Chapter 30
Jon
Sunday
Jon watches out the window, Bella in his arms. Susan should be home from Leesa’s by now.
She hasn’t replied to his text asking when she’ll be back.
That’s unusual. She’s normally quick—a dashed-off typo-filled reply or a speedy voicenote.
It might not be because of the bracelet…
he shakes himself. Of course it’s because of the bracelet.
He goes upstairs and places sleepy Bella carefully in her crib, then pulls open Susan’s drawer again to dig out the bangle.
God. On so many levels, what a shitshow.
What had he been thinking? He moves his fingers over the engraving.
The tale-telling inscription. And how on earth is it here in their house—how does Susan have it?
The sound of the front door sends him into a tailspin.
He drops the bangle while trying to put it back in the drawer and, for a moment, he can’t find it.
Terrifying though it is that Susan hasn’t said anything, he’s also very much not ready to show her he’s found it.
Her footsteps sound on the stairs now, light on the carpet.
On his hands and knees, he swipes around blindly under the bed, trying to find the bracelet.
She’s at the top of the stairs when he spots it, and he can hear her crossing the landing while he stretches his fingers to reach it.
The bedroom door creaks open just as he slides her night-stand drawer shut.
He jumps away, ending up at Bella’s crib.
“Oh!” Susan startles when she sees him. What does that mean? That she’s jumpy in general after all that’s gone on this week, or anxious specifically around him?
He puts a finger to his lips and nods toward Bella. Susan tiptoes forward to see their daughter and leans to place a kiss near but not on their baby’s head. They’ve both learned you never disturb a sleeping infant. Together, in silence, they turn to leave the room.
· · ·
Downstairs, in the kitchen, Jon tries his best to make conversation. “How was Leesa’s?”
“Fine.”
“All good with Maeve and Aoife?”
“I didn’t see them.” She’s rummaging through a cupboard, looking for chocolate, he thinks.
“Will I start dinner?”
A shrug. “Whatever. I’m not hungry.”
“I’ll do lemon chicken. You can have it if you’re hungry later. Any news from Samir—he’s still away in Dubai, right?”
Samir is Leesa’s husband. Everyone likes Samir.
Sometimes Jon hates Samir because of how much everyone else loves him.
He’s the perfect husband. Perfect dad. Great cook.
Good listener. Self-deprecating, funny, fun.
Most annoyingly of all, he’s genuinely a nice guy, meaning Jon doesn’t really hate him—he grudgingly likes him as much as everyone else does.
“Still there.”
God. This is painful. And not at all like Susan, who usually talks nonstop, giving him minute details of every conversation she’s had that day.
He has perfected a nodding-and-hmming routine over the years, with the occasional question to show he’s listening, and right now, he’d love one of her run-downs on the day she’s had.
But no. Monosyllabic answers followed by a retreating back is what’s on offer this evening.
She finds a bar of Lindt, makes herself a tea and goes through to the den, a room they only ever use if they’re watching different TV shows. Something that happens for episodes of And Just Like That…(he can’t bear it) or golf (not her thing), but nothing else. Until now.
She closes the door without another word and he finds himself wishing Greta was here; she’d know what to do. He decides to try one more time, and opens the den door, just managing to stop himself from knocking first.
“Want to watch a film later? Or another episode of Severance?”
“Not really,” she says, though she adores Severance. “I’m just going to stay in here and catch up on old Desperate Housewives.” She smiles thinly. “Why don’t you go for a run?”
He closes the door. She definitely knows. And she has the bracelet. Which means…well, his brain can’t compute the rest of what this means, because it’s far, far worse than just being caught having an affair.