Page 41 of The Wife

Figured out where u were. The cabin.

It wasn’t the hardest mystery to solve. He must have noticed all my work had been done. I had even taken Petunia out for a long ride. He would have been in and out of the barn so he might have seen her missing. Would have known I was close.

Like father like daughter I guess. Needed some space to think.

Warm enough?

Yes.

…

…

Either he was writing something really long, or he was doing a lot of stopping and starting. My guess was the latter.

Do u believe me? That Carol came over in the morning?

I closed my eyes but it didn’t remove the image of him shirtless between her legs.

Still, I knew Jake. Inside out. Upside down. He wouldn’t lie to cover his own ass.

Yes

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…

…

Poor Jake. This really wasn’t his strong point. I knew he thought I was mad at him, and he hated the idea of anyone ever being mad at him. Couldn’t stand it. I was about to let him off the hook. Tell him I would be back tomorrow and everything was fine. But I suppose I wanted to know what he was trying to say first.

Finally the words popped up.

I’m sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean it.

I could feel my chin starting to wobble again and my eyes well up. Crying really was so ugly.

Please tell me u believe that too.

I set the phone down. That was the problem. I didn’t. In that moment I knew he meant every word. I couldn’t tell him that though, it would only make him feel worse. But I couldn’t lie to him either.

I picked up the phone and typed.

It’s okay, Jake. I’m going to fix this.

What does that mean?

Trust me.

Ellie, please tell me what u mean.

I couldn’t right now. Because there was no plan. I didn’t want him to get his hopes up only to find out there was no way to get my hands on the money early. If I told him about the nuclear option, I knew he would go ballistic.

I need time. That’s all. Did you make yourself something to eat?

If I wasn’t around, he rarely bothered to cook for himself. Which meant he’d work a full physical day and make do with sandwiches.

Sandwiches.