Karen drew in a shaky breath.
“He said he stayed because Daniel was still at home. Then because his mother got sick. Then because selling the house would be complicated.”
“That’s cold.”
“No.”
She gave me a strange smile.
“The cold part came later.”
I waited.
“There’s someone else.”
My jaw tightened.
“How long?”
“He says six months.”
“You believe him?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
That told me everything.
Karen wiped beneath one eye.
“I found hotel charges from two years ago.”
“Jesus.”
“He said they were business trips.”
“And they weren’t.”
“I don’t know yet.”
Her voice broke on the last word.
Then she looked at me.
“That’s the worst part. I don’t know anything anymore.”
I stared through the rain-covered windshield.
I wanted to tell her Michael was an idiot.
I wanted to tell her she deserved better.
But those were the kind of sentences people said because silence made them uncomfortable.
