Page 14

Before

W hile my house slowly fills with gas, Kinsey and I are sitting together at a Korean barbecue restaurant.

Before I left, I sent a text message to Noel, telling him that I was going out with my friend, but I left food on the stove for him to heat up—just some spaghetti and meatballs left over from the night before. I put it in a pot and covered the lid, making it as easy as possible for him. All he has to do is light the stove.

He hasn’t responded to my text message. He’s probably running late as usual. He’ll probably saunter in at around eight, and the first thing he’ll do is shower off the smell of her perfume, but after that, he’ll go right for the stove because having sex with his mistress works up an appetite, I’m sure.

I’ll have to stay out until at least nine o’clock. Or until the police call me to tell me what’s happened.

“You seem distracted, Talia,” Kinsey says. “Is everything okay?”

Distracted is an understatement. I stare down at the flame of the barbecue pit between us, wishing we had eaten anywhere else. All I can think about are the flames that will be coming out of my stove. The ones that will torch my cheating husband alive.

“I’m fine,” I say.

I’m not fine. Why did he do this? How could he do this to me?

I loved him so much. I wanted to spend my life with him. I wanted us to have a family together. Yes, it’s been hard to deal with his work schedule, but that is something I can understand. But his betrayal is something I can never forgive.

My phone buzzes from where I left it in my purse. It’s probably Noel, telling me he’s going to be late. I don’t reach for my phone. It would be rude, since I’m having dinner with my friend, and if I have to stay out until ten, Kinsey will be up for it.

I will have the perfect alibi.

“How is Noel doing?” Kinsey asks.

Noel is the last thing I want to talk about right now. “Fine. Great.”

She frowns. “Seriously, are you okay?”

I’ve opened my mouth, ready to tell her to mind her own damn business, when we get interrupted by an unfamiliar voice. “Talia? Is that Talia Kemper?”

I rotate my head around. There’s a woman in her seventies standing over me, wearing a pink blouse and woven dress pants. Her white hair is cropped close to her head, and she’s got on a pair of huge tortoiseshell glasses with a beaded chain hanging from them.

“Can I help you?” I ask the unfamiliar woman.

The elderly woman beams at me. “My name is Lisbeth Sharp. We haven’t met before, but I recently came aboard the project that your husband is working on. I’ve been a chemist for forty years, so I was hoping to lend my expertise.”

“Oh,” I say. “I’m sorry ... he hasn’t mentioned you.”

She laughs and waves a hand. “Maybe not, but he talks about you all the time. He’s always so anxious to get out of the lab to get home to you. I recognized you right away from the photo he keeps tacked in his workspace.”

As the woman babbles on about their project, I become aware of something that is making my stomach sink.

She reeks of the same perfume that’s been clinging to Noel when he comes home.

“Anyway,” she says, “my husband is waiting for me, so I won’t bother you. I’m sorry we’ve been keeping Noel from you so much lately. But things are wrapping up soon, so I promise, you’ll get him back. In fact, things went so well today that I insisted he go home early.”

Lisbeth says her goodbye and limps across the dining room to an adorable elderly man. He gets to his feet and kisses her when she approaches him. They look the way that I thought Noel and I would look someday.

I have made a terrible mistake.

“Talia?” Kinsey says. “You look really pale ...”

I don’t even answer her. I fumble around in my purse until my fingers close around my phone. I pull it out, and sure enough, there’s a message from Noel on the screen. It came about twenty minutes ago.

On my way home. Sorry to miss you, but thanks for leaving me some food. Have fun with Kinsey!

And then a second message:

I love you.

Oh God. I have to stop Noel from turning on that burner. I can’t let that happen. Kinsey is asking me if I’m okay, but I ignore her as I click on my husband’s name. He can’t possibly be home yet. I can stop this before anything happens.

But the call goes right to voicemail.

I try again, but the same thing happens. Did he turn off his phone? Sometimes he does that when he wants to focus.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

I imagine Noel walking into our gas-filled house. Maybe he’ll take a shower first, but maybe he won’t. Maybe he’ll go right for the stove and turn it on. And then ...

Or maybe it’s already happened. Maybe that’s why his phone is going to voicemail.

No, I can’t think that way. Noel can’t be dead. He can’t .

“I’m sorry, Kinsey.” I shove my phone back into my purse and practically leap out of my seat. “I have to go.”

My friend is calling my name, but I ignore her. I’ve got to get home before my husband does. If I don’t, Noel is going to die, and it will be all my fault.