Page 78 of Happy Wife

“Leave it alone, Nora. The work stuff doesn’t concern you.”

It was a real shutdown, and it hurt. It was the first time he had made me feel like the ditzy young wife everyone gossiped about.

I couldn’t help but fire back, “Then don’t concern me with stuffy dinners with Fritz and Gianna.”

I crossed my arms and shifted toward my window. Will let out an almost inaudible sigh, but I heard it and tried to fight back the tears that were stinging at the corners of my eyes.

He reached over and pulled at my left arm. I let him. He took my hand and kissed it. “This will all pass. I’m going to take care of it. I love you.”

I didn’t say another word the rest of the way home.

Chapter31

Eight days after

At dawn, I wake to the sound of egrets and sit at the edge of the dock, watching them take flight, willing myself to feelanything.A couple of paddleboarders skate by on the early morning calm of the lake. They wave, and I wave back.

Over here! I’m the widow that everyone is talking about! Did you hear? Do you know it’s me?

They’re gone as the sun breaks over the tops of the houses. A glare bounces off the metal trim of the boat. I shield my eyes for a second.

I used to love the view down here, watching the water change with the weather patterns. Big, puffy cumulus clouds often build in the morning and early afternoon as the ground heats up. Some days the clouds are so close it feels like you can reach up and touch them if you stretch a little. This morning, the water’s so calm it reflects the sky above.

Will loved these days.

“Look at that water. It’s like glass,” he’d say before insisting we take the boat out.

I consider lowering the boat now, but something stops me. The same question that’s been hanging over my head since they told me he was murdered.

How could this have happened?

I find myself looking around, examining the grains of wood on the dock for clues or blood. I scrutinize the smooth fiberglass and the swirling script of the boat name:Don’t Settle.Then, I’m climbing in and out of the boat to try to see if there are any signs that a struggle occurred here. I raise the boat in its lift, then lower it.

Nothing makes sense. I look out over the open water and consider how easy it is for anyone to get here from the lake, passing through the canals, in the dark of night. I shake off the shivers that this thought triggers.

Was someone else here?

I walk up the dock, back toward the house, and take a few steps into the lake where the dock levels off with the shoreline. The water’s cold and my steps are weighed down by the soft sand sinking under my toes. From where I’m standing, I can see that the water level at the end of the dock is well below six feet. If he had been conscious going into the water, he would’ve been able to swim or even stand up and stumble his way to shore.

Desperate for more information, I head back down the dock and climb back into the boat.

Five minutes later, I’m powering across the water almost full throttle. The wind rushing by my head is the white noise I’ve been desperate for. The static in which I can find the oxygen to breathe. I take in a few deep breaths, feeling almost like myself again for a second. And then my phone dings. I suppress the impulse to pitch it into the lake. I see that it’s a text from Autumn, and I have three missed calls from Este.

Shit.

I throttle back and turn the boat for home as I read Autumn’s text.

8:49a.m.

Nora, I’m at your house. We need to talk.

What now? What could possibly be happening now?

I pull the boat back into the slip, and as I’m knotting the line, Autumn and Este come out of my house, heading down the lawn.

“Did you take the boat out?” Este asks, almost confused.

“Yes.” I don’t offer anything else up. I’m not in the mood for her judgment. Although it is nice that she’s not treating me with kid gloves anymore.