The Liar Next Door by Nicola Marsh

Nine

Frankie

NOW

I love this little nook in our kitchen where we share our family meals. With a small table and three benches covered in comfy cushions surrounding it, tucked into a bay window, it’s cozy. Like many families, we may not have the time to always have sit-down dinners, but I try to make the most of the ones we do. Though tonight, Luna is hyped up on sugar from the three cupcakes she scoffed at the party earlier and barely touches her dinner. It’s her favorite, meatballs and spaghetti, but I let her half-eaten plate slide. I want her in bed and asleep before I chat with Andre.

I’m sure there was nothing between him and Celeste at the party but it’s all I’ve thought about since we left. I need to be careful not to be confrontational because I’m not convinced I saw anything worth asking about. But I can’t subdue my doubts. I’m hoping if I ask Andre a few subtle questions and get confirmation that they don’t know one another, I’ll feel better.

I’m not this person anymore. I shouldn’t be. I know what’s brought it on. It’s my anniversary tomorrow. Not mine and Andre. My anniversary with Walter. I still feel guilty about how I used that man: that good, upstanding, stable man. If Andre has secrets, I have secrets too.

He doesn’t know I call Walter on our anniversary every year.

He doesn’t know we chat like old friends.

He doesn’t know I consider Walter the only man I can truly depend on.

The irony isn’t lost on me. I’m married to a man I love but can never fully trust, while I was once married to a man I didn’t love but trusted completely.

“Mom, will you read to me?”

“Ask your father,” I say, pressing a kiss to the top of Luna’s head, inhaling the fruity fragrance of her strawberry shampoo.

“Okay.” She gives me a quick hug and I squeeze her tight, thankful every day for this beautiful bundle of energy that is my reason for existing.

“I’ll be up later to say goodnight.”

She wriggles out of my arms and bounds upstairs, where I hear Andre watching basketball on cable. He’d been edgy all through dinner and as eager as Luna to escape the table once we’d finished. Because I didn’t want to have our discussion in front of our daughter, I’d let it slide, but his evasive behavior makes me worry more.

I shouldn’t. Luna is growing up. She’ll be starting school soon. And I make more money than my husband. What’s the worst that can happen if I discover he’s cheated on me again? I boot him out the door, give him visitation rights and my life continues.

But it’s not that simple and I know it. I’m not sure what kind of questions are raised during divorce proceedings and I don’t want to tempt fate.

With Walter, there hadn’t been kids involved so dissolving our marriage had been easy. With Andre… I don’t want to think about the secrets that may come to light if my past is delved into…

On impulse, I grab my cell from the counter and slip out the front door. Why wait until tomorrow to call Walter? I need his steadying influence right now.

His number is under Floral Arrangements, a contact that would never raise Andre’s suspicion considering I often discuss flowers and their use in prettying up a room on my channel.

I know what I’m doing is wrong. How would I feel if I discovered Andre kept in touch with an old girlfriend? Or worse, the woman he’d cheated on me with? I’d be livid. But there’s a difference. I have no romantic feelings for Walter whatsoever. He’s my friend, a sounding board, a voice of reason, nothing more.

I stab at his number with my thumb and press the cell to my ear. Walter is a man of routine in all aspects of his life and he always picks up on the fourth ring. Not tonight. His phone rings ten times before I get his voice asking to leave a message.

“Hey, Walt, it’s me. Call me when you get a chance. Bye.”

Disappointed, I hang up and glance at my watch. Walter is so predictable I know he’s in front of the TV at eight every night, watching his favorite quiz show. I grew to depend on his routines, until it drove me nuts in the end. Not picking up is so out of character I’m worried for a moment, before realizing there could be any number of reasons why he’s not answering and I let myself back into the house.

I’ve got more important things to worry about than my ex-husband, like subduing my suspicions and stop imagining things that aren’t there.