I accepted the hand that she offered.
“Good to meet you. Sorry, I was expecting Sarah. I’m Miss Norton, Carter’s teacher. Just wanted to say what a good boy he’s been today. Extra helpful in the classroom, and he took one of the younger children to first-aid when she fell and hurt herself at lunchtime”
Thank fuck!
“Thanks for letting me know. Carter is always a good boy at home, it’s good to hear that he’s the same at school, too.”
Carter rolled his eyes at me. He knew how full of shit I was.
“Come on, bud, let’s get you home.”
Once we started driving, I asked him about the night before, but he seemed to have his head around it. We didn’t know exactly what any of the kids actually saw, if anything, and I didn’t wanna create an issue if there wasn’t one.
I was surprised to see that Sarah’s car wasn’t in the drive when I pulled up, and a strange sensation started to uncoil in my belly. Something uncomfortable.
The other reason I finished early today was because Sarah and I needed to talk.
Something wasn’t right. We’d had a fantastic holiday last year, and for the first few weeks we were back, everything was great. We were us again, and then we weren’t. It was as if she just checked out on me.
She had been was so quiet. She didn’t come to any of the Christmas functions at the office, and she didn’t come with me when I took the boys to see Santa. We got through Christmas and New Year’s, but she was on autopilot. I had been getting ready to talk her into going to the doctor, but then—as if something had flipped inside her—she seemed lighter. It was like she had this new lease of life. Or someone new to live for. Her nails were now always done, and she’d changed her hair colour at least three times over the past month or so. Why? Why now, so suddenly? I had been thinking all sorts. I trusted my wife, but she was beautiful, and men looked at her. Even when I was with her, some blatantly stared.
Sarah just had that kind of beauty that made men look twice. She didn’t need make-up, her skin was flawless, and she only seemed to get better with age.
The telly was on when I walked into the house, and I was surprised to find Taylor curled up in the corner of our sofa watching it.
“Hey, Tay, where’s Sares?”
“Hey, Liam, hairdressers, I think. She called me just before lunchtime and asked if I could come over and watch the kids till you got home. She said something about getting her hair done . . .”
My stomach churned, and the unease I felt earlier uncoiled a little more. Sarah had her hair done Saturday, just four days ago.
“Lucas has been asleep for about half an hour."
I stared at her blankly as she stood, trying to process her words as my thoughts went into a spin cycle, which was in perfect sync with my stomach.
“Can you do me a favour and just wait here for a bit, I may have to go out again.”
She chewed on her bottom lip before saying, “Er, yeah sure,” as she sat back down.
I hid myself in the study and logged into our banking app on my phone. My hands were shaking, and I shivered as I felt a bead sweat track down my spine.
My legs almost gave way as I stared at my phone screen.
She’d used her card for an unknown charge that afternoon, and then again at the Marriott the next town over.
Why was my wife at a hotel in the middle of the day?
My knees hit the office chair, and I forced myself to sit before I fell down.
I called her mobile again.
“Hey, this is Sarah, sorry you can’t get through. Why don’t you leave your name and your number, then I’ll get back to.”
She sang out her greeting to the tune of De La Soul’s “Ring, Ring, Ring”.
This usually made me smile, but in that moment, it made me want to vomit.
“Sarah, call me back right the fuck now.”
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. There was a reasonable explanation for this.
There had to be.
I shook to the point where I had no control over it. I needed to do something. I couldn’t just sit there and wait for her to come home. If this was what I thought it was, I had to know, even if it changed everything. I had to know the truth. Drawing in another deep breath, I stood and headed back to where Taylor was watching the telly.
“Tay, I need to go out. I’ve no clue how long I’ll be. You all right to stay over if it gets late? I’ll pay ya double."
My head and heart pounded as I stood still for a few seconds waiting on her answer.
“Yeah, of course. Is everything okay? Sarah was—”
“What? Sarah was what, Tay?”
She took in a deep breath and looked around the room as she considered her answer. I swallowed continuously, fighting the urge to throw up as I waited for her response.
“I dunno. Agitated? Stressed out? She was just acting a little strange when I got here, and she couldn't get out the door quick enough.”