Then I replied to David.
We’re finishing dessert. I’ll come to the door.
I opened it three minutes later.
David stood on the porch wearing a gray sweater and dark trousers.
He looked tired.
I’d met him several times at Noah’s school events, though we had never known each other well.
He was courteous, quiet, and usually seemed slightly uncomfortable in situations where Vanessa and Ethan were together.
Now I understood why he might have felt that way.
“Claire,” he said.
“Thank you for coming.”
He glanced toward the dining room.
“I don’t want to upset Noah.”
“Neither do I.”
“I almost stayed home.”
“Why didn’t you?”
He looked at me.
“Because I asked Vanessa this morning whether she was meeting a divorce attorney tonight.”
I waited.
“She said yes.”
“Did you tell her we’d spoken?”
“No. I asked whether she’d scheduled it because she wanted to end our marriage. She told me she was just exploring options.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“But last Tuesday, we were sitting in counseling discussing how to spend more time together.”
I opened the door wider.
“Come in.”
When we entered the dining room, Ethan was laughing at a story one of our friends was telling.
Vanessa sat beside him.
Her hand rested lightly on his forearm.
Then she saw David.
She removed her hand so quickly that the movement drew my attention before anything else.
