Page 11 of The Wife Stalker

She had hoped he might kiss her good night, but he simply smiled and walked back to the car, giving her a wave before the driver pulled away from the curb. She looked forward to the night when his own car would be parked in her driveway until morning.

10

Joanna

I had canceled my appointment with Celeste, because I had forgotten that I’d scheduled a dental checkup for Stelli and Evie at the same time, but now I really needed to talk to her. She didn’t have an opening but had promised to call me in between sessions. As I paced in the kitchen waiting to hear from her, I was in a panic.

When Leo had casually mentioned last week that he’d invited Piper to the Save the Sound meeting, I’d been concerned. It was after eleven when Leo had gotten home from it, and I was pretty sure he and Piper had gone out afterward, since these meetings never went on that late. I’d pretended to be asleep that evening because I wasn’t ready for a confrontation, but now, just a week later, I checked his calendar to see dinner reservations in Greenwich. I called the restaurant to confirm the reservation, to see if maybe it was a surprise for me and the children, but no, he’d made a reservation for two. I had a sneaking suspicion that Piper was on the menu.

“Thanks for calling,” I said after picking up on the first ring.

“Of course,” Celeste reassured me. “I’m sorry my schedule is so jammed this week. What’s going on?”

“I think Leo’s improved mood may have something to do with a woman.” I quickly told her about his Greenwich dinner tonight.

“Joanna, Leo has never given you any reason to doubt him before. You don’t know that he’s having dinner with Piper. It could be a business dinner, couldn’t it?”

“He never goes all the way to Greenwich for a business dinner.I think he wants to go somewhere he won’t be recognized. Besides, there’s something about Piper that worries me. It’s not that I think he would do anything wrong, but . . . I don’t know . . . I think she’s trouble.”

“Have you discussed any of this with Leo?”

“I tried, but he got defensive. I saw a text from her on his phone the other day while he was in the pool with the kids. Something about how she was watchingThe Godfatherand what a good movie it was. I made the mistake of asking Leo about it when he came back in the house.”

“What did he say?”

“He got angry and asked why I was reading his texts. I tried to backpedal, telling him that his phone had been on the counter and I thought it might be an urgent work thing. But he was still irritated. He seems annoyed with me for every little thing lately.”

“Maybe you just need to give him some space. He’s finding his feet again after a really rough patch. Of course he’d lash out at you, being the person closest to him, someone he can be himself around. You might just find you have nothing to fear after all. Why don’t you try to focus on yourself and see what happens?”

She may have been right, but I knew in the pit of my stomach as soon as I’d seen “Oyster House 8:00” in his planner that I had reason to worry. Despite Celeste’s advice, I asked Leo about it later that day.

“I didn’t know you’d made a reservation at the Oyster House,” I said, hoping against hope that he’d tell me it was for the two of us.

He gave me a hard look. “Are you checking up on me?”

“Of course not,” I lied. “They called here to confirm the reservation.”

“It’s a business dinner.”

“For Fred Grainger’s case?”

“Yes. I’m meeting Piper there.”

My stomach was churning. “I thought you said you’d gotten everything you needed from Fred’s counselor. Why do you need to have dinner with Piper?”

“I just want some more background on the center.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea? It won’t look good if anyone recognizes you. You shouldn’t be seen in public with anyone associated with the witnesses you’re calling for his defense.”

His mouth was set in a hard line. “I’ve told you, Joanna, I don’t need you to monitor my every move. I need my space. I appreciate how much you’ve done to support me and everything you’ve had to take on these past few months, but I’m better now. Stop hovering and checking up on me all the time. And you don’t need to lecture me on legal protocol: I’m the lawyer.”

“I’m not trying to lecture you. I’m just trying to help.” His reminding me that I didn’t have a law degree was a cheap shot. He knew how much I regretted not finishing school. And besides, we’d always talked about work, until recently.

He shook his head. “It would be helpful if you would drop it.” I didn’t understand what he was getting so defensive about if he had nothing to hide, but Celeste had warned me that people coming out of a depressive episode can get easily irritated, as they were suddenly dealing with an influx of more emotion. I worried that I was beginning to sound like my mother—her suspicion and constant questioning. That hadn’t done her any good with my father, and it certainly wouldn’t endear me to Leo.

I put my hands up in supplication. “Consider it dropped.”

But of course, I couldn’t drop it. I hired a sitter and borrowed my mother’s car, confident he wouldn’t recognize it, then drove to the restaurant and found a spot on the street. Watching the entrance in the rearview mirror, I waited. At precisely eight, Isaw two people walking toward the door and felt a knot in my stomach when Piper came into view. She was dressed in a body-hugging navy-blue dress, her shiny blond hair looking as though it had just been professionally blown out. Given my dark hair and brown eyes, Piper and I were polar opposites, I realized, and I wondered if that’s what had attracted Leo to her.

---