Page 40 of Happy Wife

I weighed the pros and cons of speaking versus silence and tried to remember what I cared about when I was her age. But Mia broke the silence first.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me. I’m not going to try to Parent Trap you,” Mia said without looking up from her pizza toppings.

“What?” I couldn’t help the short laugh that escaped.

“I’m not one of those kids that’s, like, secretly hoping her parents get back together. I’m not going to put a lizard in your bed or anything.”

“Thanks…I think?”

“They fought all the time. Like,allthe time. About everything. I was so happy when they finally got divorced. They’re a lot easier to get along with one-on-one. Now, they only fight about the fact that my mom thinks her new house is too small. Which it’s not. She’s just pissed she’s not waterfront anymore.”

“My mom dated a lot of cringey guys when I was your age,” I offered. “I see your offer not to put a lizard in my bed, and I raise you a promise not to attempt to bond over some weird shopping makeover montage.”

“Sounds fair,” she said. “Just go easy on my dad.”

I gave her an inquisitive look.

“You’re the first person he’s dated since the divorce. Just…don’t break his heart too bad.”

She thought she was being coy, but I knew a declare-your-intentions inquiry when I heard one. For once, I didn’t want to trot out the we’re-just-having-fun sound bite. I didn’t want to insult her intelligence or make her worry I was being reckless with her dad’s heart.

“I like your dad. Like, a lot,” I said. “I don’t have any plans to break his heart.”

In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t much, but coming from a teenager, I understood that Mia had generously extended herself.

“Thanks, Mia.”

“What are we thanking Mia for?” Will came back into the room with a burst of energy, wrapping his arms around me and kissing my shoulder.

I didn’t have any time to respond, though, as a wild rapping on the front door interrupted the moment. The three of us exchanged questioning looks. And then the doorbell started ringing relentlessly.

“Mia!” a woman shrieked. “Will!”

Terror ripped through the center of me, but Will and Mia seemed calmer as they swapped a knowing look of dread.

“I’ll get it,” he bit out, already exiting the kitchen and heading for the door with purpose.

What came next was loud and frenetic commotion and then stomping footsteps heading our way.

“Get your things, Mia, we’re leaving.” Constance, the brunette I recognized from Will’s nest camera, was glaring at me as she shouted at Mia. “Now!”

“Mom.” Mia huffed a sigh. “Go home.”

Constance practically cackled. “This used to be my home before your dad tried to erase me from his life and rewrite history by replacing me with a younger model.”

Mia dropped her pizza toppings and walked out of the kitchen. “Just let me know when it’s over, Pal.”

The lack of response from Mia only fueled Constance, who turned back to Will. “You let her ignore all of the rules here, don’t you?”

“Constance,” Will said. His voice was measured, carefully considering each word. “You should go.”

“Why?” she fired back. “So you can have your midlife crisis in peace?” She gestured to me—the apparent personification of a midlife crisis. “You spent your life buried in your work, ignoring me and Mia, and you choosenowto pull your head out of the sand? And you introduce Mia to yourgirlfriendwithout even telling me?” She turned her vitriol on me next. “I sacrificed everything for this family. Gave up my career ambition so that he could have the careerhewanted.”

Was she looking to me for pity?

“I never asked you to do those things,” Will interjected.

“No! You never asked. Don’t you see how that’s so much worse? You just left me holding the bag on everything to do with Mia and buildingthishouse and managing our social calendars. It’s so much worse than if you had asked, Will. You just took and took—my help, my time. You took everything!”