After My Miscarriage, My Husband Locked Me Out novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: What He Owes

Hoyt won't explain the money, only that he owes Danielle, and Audrey gives him until Friday to leave; at dawn Daniel's brother Cavan knocks, asking for his nephew.

Hoyt came home at midnight, and I was waiting for him at the kitchen table with the bank statement printed out.

He stopped in the doorway with his car keys still in his hand.

"You're up."

"Sit down."

He sat.

I turned the page around and put my finger on the first row.

"Twenty-four hundred dollars a month," I said. "Two years. That's fifty-seven thousand six hundred dollars."

He looked at the number but not at me.

"I was going to tell you."

"When?"

"When things were calmer."

"Our baby died two days ago," I said. "It's not going to get calmer than this."

He pressed his hands flat on the table.

"Audrey, please don't make me explain it tonight."

"Is she your girlfriend?"

His head came up so fast the chair creaked.

"No. God, no. Is that what you think?"

"I don't know what to think. You gave her my guest room, my bed and my money, and you never told me about any of it. What else would I think?"

"It isn't like that."

"Then tell me what it's like."

He rubbed his face with both hands.

When he spoke, his voice was very low.

"I owe her. You don't know what I owe her."

"You said that at the front door."

"Because it's true."

"Owe her for what? Daniel was your friend. He died. That's terrible, and I helped her when it happened too. I cooked for a month. But you can't owe her my house."

"I can't tell you."

"Then you can't live here."

He stared at me.

"Audrey."

"You have until Friday," I said. "Pack your things and go to a hotel, or a friend's, or wherever you like. You don't have to like it. The lawyer says the court will make you leave anyway, so you can leave on your own, with your dignity."

"I'm your husband."

"You were my husband at nine-oh-one that morning, when you picked out green icing."

He flinched.

"It was just a cake."

"It was my baby's cake."

I hadn't known I was going to say it that way until it was out.

The kitchen clock ticked over the stove.

Hoyt didn't argue.

He stood up very slowly and held on to the back of the chair.

"I'm sorry about the baby," he said. "I know I should have said that first. I'm so sorry."

It was the first time he had said it.

It arrived a day late and in the wrong room.

"Thank you," I said. "Sleep in the guest room. Lock the door if you want."

"Where are Danielle and Otto supposed to go?"

"That's not my question to answer."

He left without another word, and I listened to his steps go up the stairs and turn away from our bedroom.

I did not cry.

I washed the one coffee cup in the sink, dried it, and put it away.

At six I woke on top of the covers with a crick in my neck, and I heard a knock at the front door.

It was a quiet knock, three in a row.

I put on the robe and went down in my socks.

Hoyt's door was shut upstairs.

I looked through the glass.

A man stood on the porch in a canvas jacket, a duffel bag at his feet and a day of travel on his face.

He was tall, tanned, with dark hair gone gray at the temples, and he was looking at the number on the house the way people do when they've written an address down wrong.

I opened the door a few inches and left the chain on.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm sorry. It's early." His voice was rough. "I'm looking for Danielle Ruddock. This is the address she gave me."

"She doesn't live here."

"Her last email said she was staying with Hoyt Pelham. I'm Daniel's brother."

I looked at his face again.

He had the same jaw as the photograph in my hallway.

The one of Daniel at their wedding, holding a beer and laughing.

"You're Cavan," I said.

"Yes."

"Daniel's brother who's overseas."

"I was. I landed four hours ago."

He picked up his bag, then put it down again.

"Is Otto here?"

Behind me, the stairs creaked.

Hoyt stood at the top in yesterday's shirt, and his face went white.

"Cavan," he said.

Cavan looked up at him.

"Hello, Hoyt," he said. "I want to see my nephew. Where is he?"

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