Page 83 of Happy Wife

“Go ahead.” Marcus shrugs in Autumn’s direction, and I take my exit, bounding down the stairs, hating that I feel like I might be a little flushed. Mostly from embarrassment for yelling at him the other night. I was horrible to him, and still he came today.

But did Ardell see Marcus put his hand on my back?

As the limo pulls away, Marcus stays on the steps, talking to a few of our neighbors. The windows are tinted, so he can’t see me. But I watch him glance ever so slightly in my direction as we bank left around the church.

Chapter33

I thought the surreality of the funeral couldn’t be beaten, but then I got to Interlachen for the reception.

If aliens descend from space, the level of confusion over what this party is might send them packing to explain to their leaders that Earth is too complicated for their own kind.

Consider a different galaxy.

I am watching Constance work the room better than I could even imagine doing. We keep catching looks at each other and trading icy glares. Gone is the illusion of playing nice in God’s house.

I spot Mia and debate whether to approach her. She’s stock-still as the party moves around her. Her wide, tired eyes watch the scene playing out like she’s stuck in a horror movie. I want to pull her into a hug. As if it could shield her from any of this.

When I move toward her, Ardell steps in front of me.

“Nora. How are you holding up?” He tips his head to one side. He’s going through the correct motions to convey sympathy, saying all the right words. But there’s a current of something else in his body language. Something that feels like condemnation.

“Thanks for coming,” I say, trying to dodge the possibility of him questioning me more. Here of all places.

“It’s the least I can do to pay my respects.”

When he doesn’t offer anything else, I make up an excuseabout needing to say hello to a few more people—trying to ignore the feeling of his eyes on me. Este finds me with what looks like a club soda but mercifully is a very, very large glass of tequila with a hint of lime.

“What the fuck is going on here?” She slams back whatever’s in her glass and looks to see which of the five—five—bars in the room has the shortest line.

“I have no idea. But this tequila was a clutch choice.”

“I just heard Constance tell some sappy story about Will and then go on to say how hard it is to be a widow. She’s not a fucking widow. She’s the ex-wife. The—”

“She broke into Will’s house and stole his wine.”

“Wait, what?”

“When we first started dating. She stole his wine. Just the expensive labels.”

Este laughs so hard she snorts. Which cracks me up. But I can’t crack up. Autumn is about ten feet away and will tackle me if I do. I bite my lip to keep it together. For a second, I think Este is going to hurt herself laughing so hard. But then a flash of recognition changes her expression, and she snaps into place. I follow her gaze and see Mia, standing in a corner on the opposite side of the room. She looks lost and so little. I smile and wave a little wave. She waves back, but I can tell she’s dying to be anywhere but here.

“Este, no matter how weird this is, we get through it. For Mia.”

“For Mia.”

Este and I clink glasses as Carol Parker walks up to me, and I realize that behind her, there’s a line of people waiting to talk tome.

There’s a receiving line now? Like it’s my fucked-up widow coronation, and they’ve come to kiss my sad-girl-widow ring.

Twenty minutes and four hugs from Alma later, I’m longing for hand sanitizer and a new way to say “I’m holding up as well as can be expected” when I spot Lenore bringing up the end of the line. I’m so happy to see her I throw my arms around her.

Finally. I’m in the company of someone who doesn’t submit to the pretenses of these people.

When she says, “Nora, honey, I’m so sorry. What a nightmarethis must be for you,” I know she means it, unlike half of the people I just spoke to.

I’ve lost any filters I had at the start of today. “It’s utter bullshit, Lenore.”

She pulls me into another hug. “I thought Fritz had a lot of nice things to say about Will today. I’m glad. They’ve had so many fights recently at work.”

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