Page 12 of The Liar's Wife

When I’d caught Nate cheating, I’d made a complete and utter fool of myself. Making a huge scene at that bar hadn’t gotten me anywhere. I had to control myself this time. Learn from my mistakes.

I pulled out my phone, clicking on his name in my messages and typing something slowly. My shaking hands made for many errors, but eventually, I had the message ready.Send.

How is he?

I watched Ben carefully, spying down to the second when the message came through. He lifted his phone from the picnic table, staring at it with incredulity. A waiter approached their table, and I watched them order. When the waiter left, the woman said something, and he laughed before responding.

Just finished eating and now he’s laying down.

So, hewaslying. Already. Even if there was some way to explain his way through this. He was lying to me. About who knew how much. Who was this woman? Why was he meeting her?

Send me a picture? I miss you both already.

He read the message as it came through, but laid his phone down, obviously conflicted. When the waiter approached again, this time with two baskets of food, Ben paid in cash. I swallowed. We never used cash. In fact, it was rare that we even had it.

I pulled my wallet from my purse, chill bumps lining my skin as I opened it and gasped. The forty dollars I kept in my purse for emergencies was gone.

He’d stolen from me.

As much as I swore the money was ours, that he could spend whatever he needed to, it still stung. We were lucky enough to be well taken care of thanks to my job, but I didn’t want him literally taking money from my wallet. Maybe it was selfish of me to feel that way.

Buzz.

I looked down at the newest text message.I’m getting ready to jump in the shower. I’ll text you one soon. Miss you too.

I glanced out the window, barely able to see them through my blurry, tear-filled vision. Gray was out of hisstroller now, balanced in the woman’s arms as she shoved a fry into her mouth, bouncing my child on her knee. Ben kissed the top of his head, looking carefree.

A scream bubbled in my chest, ready to rip free. I wanted to attack. I swallowed it down, just barely.

Instead, I watched.

Chapter Seven

Ben stayed with the woman for around an hour, the three of them looking like a perfect little family. When they parted, he pressed his lips to her head, though only briefly. She kissed Gray’s head, whispering in his ear before she walked away, climbing into a beat-up, red Honda.

When she pulled away, Ben loaded Gray into the stroller and, together, they headed back toward the apartment. I considered following them, letting him know he’d been caught, but I wondered if he’d attempt to lie again. I needed to know everything I could about this woman before I told Ben I knew anything.

So, I followed the woman instead. We drove away from downtown, then away from the outskirts of town and out of Oceanside altogether. The midday traffic wasn’t nearly rush hour, so I found it easy to keep track of her. I had a text from Dannika waiting on my phone, asking if everything was all right, but I couldn’t respond. I had to keep my focus.

She exited the interstate toward Crestview with just three cars in between us. I’d never been to the tiny town ofCrestview, though it was just under an hour from my apartment. We drove past a small diner, past a rundown barber shop, a few abandoned buildings, and a vet clinic, past the small park, and down a long, twisted street with no sidewalk. The Spanish moss hung in the trees, making the neighborhood picturesque. It was everything I loved about North Carolina and the South in general. If I weren’t so focused, so angry, so hurt, I may have been able to appreciate it more.

Finally, she pulled into a small, one-story house with white, metal siding and black shutters. I drove past, turning on the next street and making a lap around the block. There was nowhere on the quiet street for me to park that wouldn’t draw attention to myself. I drove slowly back toward the house just in time to see her front door shut. Knowing where she lived wasn’t enough. I needed to know her. I needed to know why she was better than me.

I pulled the car over to park three houses down from hers on the side of the road and walked back toward her house. From the angle I was standing, I could see a tree house in her back yard. I looked around the neighborhood. There was no one outside, no blinds pulled sideways as they tried to decide what this stranger was doing there. I hurried up the sidewalk and down the privacy fence of her neighbor, toward her back yard. It was a miracle I made it without being stopped, but I did.

It was the middle of the day, and I was finely dressed. If I were to get stopped, I was hopeful I’d be able to lie my way out of any trouble. I walked along the back of her house, careful with each step, looking for dogs or any signs of kids or a husband. There were none. The back patio was scattered with leaves, and I was careful to make quiet steps as I walked across. The blinds were all drawn up, giving me a clear viewinto the house, but, at the same time, it gave her a clear view out. I needed to determine where she was, so I could decide whether climbing into the tree house would be safe. I didn’t want to be caught.

The ladder to the tree house was on the back side of the tree, facing away from the house, and without allowing myself to second-guess my decision, I launched forward, digging my heels into the soggy ground and throwing myself against the tree. I looked out to the side, staring into the windows of the house. It was small and quaint. Sparsely decorated. There was a single couch in the open-concept living room and a small, plain kitchen. She was standing at the counter, talking on the phone with her back to me.

I climbed the ladder, my heels slipping on each mildewy piece of board, and I pulled myself up into the tiny tree house In the corner, a wasp buzzed. Normally, I would’ve run away from it, but at that moment, I was too laser-focused on my anger.

I walked toward the edge of the tree house nearest the house, my pants covered in dirt. There was no way I could go into the office now, regardless, so I was no longer concerned with the time. The walls and branches gave me a perfect hideaway up here. I was protected, but she was not. I could see directly into the house, though she could no longer see me.

With sudden relief, I sank down to the floor, watching carefully as she ended the phone call, laying her phone down on the counter and walking toward the cabinet. She opened it and grabbed a jar of peanut butter, pulling a spoon from the drawer and beginning to eat straight from the jar, seemingly lost in thought.

She wasn’t beautiful, and I didn’t think it was judgy to sayso. She was plain, with frizzy hair and eyes that were too close together. She had a better figure than I did, her waist much smaller, hips slightly wider, but smaller breasts. Much smaller than mine now that I was nursing.

She had freckles across her shoulders while mine were creamy smooth. I wanted to pick her apart, find any and all flaws with her, because I had to know why he’d chosen her, and I had to believe he’d chosen wrong.