Page 28 of The Night the Lights Went Out
Michael shook his hand and introduced himself.
“And this is a good friend, Sugar Prescott,” Wade said, indicating the old woman, who was still sitting but behind Michael and out of his line of vision.
“My landlady,” Merilee explained. “Sugar, this is my hus—ex-husband, Michael.”
Sugar stared at him with hard eyes, and Merilee had the strangest feeling that Sugar was doing it for her. The old woman didn’t stand or say anything, just kept staring at Michael like she was waiting for him to disappear into a pillar of dust.
“It’s good to meet you,” said Michael, for once at a loss in a social situation.
“Hrum,” said Sugar, not taking her eyes away from him, while he tried to keep smiling as if being given the evil eye were something that happened regularly.
Turning to Merilee, he said, “So, I was thinking if Lily was feeling up to it that I would take the kids to Cracker Barrel for lunch.” He patted his pockets as if making sure he had his wallet, and Merilee noticed the bare finger on his left hand, a discernible indentation visible from where a wedding band had once been, worn every day for eleven years. This shouldn’t have surprised her, shouldn’t have made the lump form in her throat. Tammy wouldn’t want any proof that the man sleeping next to her had belonged to another.
Colin started jumping up and down, shouting, “Cracker Barrel! Cracker Barrel!”
Lily hopped on one foot. “Yes, please, Daddy!”
Merilee stole a glance out the front window to Michael’s car, relieved not to see a person in the passenger seat. “Won’t Tammy mind not having you home for Sunday lunch?”
He looked a little sheepish. “She’s... resting.”
Merilee crossed her arms. “The first trimester is always the most exhausting.” She didn’t know she’d said it until it was too late, only Wade’s widened eyes making her realize she’d spoken out loud.
Michael gave her an odd look. “You know?”
“Anyone who reads The Playing Fields Blog knows.” She glanced at Colin, who seemed oblivious to the conversation and was still jumping around shouting, “Cracker Barrel!” Quietly, she added, “You and I will have to discuss this later, in private. We’ll need to explain this to the children.”
“Of course. But a blog? Who writes it?” His face darkened, and Merilee imagined him trying to organize his thoughts, to prioritize line items, to limit loss. It was what made him such a good corporate financial adviser.
“I don’t know—it’s anonymous. And I don’t ask around because I don’t want to publicize it. It mentions a lot of families in Sweet Apple, including ours—although not by name, thankfully—and it’s not all that flattering.”
“This isn’t acceptable,” he said, his face darkening further.
Neither is leaving your wife and getting another woman pregnant,Merilee wanted to add. But didn’t. Michael had always been better at pointing out other people’s shortcomings than at noticing his own.
“Well, freedom of speech and all that. The person isn’t using names, so hopefully not everyone reading it will know it’s us. And if nobody talks about it, then hopefully it will fade away.”
Lily was now hanging on to her father’s arm, breathing heavily from hopping, and a deep crease between her brows was now visible. “It now has over two thousand followers. Everybody at school knows about it, but Bailey doesn’t think anybody knows some of it’s about us. And she promised me she wouldn’t tell.” Her eyes widened as if a thought had just occurred to her. “But what if she does?”
After a deep breath, Merilee said, “That’s for us to worry about and not you, all right? I’m thinking this is just a short-lived fad that will go away soon and we can forget all about it. Like Pokémon Go.”
Her words did nothing to soften Lily’s frown of worry.
“Look, why don’t you all go out to lunch and forget about some stupid blog. It will give me a chance to do a little housework.” She hadn’t planned on it but felt the need to say it out loud in Sugar’s hearing.
Michael glanced at Wade as if still waiting for an explanation for his presence, before turning back to Merilee. “I thought maybe you’d like to come to lunch with us. You know, like old times. Just the four of us.”
She felt Wade and Sugar staring at her, making her feel that if she didn’t have the right answer, they would provide it. “There’s no ‘four of us’ anymore, remember? Besides, the kids have been with me all week. I’m sure they’d like some alone time with you.”
“Mom—,” Lily started to protest, but Merilee cut her off with a glance.
“We’ll both be there for school and athletic events when we can, all right? But things are different now.”
“Is Miss Garvey coming with us?” Lily asked, her voice so quiet that Michael had to lean closer.
His mouth tightened, understanding the meaning behind Lily’s question. “You can call her Tammy now, Lily, remember? She’s not your teacher anymore. And it’ll be just you, me, and Colin. We can get sundaes for dessert, too, if you want.”
“Sundaes!” Colin shouted, resuming his jumping, while Lily barely mustered a smile.
