The Anniversary Dinner He Gave to Her novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: The Flat Upstairs

All Sunday night I heard Cora's whisper in the motel dark: ask Neil where he goes on Thursdays.

He had said "late meeting" every Thursday since June, and I had never once asked.

Thursday was three days off, and I decided I would not ask him at all.

I would go and see.

I found his card on Monday night, in the pocket of the coat he had carried to the elevator.

It was thick, cream-colored, and printed with one line: Hugh Ansell, Aurelle.

On the back he had written in black pen: "Your ring is in my safe. There's a flat above the kitchen if you need one. No catch."

I had spent three nights in a motel that smelled like wet carpet.

So on Tuesday at five o'clock I rode the elevator to the top floor.

The dining room was empty, set for the evening, with the lake going orange behind the glass.

Hugh stood at the bar with his sleeves rolled to the elbow, cutting limes.

He didn't look surprised.

"You came," he said.

"You said no catch."

"I did."

"People who say that usually have one."

"Then you'll have to find it."

He wiped his hands on a towel and went through a door behind the bar.

He came back with a small envelope and put it on the wood between us.

Inside was my wedding band.

"The busboy fished it out of the champagne," he said. "I thought you might want to decide what to do with it, rather than your husband."

I turned the ring over in my fingers.

It was lighter than I remembered.

"I might sell it," I said.

"It's probably worth about four hundred dollars."

"Then I'll sell it for four hundred dollars."

"I'd bargain," he said. "They always lowball people on a Tuesday."

I laughed.

I hadn't expected to, and the sound surprised both of us.

He showed me the flat after that.

It was up a back staircase behind the kitchen, one room with a slanted ceiling, a kitchenette, a window over the lake and a double bed that had been made with hospital corners.

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