Chapter 5
By five thirty Friday evening, the table was set.
Five plates.
Five glasses.
Five folded napkins.
Mark’s chair remained empty.
He was not expected until seven thirty.
I started the recording app on my phone and placed it out of sight.
Dylan entered with his phone in one hand.
“Why are there five places?”
“The new neighbors are joining us.”
“The woman across the street?”
“And her son.”
“Does Dad know?”
“Your father knows we’re having dinner.”
It was not an answer.
Dylan accepted it because he still trusted me.
I could have warned him.
Instead, I pointed to his phone.
“Put that away when they arrive.”
He studied my face before slipping it into his pocket.
The doorbell rang at six.
Elena stood outside holding a bottle of wine.
Leo waited beside her with his stuffed dinosaur.
For one moment, I considered sending them home.
Then Leo looked into the camera.
Even through the screen, I could see Mark’s eyes.
I opened the door.
“I hope we’re not early,” Elena said.
“You’re exactly on time.”
Her gaze moved past me.
“Your husband?”
“Still working.”
The tension left her shoulders.
I stepped aside.
“Come in.”
Dylan waited in the living room.
“Elena, this is my son, Dylan. Dylan, this is Elena and her son, Leo.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Elena said.
Leo was staring at the family photographs.
He stopped in front of one showing Mark in his red baseball jacket, one arm around Dylan.
“I’ve seen that—”
Elena touched his shoulder.
“Show Dylan your dinosaur.”
“I’m sixteen,” Dylan said.
Leo lowered the toy.
Dylan sighed and held out his hand.
“Fine. Let me see it.”
While the boys moved toward the couch, Elena followed me into the dining room.
“Your home is beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“You’ve lived here long?”
“Eighteen years.”
Her eyes moved over the furniture, the wedding photograph and Mark’s empty chair.
“Yes,” I said. “A very long time.”
I poured her a glass of wine.
“To new neighbors.”
Elena raised it.
“To new beginnings.”
We sat down.
She complimented the chicken. I asked about Leo’s school. Dylan gave short answers while Leo talked enough for both of them.
No one mentioned Mark.
Halfway through dinner, Leo looked at the empty chair.
“Is your husband coming home?”
Elena reached for her glass.
“He’s working,” I said.
“What does he do?”
“Insurance.”
Elena’s glass stopped before reaching her mouth.
Dylan noticed.
“So did Leo’s dad help with the move?” he asked.
Elena placed the glass down carefully.
“He helped arrange a few things.”
“Does he live nearby?”
“Dylan,” I said gently, “don’t interrogate our guests.”
Elena smiled at me.
“Children are curious.”
“So are adults.”
For a second, neither of us looked away.
Then Leo asked for more potatoes, and the moment passed.
Elena began to relax.
She believed she had entered Mark’s first home while he was safely somewhere else. She could inspect the wife, the son and the life he claimed was already over.
She did not know I was doing the same thing.
At seven, I looked around the table.
My son.
My husband’s mistress.
The little boy who had been taught that Daddy was a word for indoors.
Everyone was exactly where I needed them to be.
Beneath the table, the recording continued.
I picked up my phone and opened my conversation with Mark.
Then I typed:
Your second family is having dinner with your first one.
Don’t be late.
I pressed send.
Delivered.
Then read.
Across from me, Elena was still smiling.
She had no idea what I had just done.