Chapter 8 - The Morning He Came to the Door
I slept in the hotel room with all three babies around me on the king bed, pillows wedged on every side. I woke twice in the night — once for Theo, once for June — and lay in the dark between feedings, listening to the hum of the air conditioning and thinking about forged signatures.
At seven, someone knocked. I knew before I opened it.
Grant stood in the hallway in yesterday's clothes. He hadn't slept either — his eyes were red at the edges, his jaw set in the way it got when he was about to be reasonable.
"Can I come in?"
"No," I said. "The babies are sleeping."
He lowered his voice. "Nora. We need to talk properly. Not through texts."
"Talk, then."
He glanced down the hall. "Out here?"
"Yes."
He exhaled, looked at the floor, then up at me. "I know how this looks."
"Tell me how it looks."
"Like I made some bad decisions. Like I should have been straight with you about the job. I know that. I've been trying to figure out how to tell you for months."
"And Bethany?"
His jaw tightened. "Bethany was a mistake. It wasn't serious. She—"
"He showed her a forged separation agreement with my signature on it," I said. "That's not a mistake, Grant. That's a plan."
The word forged landed. I watched it hit him. His eyes went very still.
"I don't know what she told you—"
"I have a photo of the document. It's already with a lawyer."
A long silence. Behind me, June made a small sound and went quiet again.
"You've talked to a lawyer," he said.
"Yes."
"Already."
"Yes."
He put one hand on the doorframe. Not aggressive — more like he needed something solid.
"Nora. Think about what you're doing. We have three children. A divorce is going to—"
"I haven't said the word divorce. I said I talked to a lawyer about a forged document. Those are different things."
The reasonable expression developed a crack.
"What do you want?" he said.
"Right now? Go back to the resort. Stay there today. And understand the travel card is not getting unfrozen."
"I have expenses—"
"Use your own account."
Another silence. Longer.
"I can't," he said.
"I know," I said.
He looked at me then — really looked — and I think that was the moment he understood I wasn't guessing anymore. That I knew about the job. How long it had been. That the ground he'd been standing on had been mine all along, and I'd simply stopped holding it up.
"Grant. I'm closing this door now. My lawyer will be in touch."
"Nora—"
May you like
"Go back to the resort."
I closed the door and stood with my back against it. My hands were steady. I noticed that with some surprise. Then Theo woke up and started to cry, and I crossed the room and picked him up, and the morning moved forward the way mornings do.
