Chapter 9: Day 1 to Day 108

"Monica, stop," Dalton said into his own microphone. "You're upset. We'll talk at home."

"Which home?"

Someone in the room laughed, then stopped.

Keith lifted one hand toward the tech in the back.

The spotlight on the stage went dark, and the screen filled with a photo.

DAY 1.

Dalton knelt on a bare floor, building a bed frame, with a little boy beside him.

The boy held a screwdriver.

"This was the afternoon he told me a parent meeting here was running late," I said.

The parents at the nearest table looked at one another.

"It's a joke," Dalton said. "She's making a joke."

DAY 14. Dalton pushing a boy on a swing.

DAY 31. Dalton asleep on Wynn's couch with the boy's head on his chest.

"That was the weekend he said he was at a coaching clinic out of state," I said.

A man at the third table said, "He wasn't at the clinic?"

"He was on her couch."

Dalton had come off the stage.

He was walking down the center aisle fast, with his jaw set.

"Turn it off," he said to Keith.

"No," Keith said.

"Keith, this is my wife having a breakdown."

"Is it?"

DAY 76 was the aquarium, DAY 97 was the steak dinner, and DAY 108 was the medal and the kiss on the cheek.