Chapter 2

Caleb waited until we were halfway home before telling me Ava had contacted him a week ago.

Streetlights moved across his face as he drove. His hands rested calmly on the steering wheel, as though we were discussing someone he had passed at the grocery store.

“A week?”

“She wanted to let me know she was coming back.”

“And you didn’t think your wife needed to know?”

His fingers tightened slightly.

“I knew how people would react. Tonight proved me right.”

Caleb glanced at me before returning his attention to the road.

“Ava came back because her father died. She has a house to deal with and a lot of arrangements to make. It doesn’t have anything to do with us.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it didn’t change anything.”

The words sounded reasonable in his voice.

That was Caleb’s particular talent. He could reduce anything to its most practical shape until having feelings about it seemed unnecessary.

“I’m not asking whether her return changes our marriage,” I said. “I’m asking why you decided for me that I didn’t need to know.”

“I didn’t hide it.”

“What do you call knowing for a week and saying nothing?”

He had no answer.

Usually, I would have ended the conversation for him. I would have watched the dark road outside my window and told myself he was private, not dishonest.

This time, I let the silence remain uncomfortable.

The following morning, I found his tablet on the kitchen counter while checking an order for the flower shop.

Caleb and I shared a calendar. His appointments appeared in blue. Mine were green.

Our fifth-anniversary trip had been marked in both colors for three months.

Camden Coast — Fifth Anniversary.

I had already closed the shop for that Saturday and refused a wedding order worth nearly a week’s income. I’d reserved a table at the small restaurant Caleb liked near the harbor.

Now the green entry remained alone.

A blue appointment covered the same weekend.

Ava’s house — structural inspection.

Caleb entered the kitchen, fastening his watch.

“You changed our trip.”

He followed my gaze to the screen.

“The house may have foundation damage. Ava wants to know whether it’s safe before she moves in.”

“And that has to happen during our anniversary?”

“It’s one weekend, Nora. We can go the following week.”

The following week, the flower shop had two weddings and a memorial service. He knew that.

“It matters because you decided for both of us.”

Caleb paused.

For a moment, I thought he understood.

Then he reached for his coffee.

“I’m trying to help someone whose father just died. I didn’t think you would want me to refuse.”

He had turned my kindness into permission before I could offer either.

His tablet lit up between us.

A message appeared across the screen.

Ava: Same promise as before? You’ll help me make it feel like home again?

Caleb picked up the tablet and turned it facedown.

“What promise?” I asked.