Page 117 of The Husband Hour
“Did you…know about this?” she said.
Howard walked to the patio doors and looked out at the ocean. “Why do you think I was so against your plan to force the two of them—and Ethan—here under the same roof all summer?”
Beth jumped up. “You knew about this and you kept it from me? How? How did you know?”
He turned around. “Stephanie confessed to me after Lauren and Rory got engaged. She panicked.”
“Why didn’t she talk to me? Why didn’t you talk to me?”
“She thought you would side with Lauren and that you would hate her. And she was terrified of Lauren finding out the truth. I gave her my word that I wouldn’t tell a soul, including you.”
Beth covered her mouth with her hands and began to pace. So many things that hadn’t made sense over the years started to come together. Stephanie’s refusal to talk about Ethan’s biological father. Her boycott of Lauren’s wedding.
“You should have told me.” Beth marched over to him, forcing him to look at her. “You didn’t tell me about the second mortgage on the house. You didn’t tell me about this. We clearly haven’t been partners in a very long time.”
He shook his head sadly. “Let’s not make this about us.”
Beth fought back tears. “Isn’t it, though?”
“No,” he said. “I think our problems are our problems and this is something else entirely.”
“Fine. So what do we do now?”
“The only thing we can do,” he said. “We have to put our issues aside and be parents.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
Lauren huddled on Nora’s couch, surrounded by cats. She’d already texted Nora half a dozen times during the day, first saying she’d be late for work, then that she wasn’t coming to work, and finally that she needed to stay at her house.
A few hours into her self-imposed exile, Lauren was cried out and couldn’t stand to be alone. If she didn’t find some way to distract herself, she was going to lose her mind. She laced up her sneakers and ran over to the café.
Long past the three o’clock closing time, the front door was locked. Through the window, she saw Nora standing on a short ladder hanging something on the wall.
Henny opened the door for her. Lauren, surprised to see her, wondered if their feud had blown over. Maybe the laws of the universe healed one wound while another split wide open.
“Hey there, Lauren. I thought I saw you leaving my house earlier today. Oh—is that indiscreet of me? I’m probably breaking some sort of landlady rule.”
“Yeah, it’s not what you think,” Lauren said miserably.
Henny hoisted a box onto the counter. It was filled with signs painted pastel colors, each one separated by bubble wrap.
“What a blessing this summer, having Matt as a tenant. This online-sales thing has just changed my whole approach. You know I’m selling by category now? I’m doing beach signs, family signs…love signs.”
“I’m happy for you, Hen. But I really don’t want to talk about Matt,” Lauren said, thinking, One woman’s blessing is another woman’s curse. “And they’re going back on the walls here?”
“She’s got the beach signs going up right now. I have to head out, hon. Nora,” she called. “I’m leaving the extras here if you have space for them. If not, I’ll pick them up tomorrow.” She gave Lauren a quick hug before breezing happily out the door.
Lauren made her way into the dining room just as Nora was climbing down the ladder. On the wall, a fresh new sign: THE BEACH FIXES EVERYTHING.
Well, not quite.
“I’m sorry I was a no-show today,” she said. Nora unloaded her hammer and nails on a table and sat down.
“What’s going on?”
Lauren sat in the chair opposite her and tried to speak but found she couldn’t bring herself to admit what she’d learned. “I can’t talk about it. Would it be okay if I stay at your place for a night or two?”
Nora glanced at her in concern. “Whatever you need, hon. I won’t be home for a while tonight. Doing a little redecorating around here.”
