Page 52 of His Loving Wife

I stand, ushering Andrew out of the bathroom and into the hallway. “Maybe this is a good thing,” I say to him. “She’ll remember this the next time she decides to take off and start drinking.”

“Yeah.” Andrew’s gaze shifts from me to Noah, who I didn’t realize was still standing in the hallway.

“Is she okay?” Noah asks.

“She will be,” I say, resting a hand on his mop of hair. “I think we’re out of Tylenol. And she could probably use something to settle her stomach. I’ll run out to the store and grab some medicine.”

“Good idea,” Andrew says, still looking at Noah. “Say, you want to help me cook breakfast? Some food will probably make your sister feel better. How about a batch of waffles?”

“Sure,” Noah says, taking off toward the kitchen.

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Andrew says to me.

“I want to finish our conversation,” I tell him. “Later.”

We don’t have the luxury of discussing our own problems, not when our children need us.

Chapter 26

4 Months Ago

Andrew and Kate continued their weekly sessions with Dr. Sutton. During that time, they’d gone over almost every detail of their lives leading up to the attack. They explained who Paul Gunter was, about his obsession with their family. That he believed Willow was his daughter. And then they told her what Andrew had done with the DNA test. After several sessions of stalling, the time had come to investigate the root of their marital problems.

“Kate, can you explain to Andrew why you were so hurt by his decision to take a paternity test behind your back?” Dr. Sutton asked.

“She’s already told me. I understand what I did was wrong,” Andrew said, before Kate had the chance to answer.

Dr. Sutton cleared her throat, her eyes falling to the notepad in her lap. “Andrew, I believe the words you used earlier when explaining your reasoning for getting the test wereclean slate. I understand Kate has already told you how she felt, but several weeks have passed since then. If we’re going to get to the root of your marital issues, I think that clean slate needs to start here. In a neutral place.” Her body shifted, and she looked at Kate. “Can you tell Andrew why his getting a paternity test behind your back hurt you so much?”

Until this point, Kate hadn’t talked much. When she did, she was simply providing background about their family and what they’d been through that night. She’d yet to express her feelings.

“It bothered me because it implied I’d done something wrong. That I’d lied to him, so he had to go behind my back and prove me wrong.”

Dr. Sutton turned to Andrew. “Is that why you did it?”

“I wasn’t trying to prove her wrong.” His voice was defensive. He shook his head and started over with a different tone. “I was obviously hoping the results would support her account. I just needed to see them for myself. I had to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

“Would you describe Kate as an honest person?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve never had issues with lying in the past.”

Andrew looked at Kate. “No. We’ve always been honest with each other.”

“Why do you think this situation was different? She’s been truthful with you your entire relationship. When she told you there was no way Paul could be Willow’s father, why didn’t you simply believe her?”

Andrew thought about his answer. Kate sat there, waiting, hoping whatever he said would make sense to her.

“What we went through that night felt so extreme. This man broke into our house. He was obsessed with our family. For all I know, he intended on taking Willow away from us. I guess a part of me found it hard to believe a man would go to such lengths if there wasn’t even a possibility what he believed was true.”

“You’ve established this person has mental health issues, correct?”

“Yes,” Kate said, jumping back in. “I’m not sure of his exact diagnosis, but I know he’s sought treatment. I spoke with his ex-wife, and she confirmed he’d been having paranoid episodes for the past couple of years.”

“Andrew, you can understand why it would hurt Kate, a woman you admit has been nothing but honest with you, that you believed this person over her.”

“Yes. I understand.” His words were clipped, and Kate couldn’t tell if it was from aggravation or shame.

---