Chapter 2
Owen hadn't forgotten to invite me.
He had removed me from a trip I was already on.
I learned that when Marcus forwarded the booking history at my request. The first manifest, created in June, listed four people: Owen, Ava, Finn, and me.
Three weeks later, Brooke was added.
The next morning, my name disappeared.
I put the two versions on the kitchen counter.
"You changed this in June."
"We were discussing possibilities."
"You removed one. Me."
Owen rubbed his forehead. "Brooke offered to help with the kids. You don't always enjoy being on the water that long."
My father had taught me to sail before I could drive. I bought Second Wind with his inheritance, three years of savings, and a marine loan eighteen months before I married Owen. I had spent weekends restoring her while Owen complained about the smell of varnish.
"I don't enjoy working while everyone else has a vacation," I said. "That isn't the same thing."
I opened the booking confirmation.
The itinerary ran from Seattle through the San Juan Islands. Private transfers. Provisions. Shore excursions. A birthday dinner at a waterfront restaurant.
Paid to date: $9,780.
The payments had come from our joint credit card.
"You spent almost ten thousand dollars without telling me?"
"It's our card."
"Which I pay every month."
"You earn more, Claire. That doesn't make every decision yours."
Apparently, earning more made every bill mine instead.
I checked the payment dates. The largest deposit went through the day after he told me an anniversary weekend on the coast would have to wait.
He hadn't been short of money for a trip.
He had chosen a different trip.
Then I saw a separate transfer.
$2,800 to Brooke Hayes.
Memo: Car.
"What is this?"
"Her transmission needed work. She drives the kids."
"Did she ask you, or did you offer?"
His hesitation answered.
I went back to the cabin assignments.
"Who's sleeping in the master bed?"
"There's a settee."
"Who's sleeping on it?"
"We haven't decided every detail."
"You've decided what milk she drinks."
His phone buzzed.
Ava: Did you tell her yet?
Owen reached for it. I was closer.
The message opened a group conversation called OWEN'S 35TH AT SEA.
Its photograph showed Owen, Brooke, and the children at a school fundraiser. I had taken it. I remembered kneeling on wet grass to get Finn's face into the frame.
There were weeks of messages about anchorages, matching sweatshirts, and the sunset photographs Brooke wanted on the upper deck.
Near the top was a system notice.
Claire Bennett was removed from the conversation.
It was dated the morning after my name disappeared from the manifest.
I looked up.
"You didn't assume I wasn't coming. You made sure I wouldn't know."