He had predicted his own performance.
So I went home and put on the blue dress.
Keith had set the dining table beneath the courtyard windows.
He had bought flowers.
A bottle of wine stood beside two glasses.
The house smelled of garlic and roasted vegetables, and for one disorienting second I saw the man I thought I had married.
Then he smiled too carefully.
“There she is.”
He kissed my cheek.
I let him.
“Long day?”
“Very.”
“You work too hard.”
I almost admired the ease with which he lied.
We ate for twenty minutes before he touched the subject.
He began with the kitchen.
“I was thinking we could finally do that renovation.
Knock out the back wall, make the room brighter.”
“That would be nice.”
Encouraged, he leaned forward.
“And if we’re investing in the house together, we should finally straighten out the ownership.
Just put both our names on it.
Clean.
Simple.
Married people shouldn’t have barriers between them.”
There it was.
Not even a full day after I had heard the plan.
“Why now?” I asked.
He looked almost offended.
“Why not now?”
“You’ve mentioned it a lot lately.”
“Because I care about our future.
Hannah, this isn’t about taking something from you.
It’s the opposite.
It’s about trust.”
Trust.
He reached across the table and covered my hand with his.
“After eleven years, don’t you trust me?”
That sentence might have worked on me once.
Instead, I looked at his wedding ring and wondered how many times he had practiced it.
“I want to think about it.”
His fingers tightened slightly.
“What’s there to think about?”
It was the first crack in the performance.
I saw impatience move across his face before he smoothed it away.
“Nothing,” he said quickly.
“Take all the time you need.
I just don’t want paperwork to make us feel like strangers.”
I smiled.
“Of course.”
That night he was unusually affectionate.
The next morning Eleanor called me.
She had never called just to chat before.
“Sweetheart,” she said, bright and sugary, “Keith tells me you two are thinking about fixing up the house.
That’s wonderful.
Your parents would want you to build a future there.”
