“What’s going on?”
“I’m gonna figure it out,” I said, looking up. “Tonight.”
Owen nodded as if he believed me. I wasn’t sure I did.
Penny wandered in from the living room in her pajama top and mismatched socks.
“Daddy, are you and Mommy breaking up?”
That was it. That was the sentence that broke me.
I sent them upstairs to brush their teeth and waited until I heard water running.
“I’m gonna figure it out.”
Something had obviously happened to Claire, and I wanted to help. I couldn’t stand watching my wife suffer. She’d even stopped spending time with the kids.
Later that night, I sat on the porch with my phone in my hand and scrolled to Megan’s name. My thumb hovered. Then, I heard a sound inside, so I went back in.
I checked on Penny, asleep with the hall light on. I checked on Owen; his headphones were still in.
My wife was nowhere to be seen.
I couldn’t stand watching my wife suffer.
Then I walked out to the garage and closed the door behind me.
I pulled up Megan’s number again and stared at it for a long minute. Claire and I didn’t do things behind each other’s backs. That wasn’t us. But whatever “us” was supposed to mean had been sleeping in the guest room for a week.
I knew my wife would be furious if she found out, but I didn’t care anymore.
I’m not particularly close with Claire’s sisters, but it couldn’t be helped.
I hit call.
I pulled up Megan’s number again.
Megan, Claire’s older sister, picked up on the third ring. Her voice was too bright for what I wanted to discuss.
“Hey, Paul, what’s up?”
“Something happened on your trip.”
The brightness dropped out of her voice like a stone. “What?”
“Claire came home from the spa, and she hasn’t been my wife since. She won’t eat. She won’t talk. She’s sleeping in the guest room. She’s hiding her phone from me like I’m a stranger.” I leaned my forearms on the workbench. “Megan. Please. What happened at the spa?”
Her voice was too bright.
There was a long pause. I could hear her breathing.
“Uh, Claire didn’t tell you anything?”
“She keeps saying it’s work stress. It’s not work stress. I know my wife.”
“Paul.”
“Megan. My kids are asking me why their mom is sad, and I don’t know what to say to them. Owen thinks he did something.”
