Page 54 of The Wife

Ginny powered off the vacuum. “I know. He’s out on bail. I tried getting Angela to come out here, but she’s determined to be the good wife, standing by her man.” She’d been sworn to secrecy by Angela about the actual facts of the case, but made a point to add, “It’s more complicated than the news makes it sound. He’s innocent.”

“Okay, but turn on the TV. Kayla said there’s some kind of press conference.”

Ginny caught the tail end of it on the television in the Colemans’ kitchen, enough to know that these women wanted Jason’s head on a stick—and they wanted money.

She went to the driveway to call Angela out of Lucy’s earshot. Angela answered with a depressed “Hey.”

“You need to let Jason deal with this on his own, Angela.”

“Jesus, Mom, he’s my husband. If someone had accused Dad of something horrible, would you have up and left him?”

“Your dad didn’t cheat on me with some crazy woman who tried to ruin his life when she didn’t get what she wanted.”

Her daughter was so tough and so smart, but was also remarkably trusting, at least of the people to whom she was closest. Where most people might have a sliding spectrum of trust, Angela was all or nothing. She avoided strangers, assuming the worst about them. But she was loyal to a fault to the few people in her inner circle: Spencer, Ginny, Jason, Susanna, Colin. Ginny could murder someone, and Angela’s response would be, “Well, they must have had it coming.”

So, Angela being Angela, of course she didn’t believe that Jason had actually victimized this woman. Ginny felt a sour taste in her mouth, just thinking about it. The way she saw it, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Two accusations from two women? He was probably guilty of something.

But Jason was playing Angela like a fiddle. He had her so worried about protecting him that she was glossing over the fact that he wouldn’t be in this boat if he hadn’t cheated on her.

She was not going to let her daughter go down with the ship.

“He might be innocent of this charge—”

“Not ‘might,’ Mom.”

“But he’s not innocent. The man had an affair.”

“He doesn’t deserve to go to prison for that.”

“No, but you also don’t deserve to be miserable—or broke—because of what he did. I saw that lawyer on TV. Do you know who she is? She makes a living suing celebrities for their penis problems.”

“Oh my god—”

“Wake up, Angela. Have you asked yourself what would make this woman lie?”

“I told you—”

“You told me what he told you, and I’m not buying it. No woman makes this up to help some company out of trouble. If she’s lying—and that’s a bigif—it’s because she’s hurt. He made her feel bad enough that she thinks this is fair payback.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say, Mom.”

“I’m saying that maybe he made herfeelvictimized, even if it’s not how the law sees it. He probably told her he loved her. Made her think he’d leave you to be with her. That she was going to be the one standing next to him when he ran for mayor. That she’d get to live in that fancy house. She’s a woman scorned, Angela. He cheated on you—for months. He doesn’t deserve your loyalty.”

“Mom, please, stop.”

Ginny could tell that her daughter was seconds away from hanging up on her. When she spoke again, her voice was softer. “Please, all I’m asking is that you talk to a lawyer. If these ladies take him to the bank, you’ll lose everything too. At least try to protect what’s yours and Spencer’s, okay?”

Angela didn’t argue, and she didn’t hang up. Ginny hoped it was a sign that her point had been made.

“How’s my grandson?” she asked.

She could hear a sad sigh on the other end of the line. “He sounded good when he called last night. They ride horses and do archery. He learned how to navigate his way out of the woods with a compass and to hang garbage from a tree so the bears don’t come.”

Ginny could tell how much her daughter missed Spencer. How long did she think she could protect him from the truth?

“And to think, he could have stayed with his grandmother for free instead of being dropped in the middle of the Hunger Games. My offer stands for you to come out here. Or I’ll even go there.”

Angela declined, as Ginny knew she would, but when she said “Thank you,” she sounded like she meant it.

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