Chapter 4

My husband sent me a message from down the street while I was taking off my wedding ring. [Connor: Just got to Brooke's building. We're bringing her boards down now. Have the SUV warmed up in the driveway.] It was five-forty on Saturday morning. Ten minutes earlier, Connor had kissed my forehead in the dark bedroom, picked up his duffel bag, and walked down the street to help Brooke carry her surfboards. He hadn't turned on the bedroom light. He hadn't noticed that my side of the closet was already bare, or that five years of marriage now fit inside a single silver suitcase by the back door. I slid my wedding ring over my knuckle. My sister Audrey stood beside my suitcase in the kitchen. She watched me walk toward the dining table. "Ready?" she asked quietly. "Yes." I laid the separation and divorce papers Victoria had prepared on the dining table, beneath the warm overhead light. I had already signed the final page in black ink. The line beside it was waiting for his. Next to the petition, I placed the white clinic envelope from Thursday afternoon. I slid the ultrasound photograph and the lab report partway out so the word POSITIVE was clearly visible. On top of the report, I placed the tiny cream baby socks. Connor had spent two years telling me we would be parents someday. On Thursday night, he had used my devotion to our marriage to win a five-hundred-dollar bet with his friends. Beside the envelope, I set down my diamond wedding ring and the keys to my SUV. I slipped a handwritten card beneath the keys. I stood outside the patio on Thursday night and heard every word of your $500 bet. Have a nice flight. I left no cancellation receipts for the resort or the first-class seats. He and Brooke could discover what remained of their vacation when they reached the airport counter. Before walking away, I looked once at the refrigerator. Inside the freezer sat the tray of lasagna he had bragged about to his friends. He had been so certain that the meal I made for him meant I would never leave. My phone buzzed on the counter. Connor had sent a photograph to our chat. He and Brooke stood outside her apartment building with two surfboards. Brooke was wearing his gray college sweatshirt and holding up a peace sign. [Connor: Walking back up the block with Jason and Eric now. Is the trunk open?] I didn't reply. A second message appeared thirty seconds later. [Connor: Natalie? You awake?] He thought I was in the kitchen making coffee before the drive. He thought I would swallow my pride, load another woman's luggage into my car, and wait at home until he returned. He had no idea I was leaving the SUV keys beside my wedding ring. Audrey lifted my silver suitcase and carried it out the back door toward the alley. I took one last look at the bright table, then stepped outside and pulled the back door shut behind me. Click. I climbed into the passenger seat of Audrey's car. "Ready?" Audrey asked, her hands on the wheel. "Drive," I said. As Audrey pulled out of the alley and turned onto the main avenue, my phone began to ring. It was Connor. I silenced the call and watched his name flash across the screen until the screen went dark. Three seconds later, a text notification appeared on the lock screen. [Connor: Why is the SUV still inside the garage? Where are you?] Another call came through immediately. I left the phone on silent and set it in my lap. Back at the house, the divorce agreement lay open on the dining table. My signature was at the bottom. My wedding ring rested on top of it. Beside it lay the ultrasound of the baby he didn't know we were having. Connor had bet five hundred dollars that I would be waiting in the driveway to take them to the airport. In thirty seconds, he was going to unlock the front door in front of his friends. And he was going to find out what that bet had cost him.