Nathan and getting him started on his nighttime routine.
“I’m good.”
He leaned against the counter, facing her. Sleeves rolled up. Concerned expression firmly in place. Soft voice. “Are you?”
She stopped splashing around in the soapy water. “I assume you’re asking me that for a specific reason.”
“The school called again.”
No hint of emotion in his voice. She knew because she strained to listen for it.
“Do they have a new tattle policy where they pit parents against each other?” She dried her hands and waited for whatever came next.
“So, something did happen at school?” Harris had switched into Dad Mode. Active listening, or whatever it was called. “Something with Nathan’s pickup, maybe?”
She hated when he looked at her with pity. Themy wife is not okaystare made her want to throw things. “It went fine.”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you using some sort of semantic loophole to answer me? Because it’s not like you to lie.”
She spoke the truth, but it was clear he’d lost the ability torecognize it. She blamed Josh for that, too. “I was at the school on time but your brother had already picked Nathan up.”
“Why?”
That was the exact voice Harris used with Nathan. The one aimed at helping Nathan learn a lesson and understand the importance of being honest and taking responsibility for his actions. The fact Harris used it on her right now pushed out her headache and filled the open space with fury. “Ask your brother.”
“He already told me you texted and asked him to step in.”
This whole thing felt like high school to her. Everyone ran around behind her back, scurrying here and there, talking about her. Whispering. Pretending to be concerned.
She. Was. Fine.
She swallowed back the rage and internal screaming and delivered her answer in a clear,not losing itvoice. “I didn’t ask for his help.”
“I saw the text, Elisa.”
She couldn’t stand there and take it. Not one more second. She needed to move, to burn off some of the excess energy raging through her. The pantry. She walked over to it, trying to think of ways to busy her hands and her mind so she could survive this conversation. “I didn’t send him a text.”
“Elisa, come on.”
She heard him say her name but all she could see was the medicine bottle. The pain pills again. The same bottle Harris took the last time it suddenly appeared in the kitchen and she hadn’t seen since. It sat on the pantry shelf, next to thebin with Nathan’s snacks. Breakfast bars and medicine. The worst mix possible.
How the hell did that get in there? When...?
