Chapter 1
I came home a day early from a business trip and found my husband carrying a box of my clothes out of our bedroom as his first love stepped from the bathroom in my white bathrobe.
Ethan stopped in the upstairs hallway.
Vanessa did not.
She tightened the belt around her waist and looked down at me from the landing.
"You're home early," she said.
"Ethan said we had until tomorrow."
Ethan lowered the box.
One of my sweaters hung over its edge.
"Claire, let me explain."
I left my suitcase beside the front door and walked upstairs.
"Explain why she's wearing my robe."
Vanessa touched the collar.
"Mine is still packed."
"Then explain why you're carrying my clothes."
Ethan set the box inside the guest room.
Five more were stacked beside the bed.
My shoes, photographs, jewelry case, and toiletries had already been moved there.
"We had to make space," he said.
In the top box, our fifth-anniversary photograph lay facedown beneath two folded sweaters.
I turned it over.
"Space for what?"
"Vanessa is staying with us for a while."
He said it calmly, as if he had told me about a dinner guest.
Vanessa leaned against the master-bedroom doorframe.
Her wet hair darkened the shoulders of my robe.
"My divorce has become difficult," she said.
"My ex showed up at the place where I was staying."
"Ethan didn't think I should be alone."
"There's a guest room."
"The master bedroom has a private bathroom," Ethan said.
"She needs somewhere she can feel secure."
I looked at the boxes surrounding me.
"So where am I sleeping?"
"In here."
He pointed to the guest bed.
Vanessa gave me a careful smile.
"I told him I didn't want you to feel pushed aside."
She had unpacked her cosmetics on my vanity.
I could see them from the hallway.
Her suitcase stood open at the foot of my bed, and her dresses were already hanging in my closet.
"You were very concerned," I said.
Ethan stepped between us.
"Don't start attacking her."
"She's been through enough."
"I asked why my belongings were put in boxes."
"I knew you'd be upset, but we didn't have much time."
"I thought it would be easier to get everything settled before you came home."
I was still wearing my coat.
My house keys were cutting into my palm.
"And where will you sleep?" I asked.
"On the sofa downstairs."
"Vanessa will take the master bedroom, and you'll stay here."
"That way, no one can suggest anything inappropriate is happening."
He pointed toward the living room, then back at the guest bed.
He had even moved my reading lamp onto its nightstand.
"How long?"
"A few weeks," Ethan said.
"Maybe a month."
Vanessa pulled my robe closer around herself.
"I'll leave as soon as I'm ready."
Not as soon as she found somewhere else.
As soon as she was ready.
I looked at Ethan.
"Take her things out of my bedroom."
His mouth tightened.
"Claire, she needs compassion right now."
"And you decided I didn't need to be consulted."
"You were away."
"This had to be handled."
"This is my house."
For the first time, his voice turned cold.
"No one is taking your house," Ethan said.
"I'm asking you to give up one room."