“Fine. You want to know? The consulting business hit trouble.”
“What kind?”
“Cash flow.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you would have done exactly this.”
“What?”
“Looked at me like I’m incompetent.”
“I’m looking at you like you lied to me.”
“That’s different.”
“Is it?”
He walked toward the living room.
“I was fixing it.”
“With my savings?”
“Our savings.”
“And your mother’s money?”
“I’m paying her back.”
“With what?”
He looked away.
“Daniel.”
“I have a deal coming through.”
“What deal?”
He said nothing.
I stood.
“Does it involve the property in Evanston?”
He froze.
The silence was complete.
Even the heating system seemed to stop.
Daniel turned slowly.
“What did you say?”
“I found the mortgage statement.”
His face went pale.
“What were you doing in the tax files?”
“Learning about my marriage.”
He stared at me.
“You went there.”
It wasn’t a question.
I didn’t answer.
His eyes sharpened.
“You went there.”
“Yes.”
Something moved through his expression.
Fear.
Then anger.
Then something worse.
Relief.
That was what unsettled me.
Relief.
As if a secret he had been carrying was finally too heavy.
“Who is she?” I asked.
He sat down.
For the first time since I had known him, Daniel looked older than his age.
He rubbed his hands over his face.
“Her name is Melissa.”
“And the boy?”
He lowered his hands.
“Rachel…”
“Is he your son?”
Daniel looked directly at me.
“No.”
I almost laughed.
