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As the kitchen floor dried, Maya pulled up Phoebe’s number and tried her. Phoebe lived in Philadelphia with her husband, Henry, but Maya and Phoebe spoke on the phone almost every day. Like the supportive and loving daughter she was, Phoebe answered on the second ring.
“Mom! You’ll never guess what I’m doing.”
Maya’s heart lifted at the sound of her voice. “You’re right. I won’t.”
Phoebe laughed. “Henry and I are apartment hunting.”
Maya stuttered with surprise. “Oh! I thought you loved your apartment.”
“Yes,” Phoebe said, “but we need something bigger, you know.”
Maya’s cheeks ached from smiling. If Phoebe and Henry wanted something bigger, it meant they planned to add to their family. “I won’t keep you,” Maya assured her. “Happy apartment hunting.”
“I’ll call you later! Love you, Mom.”
Just as Maya hung up the phone, the front door of the apartment screamed open, and Nick bolted through. His face was blotchy, and his hair was a wild black bush behind him. Sometimes, when Maya saw him like this, she was intimidated by the fire in him; sometimes, she hardly recognized him as the man she loved and slept next to every night.
“Hi?” Maya felt tentative. Nick was home early, which probably wasn’t a good thing. Maybe something had gone wrong at the restaurant.
Nick’s eyes were poisonous green. He stared at her and then turned his gaze to the kitchen floor. “You mopped again?”
Maya shivered with fear. There was nothing she liked less than when Nick stormed back home after a bad shift at the restaurant. It took him nearly twenty-four hours to become himself again. Maybe she could tell him about the Victorian mansion and her surprise aunt tomorrow. Or the next day.
Maya hurried to pour Nick a glass of water. He took it but didn’t drink it.
“Are you okay?” Maya asked softly.
Nick’s eyes bugged out. She knew it was the wrong question to ask; he was obviously not okay. But she couldn’t think of any other way to start this conversation.
“I’ll leave you alone,” Maya said, making a beeline for her writing office. She could hole up there for the evening and watch a movie. She could skip dinner.
“No.” Nick’s voice was authoritative. “I need to talk to you.”
Maya’s cheek twitched. She stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest. The letter from Hollygrove was now the furthest thing from her mind. “Okay?”
Nick palmed the back of his neck. “I don’t know how to say this.”
Maya felt on the verge of throwing up. It wasn’t like Nick not to know what to say. He was often the most garrulous person at a party, the one quickest with a joke or an anecdote.
“Did something happen at work?” Maya asked, wanting to guide the conversation in another direction. She’d begun to see the life she and Nick had shared flash before her eyes. When she’d met him, she’d thought her romantic life was about to skyrocket; Nick had swept her off her feet. He’d reminded her of the beauty of the unknown world.
And now, he hit her with the horrific truth.
“I met someone,” Nick said softly.
Maya’s knees felt like Jell-O. She thought she was going to crumple to the ground. Miraculously, she remained upright, her dignity mostly intact, at least for now. She stared at him, alternating between shock and, admittedly, a lack of surprise. Nick was an attractive, remarkably successful chef in Manhattan. Women admired him left and right. Frequently, they’d asked Maya if she ever feared he would leave her for someone younger, beautiful, or more successful. She’d always said what you were supposed to say— that they loved each other. That they respected and trusted each other.
That was obviously not true. Not on his end, anyway.
“It just happened,” Nick sputtered.
Maya remained speechless. If she really forced herself to, she could probably narrow down the list of names and figure out who it was. Nick spoke about women at work all the time. One of his sous chefs was twenty-five and very bouncy and beautiful. Maya had once looked the other way when Nick had hugged a pretty waitress for a little too long. She’d tried to reason it with thinking that he just needed to support his staff members. He had to show them how much he cared. She’d been a fool.
Finally, Maya forced herself to say: “And you’re sure?”
Nick frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You’re sure you want to blow up our life for this other person?” Maya was surprised at how confident she sounded.
