The Wife He Underestimated

eat. I clutched the steering wheel, a nervous energy thrumming through me. Six months. Six months since Mark moved to Aus

s a newer complex, impersonal. I saw a group of people in the courtyard, a BB

he was still sleepy but woke

" she asked, ru

e," I said, trying to

was. Not joy. Not surprise in a good way. The woman next to him, younger, pretty, looked

second, a wide, fake smi

ly! What a

ing Lily tightly. Sh

guys are here! You

leagues, including the young woman, Ashley Brennan, his voice a little

d to dinner," Mark said, "

taurant he picked, Lily chattered happily to him. Mark answered her, but he w

a faint smell of stale coffee. Lily, bless her, was easily entertained. I set h

hone?" I asked. M

artled. "My

o check some

sary. My fingers felt cold as I typed it in. I went straight to his texts. A

t mes

rtisanal tacos for the lat

my favorite work b

rted to shak

n, this move to Austin, he' d sworn it was for us, for our futu

ling. My vis

e was swamped with a critical project, couldn't get away. Texts showed him

iss, he' d said, his voice full of regret over the phone. He was actually on

d Venmo' d me $52. "Fo

aw the email confirmation he' d forwarded to her

him. My heart f

his voice suddenly desperate. "We haven't slept

ared jokes, the sheer volume of their communication. It was an affair of the heart, an affair of his time, an affair o