Chapter 7: The Guest Room

I drove around for two hours before I went home.

I parked at the river and watched a man throw bread to ducks.

I texted Myra one line, "It's worse than we thought. Not tonight."

She wrote back, "I'm on shift until six. Eat something."

I did not eat.

At seven I pulled into my own driveway, and the porch light was on.

Through the front window I could see Milly at the dining table, coloring.

Marissa stood behind her chair with one hand on her shoulder.

They looked like a catalog photo of a family.

I sat in the car and watched them.

Then I took my briefcase and went in.

"Daddy!"

Milly hit me at knee height and I picked her up.

She smelled like crayons and strawberry shampoo.

"I made you a dinosaur with a hat."

"It's the best dinosaur I've ever seen."

"It's a girl."

"A girl dinosaur with a hat."

"Her name is Linda."

"Linda is gorgeous."

Over her head I met Marissa's eyes.

She was smiling at me, soft and a little unsure.

"You're late," she said. "I kept your plate warm."

"Thanks."

"Pot roast."

"My favorite."

"I know."

She did know, and she had made it every Saturday for eight years.

I sat at the table and ate it.

It was good, and I tasted nothing.

Marissa talked about her day, the lunch with the woman from the club, a sale on towels.

She was so natural, so effortless, that for a second I thought I had imagined the clip.

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