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Was that what she wanted, though?
Pushing her body off the couch, she decided she’d do what she normally would do for Tony when he arrived home after a game. Many nights, he’d choose to get a hotel room and come home in the morning. Were those nights when he had been with Janine? All questions she’d expect to get answers to.
But first, she’d fix him a meal. He liked certain things at certain times of the day, and a later meal after a game was usually soup and a sandwich. In her new, lavish kitchen, she got out an array of cold cuts and a fresh roll and prepared it the way he liked, with onion and mayo. For soup, she opened the freezer and got out his favorite, bean with ham.
A bottle of beer poured into a tall glass once he came through the door and the night would proceed like any other. Only she’d have the weight of Janine’s call.
Next on the agenda, how to handle that? Would she keep the call a secret until later? Let them get a good night’s sleep, and then tomorrow, when she’d had time to think about it, inform him then?
Or should she confront him right away so he couldn’t lie anymore?
Holding back the information gave Kasandra a feeling of control that she needed. She couldn’t control Tony, but she could control herself. Janine might have called him to tell him she’d blabbed to Kassandra. And if that had happened, he’d probably be contrite as soon as he walked through the door.
Checking the time, she saw he’d arrive home in ten minutes, so she quickly freshened up. Then she turned her phone on. He’d tried calling several times, and then left a voicemail.
“Howdy. I’m leaving now but will be home by ten. Miss you!”
She stared at the dark water, just enough light from the moon illuminating the surf. The snow had mostly melted on their stretch of the beach. Tony’s lie had enough oomph to soil the happiness that living on the water for the past week had given her. All the fortunate occurrences of leaving the job, the house and move, the pregnancy, were no longer enough to float her along on cloud nine.
The first wave of anger surfaced. But anger was dangerous because she didn’t want that to be the catalyst to her actions.
She heard the garage door opening. It wasn’t a familiar sound yet, more of a rumble than the squeak their old door had made.
She went to the kitchen to wait, and in a minute, Tony walked through the mudroom door. No contrition on his face, so she guessed Janine hadn’t revealed her nasty call.
“Hey, momma,” he said. “How do you feel?”
Tony reached for her to embrace, and they stood together, holding each other for a moment.
“Oh, about the same. Maybe a little tired. I waited up for you, but once you have your sandwich, I think I’ll go to bed.”
“You don’t have to wait,” he said, kissing her. “I’m exhausted. I’ll be in as soon as I eat. Thank you for the sandwich.”
“Okay, I’ll say goodnight, then,” she replied, trying to act normal, a little fire of hatred burning in her belly.
They kissed again, and Kassandra left the kitchen. The walk through the living room to the bedroom bugged her, as usual. Figuring out how to build some kind of hallway would be a good preoccupation.
Showering and getting into pajamas tired her out enough that once her head hit the pillow, she fell fast asleep.
As soon as Kassandra was out of sight, Tony reached for his phone. Janine had sent him a flurry of messages, her anger growing exponentially once he’d left. Finally, he’d shut it off. Helistened to her voice message after taking a bite of sandwich, and the food turned to sawdust in his mouth.
“Not answering my calls anymore was your first mistake. I got revenge, you asshole! I called Kassandra and told her everything. I’m sure your homecoming is going to suck.”
Looking around the kitchen, and then at the sandwich, he saw no sign that Kassandra had talked to Janine. Not that he knew what to look for. They didn’t have that kind of relationship where every thought and feeling was exposed. She hadn’t given him a hint that there was anything wrong.
After cleaning up the uneaten meal, he went back to the master bedroom and peeked in the door. She was softly snoring. He tiptoed to the closet and grabbed sweatpants. Tonight he’d sleep in one of the furnished guest rooms his father had set up, and if she asked why, he’d ’fess up. Or maybe not. He’d just say he hadn’t wanted to disturb her.
In bed, he got out his phone again and blocked Janine. Then he thought of Kassandra’s phone. She always kept it in her purse by the door in case she got called out. Would she have still done that with her schedule change? He crept out of bed and went to the front door, and there it was. Taking out her phone, he saw the one call from Janine and blocked her, then replaced the phone in Kassandra’s purse.
Saturday morning, the smell of coffee woke him. Kassandra had admitted coffee was the one thing that bothered her so far in the pregnancy, yet she still made it for him. He got out of bed and snuck out into the hallway. He heard her voice, musical and upbeat. The listener was probably her father in Michigan, receiving his weekly well-being call. He was certain her family didn’t know about the baby yet.
Tony quickly showered and dressed, not wanting there to be anything else besides the obvious to annoy Kassandra, and his hygiene had been a topic in the past. Lingering in the bedroom,he could still hear her talking, so he sat on the edge of the bed and looked at his phone until the conversation ceased. Taking a deep breath, he quietly approached the bright kitchen, the light from the beach flooding the room despite the cloudy sky.
At the counter, Kassandra sat with her computer and a drink.
“You’re awake,” he said inanely.
“I’m awake. Why’d you sleep in the guest room?” she asked.
