Chapter 2 - The Week Julian Thought I Was Resting
Julian did not open the second paper immediately.
Lucas began fussing.
That saved Chloe about thirty seconds.
She moved toward me with both arms extended.
“I’ll take him.”
Lucas buried his face against my sweater.
“No,” Julian said.
Chloe turned.
“What?”
“Let Mom sit down.”
I almost laughed at the irony.
I had been in their house for seven days and nobody had told me to sit down until the evidence arrived.
Julian took Lucas from me gently.
Then he opened the second sheet.
I watched his eyes move across the transfer confirmation.
He looked at Chloe.
“I sent this before I left.”
“I know.”
“For Mom.”
“You sent it to the household.”
“I wrote exactly what it was for.”
Chloe folded her arms.
“You don’t get to dictate every dollar while you’re traveling.”
“This isn’t about every dollar.”
He held up her invoice.
“You charged my mother the exact amount I sent so she wouldn’t have to spend money or work while she was here.”
Chloe’s jaw tightened.
“She ate here.”
“I bought the groceries,” I said.
Julian looked at me.
“All of them?”
“Most.”
“How much?”
“Three hundred eighty-six dollars and change.”
Chloe rolled her eyes.
“Oh my God. Are we auditing cereal now?”
“No,” Julian said quietly. “We’re starting with why Mom is cleaning my living room while I paid for a cleaner.”
Chloe’s expression changed.
Not guilt.
Annoyance.
“The cleaner canceled.”
“Which one?”
“The regular one.”
“We don’t have a regular cleaner.”
That surprised me.
Chloe had told me a woman named Rosa normally came every Tuesday.
She said Rosa was sick.
Julian continued.
“I told you to book BrightHome for Tuesday and Thursday.”
“I canceled them.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t need strangers in the house when Margaret was here.”
There it was.
Not confusion.
Choice.
Julian looked at me.
“Mom, what did Chloe ask you to do this week?”
I hated the question.
Not because I couldn’t answer.
Because listing everything made me feel ridiculous for having done it.
“Normal things.”
“What things?”
“Laundry. Meals. Lucas. Kitchen. Grocery shopping.”
“How much childcare?”
I looked at Chloe.
She stared back defiantly.
“Most days.”
Julian’s voice became flatter.
“I paid a sitter too.”
That stopped me.
“What?”
He looked at Chloe.
“I transferred another eight hundred separately for the sitter on Wednesday and Friday.”
Chloe said, “I didn’t use her.”
“Where’s the money?”
“In our account.”
Julian took out his phone.
Chloe moved closer.
“This is absurd. You just got home.”
He opened their banking app.
I looked away.
Their marriage was not my account to inspect.
But Julian’s face told me the answer before he spoke.
“The balance is six hundred and twelve dollars.”
Chloe shrugged.
“We have expenses.”
He looked at the invoice again.
Then at the room.
Then at me.
I suddenly wanted to leave more than I wanted an explanation.
I took Lucas’s small overnight bag from beside the stairs.
“I’m going home.”
Julian looked startled.
“Mom, wait.”
“No.”
Chloe smiled again, but it was shaky now.
“Good.”
I turned toward her.
“You threatened to keep Lucas from me unless I paid you.”
Julian’s head snapped toward his wife.
“You what?”
Chloe’s eyes narrowed.
“I said if she was going to disrespect me in my house—”
“No.”
I interrupted her.
“You said, ‘Pay by morning—or forget about seeing my children again.’”
Julian went completely still.
Chloe looked at him.
“She’s twisting it.”
I picked up my purse.
“I don’t need you to decide which of us is telling the truth tonight.”
That surprised both of them.
“I’m tired.”
I kissed Lucas’s forehead.
Then I looked at my son.
“I’m going home. You two figure out your marriage. I’m going to figure out why I allowed your wife to treat me like hired help when apparently you had already paid for hired help.”
I left.
During the two-hour drive to Asheville, humiliation turned into anger.
Then anger became curiosity.
May you like
Because this was not the first time Julian had traveled while Chloe invited me to “visit.”
It had happened five times in the previous year.
