She Sent Me Nudes of My Husband novel · Chapter 2 of 24

Chapter 2: The Lobby

Leah lays the photo on the mistress's desk in front of his whole staff, sets her terms for the party, and is summoned by Adele.

I did not answer her.

I drove home with the windows down and let the cold air do what it wanted.

Lukas's car pulled into the driveway at ten past six.

I was at the kitchen counter in my coat, making coffee.

"Deal went late, Lee," he said, and kissed the top of my head. "Happy anniversary. I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you."

He smelled like hotel soap.

He went upstairs to shower, and he left his ring on the edge of the bathroom sink.

I picked it up.

The nick in the rim was right where I remembered it.

I set it back down exactly as I'd found it and went to get ready for work.

I went to work on Monday and cleaned teeth and said nothing to anyone.

On Tuesday morning the first cards reached the mailboxes of Marlow.

At nine o'clock I walked into the lobby of Halvorsen Homes with a glossy invitation cover in my hand.

I had printed one extra at the shop, and I had not told him I'd printed any.

The receptionist said, "Good morning, Mrs. Halvorsen," and then she saw my face and stopped talking.

Twelve people sat at the desks along the glass wall.

Delaney's desk was outside Lukas's office, under the big aerial photo of Orchard Ridge.

She was wearing a green wrap dress, and she was smiling at her screen.

I crossed the whole lobby, and the typing stopped one desk at a time.

I laid the cover face up on her keyboard.

"I think you dropped this," I said.

Delaney looked down at the picture. Then she looked up at me.

She did not blush.

"Good morning, Leah."

"Did you sleep well?"

"I slept fine." Her eyes went to the glass wall of his office. "I didn't think you'd come in. I thought you'd call him."

"I thought about it."

"And?"

"And I thought this was kinder. Everyone here can see I'm not crying."

Somebody at the far desk made a small sound and pretended to cough.

Lukas's door opened.

He stood there in a fresh shirt with his hair still wet.

He looked at the cover on her keyboard, and then at me, and then at the twelve people watching him.

Behind him, on his desk, his phone began to buzz, and it did not stop.

"Leah." His voice went low and smooth. "Honey. Let's go in my office."

"No."

"Please."

"You can say it here. You say everything here."

His jaw worked.

Then he turned to the room and put on his big, calm, reasonable smile.

"I'm sorry, everybody. My wife hasn't been well. She's been under a lot of strain, and I think she's confused about what she's seeing."

He held out his hand to me like a doctor.

"Delaney has been sending me work photos at all hours for months. I told her to stop. I can see now it was a mistake."

I had been married to him seven years, and this was the first time I understood how good he was at it.

"Work photos," I said.

"Security can walk you out if you'd like to rest."

Delaney pushed her chair back.

"Lukas."

He didn't look at her.

"Lukas, say it. You promised. You told me last night you'd tell her tonight."

The lobby went silent.

I watched her say it, and I watched his face.

She meant it.

She had heard that promise as a gift, and she'd come in this morning wearing green because of it.

"She's confused too," Lukas said quickly. "Delaney, go home."

"I'm not going home."

"Then sit down."

"Lukas."

"Sit down."

She sat.

I picked the invitation cover up off her keyboard and folded it once down the middle.

"Here is what's happening," I said. "My party is still on."

"Leah..."

"Saturday, the seventh, black tie. You will stand next to me, and you will smile."

"Honey, you can't be serious."

"If you aren't there, I mail a second photo."

His face changed.

"To who?"

"To the three hundred and forty families in Orchard Ridge," I said. "I addressed every one of their Christmas cards for you last year. I still have the list."

Nobody moved.

Lukas looked at the two women, and then at his staff, and I saw him count what each of us could cost him.

"Fine," he said. "Saturday."

"Say it again, so they hear it."

"I'll be there, Leah. I'll stand next to you."

Delaney laughed.

It was a short, sharp laugh, and every head in the room turned.

"He isn't doing this for you," she told me. "Don't flatter yourself."

I looked at her for a moment.

"Then I hope he explains that to you before Saturday," I said.

I walked out through the glass doors and down the front steps into the cold.

My phone was ringing before I reached my car.

It was Adele.

I answered, and she did not say hello.

"Leah, dear. I have your envelope in my hand."

I could hear a clock ticking in the room behind her.

"Come to the house," she said. "Now. And come alone."

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