Page 63 of The Wife

“A closing got postponed. Figured I deserved a day off.”

Opening the containers, I spotted all of my favorite dishes: tuna tartare, seafood salad, mushroom risotto, sliced duck breast, a pork chop. “Is a small army joining us?”

“I wanted you to have some choices, and I figured you and Jason could use the leftovers.”

I started to get plates from the cupboard, but he stopped me.

“Go have a seat.” I sat at the kitchen table while he pulled dishes, silverware, and glasses from the cupboards. A stranger watching us would have assumed he lived here. The finishing touch was the final item waiting in the bag: a bottle of Sancerre, wrapped in a chiller sack.

“You are an angel,” I said as he took a seat next to me.

I was three bites in when he told me I looked happy. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you smile.”

“Shows how much I like my food.” I was surprised at how content I felt, even though I knew it was fleeting. Jason was gone for the day—his first full workday since his arrest. He was suspended from the university and had lost several clients, but had scheduled back-to-back meetings with the few remaining ones who had agreed to meet with him. Against my advice, he was also planning on recording an episode of his podcast, his first appearance on the program since I’d first heard of Kerry Lynch. He insisted that it had to be done. Zack had been carrying on without him, but the Equalonomics brand was Jason’s. He seemed oblivious to the increasing numbers of one-star reviews being posted on iTunes of the podcast: “Politically correct sex offender. Irony much?” “Boycott the asshats still advertising on this program.” “Will he be able to pod from prison?” “Of course this sanctimonious libtard is a rapist. Totally predictable.”

There was a reason I hadn’t been leaving the house for meals, or anything else, for that matter. And until this day, Jason had been home too. Only a few weeks ago, that would have been enough to make me happier than any kind of extravagance, but the past two weeks had felt stifling and heavy. This house had become joyless.

I reached for the duck and slid another slice onto my plate. It was only then that I realized Colin didn’t look quite as happy as I felt in that moment.

I put my fork down and shook my head. “I’m so stupid.”

“What—”

“It’s no coincidence you called the first day Jason’s out of the house, here in your casual clothes with this amazing meal. Did he send you here? What news does he want you to break? What is it now?”

He reached over and placed a calming hand on my wrist. “Angela, I promise. Jason doesn’t even know I’m here.” He removed his hand and held it up in a scout’s honor for emphasis.

I believed him. “I’m so sorry. I’m just— I’m constantly on edge, like everyone’s watching me. Talking about me. Judging. I can’t keep living like this.”

“I totally understand.”

When I continued eating, the food didn’t taste as good. I took another sip of my wine.

“You do know me so well, though,” Colin said. I waited for him to explain. “I promise that I was coming here anyway, with food already ordered, and wine already chilled. But that look you saw on my face just now—I was trying to muster up the courage to talk to you about something. Susanna called me while I was on my way to Gotham.”

“And?”

“She wanted to know the implications to you and Spencer of this lawsuit against Jason. Is something going on?”

“Of course something’s going on. That woman’s trying to take us for every dime she can get. I’m sure Susanna’s just worried about me, but I’m not stupid. We could end up broke. I’ve already thought about that. I can go back to catering. Spencer can go to public school. The good thing about growing up poor is that you already know what it’s like.”

The thought of returning to the East End was intolerable. We could go somewhere else and start over. Scottsdale or Tampa. One of those places that normal people go to.

“It wasn’t merely a general sense of worry, Angela. Susanna specifically asked me whether you could protect yourself by filing for divorce before any kind of judgment is entered.”

I sighed. “The thought never crossed my mind. I’ll talk to her. Don’t worry about it.”

“But that’s why I came over. It never crossed my mind, either, and I realized I owe you an apology for that. When this all came down, I told you—as your friend—that you didn’t have to stay. And you told me you wanted to, at least to get Jason through this. But I didn’t talk to you about that decision as a lawyer. And since then, all I’ve been trying to do is help Jason.”

“Me too.”

“Just hear me out so I can live with myself. If you filed for divorce now, there’s a good chance that you could take your part of the assets and shield them from a judgment. You could get the house—”

“I could never afford to carry it—”

“That’s not the point. You’d have the equity. Half of his pension, half the liquid assets. It’s possible they’d argue that your settlement with Jason was a sham to try to protect assets, but given the nature of the allegations against him, it would look completely legitimate. And if you and Jason get back together down the road, well, then, so be it. A court’s not going to stop you from getting remarried. Or, who knows? Maybe you’d want to be on your own by then.”

“Does Jason know you’re telling me this?”

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