Chapter 2

Graham’s voice message ended on the words the understanding one.

I didn’t answer him. I sent Leah a message instead.

When was the photo taken? Where are you now?

She replied seven minutes later.

We’re at the cape. Dad said you two have been living separate lives for six months. This trip is just to let him and Mom see if they can start over.

I stared at the words six months.

That morning, Graham had poured my coffee into the thermos and asked whether the mattress at the inn would hurt my back. The night before, he had slept beside me.

But in the version Leah had been given, our marriage was already over.

Did he tell you I agreed to that? I wrote.

Her next reply came faster.

He said you knew. You haven’t acted like a married couple in a long time. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, Mara. I just wanted them to make a decision for once.

She didn’t claim the photo had been posted by mistake.

She didn’t ask whether I had known about the trip.

I placed my phone facedown and opened the family calendar.

I didn’t go through bank statements or check his location history.

I looked only at the weekends he had marked as “family business.”

There were three.

The most recent had been the month before.

Graham had said Walter needed help clearing out his garage and promised to be home before dinner. I roasted two chicken breasts and opened a bottle of the white wine he liked.

At nine thirty, he texted that he was exhausted and would sleep at his father’s house.

I ate one serving alone and packed the other into a storage container.

The next morning, Graham came home and opened the road atlas.

He moved the route beyond the lighthouse so it passed a seafood restaurant.

“The sunset is better from there,” he had said.

The other two canceled weekends had followed sudden suggestions to change our hotel and add the overlook to our route.

This wasn’t the first time he had traveled our anniversary route.

I called him.

The sound of the ocean reached me first. Then Graham spoke in a low voice.

“Mara, this isn’t a good time.”

“When did you tell Leah we were separated?”

He paused. “I didn’t say that. I told her we’d both been busy and needed some space.”

“She said six months. She also knows this trip is supposed to help you and Celeste decide whether to get back together.”

“Leah has been going through a difficult time,” he said, speaking faster now. “You canceled her ride on Monday. Don’t drag her into our problems.”

“You told her we were separated when we weren’t.”

“I couldn’t explain every detail to a sixteen-year-old. We’ll talk when I get home.”

“Where are you sleeping tonight?”

A door opened on his end of the call. Celeste asked him something I couldn’t make out.

Graham didn’t answer her.

When he spoke to me again, his voice was quieter.

“I just need to figure this out without hurting anyone.”

I looked at the untouched anniversary dinner on the table.

“Then why,” I asked, “am I the only one being hurt?”