The Mistress in the Room novel · Chapter 10 of 24

Chapter 10: Half the Pension

Douglas was on my kitchen floor with his back against the dishwasher and his tie pulled down.

He had been crying for a while.

His eyes were swollen, and his hair stood up where he'd run his hands through it.

Seth stood in the hallway with his arms folded, and Hannah hovered behind him with her phone in her fist.

"Fran," Douglas said, and held out both hands.

I did not take them.

"Get up."

"I can't. My knees."

"Then stay there."

I set my purse on the island and stood in front of him.

Evan came in behind me, ducking under the door frame, and stopped just inside the hall.

Douglas saw him.

His whole face changed, and for a second I saw the man who had stood in a church aisle and told a lie so well that I'd believed it for eleven years.

"What is he doing here?"

"He drove me."

"He's a thief."

"He's your brother, and he is not a thief," I said. "You are the thief. I've seen the thread on your second phone."

The color went out of Douglas's face.

"What phone?"

"The one you left at Lydia's."

"That's mine. You don't have a right to that."

"I have every right. It's in my name. I pay the bill."

He stared at me.

I had not known that until I said it, and I watched him realize it was true.

"Fran, I can explain. I was scared. I was going to leave her."

"You told her you would. You told her for six years."

"I was going to!"

"You wrote that she'd take the blame if it blew up," I said. "You wrote that I'd believe you, because I always do."

"That was a joke."

"Then say it again, here, to our daughter."

He looked at Hannah.

Hannah's mouth was a flat line.

"Dad."

"Sweetheart, your mother's upset. People say things when they're upset."

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