The Wife He Left Behind novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: Terms

Stellan came out onto the porch and stood beside me, not in front of me.

He said nothing for a moment.

Tobias looked at him, and then at me, and I watched him do the sum.

"You've been seeing my wife," he said.

"I've been looking for my sister," Stellan said. "Her postcards said she lived in Singapore. They said it for seven months."

"I don't know what Camille told you."

"Then where is she tonight?"

Tobias didn't answer.

"There's a crib in an apartment on Westlake," Stellan said. "I'd like to know who it's for."

The street had gone completely silent.

A man two doors down had taken out his phone.

Tobias saw it too.

He straightened up, and the charm settled back over him.

"This is a private matter," he said, loudly. "My wife is upset.

"I'll leave her to rest, and we'll sort this out like adults at my mother's, on the twenty-sixth."

"Go home, Tobias," I said.

"I am home."

"No," I said. "Go to Westlake."

He flinched.

It was small, but I saw it, and so did the neighbor in her robe.

She lifted her mug to hide her smile.

He dropped the roses on the step and walked down to his car.

He didn't look back.

The taillights turned the corner.

Then I went inside, and my knees went out from under me.

Stellan caught me, and this time neither of us pretended it was an accident.

I stood with my forehead against his coat and shook.

"You're okay," he said into my hair.

"I'm not."

"No."

"I told him I knew."

"You said it on your own porch, and the whole street heard. Now he knows exactly what you know."

"I wasn't supposed to."

"I know." His hand moved up my back. "I thought it was magnificent."

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