Chapter 2 - THE BUSINESS I HAD ALREADY APPROVED
Adrian took the folder from Tessa before I could reach it.
“It’s nothing final,” he said.
Tessa remained near the door, still holding a key to my apartment between two fingers.
I pointed at it. “Why do you have that?”
Her eyes moved to Adrian. “He gave it to me for deliveries.”
“What deliveries?”
Neither answered.
Adrian finally placed the folder on the dining table. Inside were contractor estimates, bakery equipment invoices, and sketches for a storefront on Kinnickinnic Avenue. Tessa had talked for years about opening a neighborhood bakery, but she had never saved enough to move beyond weekend farmers markets.
Now the plans showed a commercial oven, display cases, plumbing work, and a proposed opening date six weeks away.
At the bottom of a budget spreadsheet, beneath Tessa’s name, was Adrian’s.
Mine appeared beside his.
“I never agreed to this.”
Tessa looked genuinely confused. “Adrian said you wanted to stay quiet until the lease was certain.”
Adrian rubbed his jaw. “I said we were discussing it.”
“No,” Tessa replied. “You said Claire was handling the books.”
I looked at my husband. “How much money have you put into this?”
“Not as much as you think.”
“That isn’t a number.”
Tessa stepped closer to the table. “The equipment deposit was twelve thousand. The renovation retainer was five.”
My stomach tightened.
Six months earlier, Adrian and I had finally built our emergency account to just over eighteen thousand dollars. It had taken us four years. We had skipped vacations, driven aging cars, and eaten more frozen pizza than either of us cared to admit.
That money was supposed to cover exactly what had happened to me.
Three weeks earlier, I had slipped on a wet stair outside the dental office where I worked. Two torn ligaments, a fractured metatarsal, and no paycheck until I could stand through a full shift again. Adrian’s warehouse insurance covered me, but our deductible and rent still had to be paid.
I asked him to open our banking app.
He picked up his phone but didn’t unlock it.
“I can explain this when you calm down.”
Tessa flinched. She knew that phrase. Adrian used it whenever he wanted my reaction to become the problem instead of his behavior.
“I’m not yelling,” I said. “Open the account.”
He walked toward the bedroom.
I blocked his path as well as I could on one foot.
“You told me you worked twelve hours today.”
“I was working.”
“At the warehouse?”
His eyes slid toward Tessa.
She answered for him.
“He was at the bakery space all afternoon.”
I held the counter until the room steadied.
“How long has this been going on?”
Tessa’s confusion turned to alarm.
“Since he left the warehouse,” she said.
Adrian closed his eyes.
I heard myself ask, “When did you leave?”
May you like
Tessa looked between us.
“Six weeks ago.”
