After Anna(79)

‘Maggie, I swear, I don’t know what she’s talking about.’

‘What happened in the bathroom?’ Maggie struggled for emotional footing. ‘Just tell me!’

‘She told me the toilet was running, and I went to fix it and when I turned around she said I was trying to kiss her.’

‘Did you try to hug her or anything?’

‘No, nothing. Nothing like that.’

‘Have you been drinking?’ Maggie knew the answer. She had seen him.

‘I had a few, yes, but –’

‘Did you have too many? Are you out of control? Are you drunk?’

‘Of course not!’

‘But you know how you get when you drink.’

‘Not ever, never, with Anna. She’s a kid! Your kid!’

‘She’s not a kid, she’s a young woman.’ Maggie thought of Jordan, down at the conference. Jordan had been young, too. ‘Did something happen at the conference? Did you see Jordan in Miami?’

‘No, she wasn’t there.’

‘Did you go to the AstraZeneca booth? Did you go to the trade floor?’

‘Yes, but I didn’t see her there.’

‘Was she registered?’

‘How do I know? I didn’t look up the registrations.’

‘Who was there for AstraZeneca? We know those reps. Were ours there? Michelle and Chase?’

‘I have no idea.’

‘But you like younger women.’ Maggie’s mind raced, and she felt dumbfounded and appalled, both at once. Fresh eggs, isn’t that what Kathy had said? But Noah with her own daughter?

‘Maggie, I love you. I’m married to you.’

‘Did you hit on Anna? Is this a weird younger-woman thing?’

‘Maggie, don’t get crazy, none of this is true.’

‘Why would she lie?’ Maggie threw her hands up in the air. She felt tears come to her eyes, but she held them off. ‘Why would she, Noah? She just moved in here. She wants a family!’

‘I don’t know.’

‘We just had a big party. Everything was nice. The only weird part of the party was you. You didn’t talk to her.’

‘She didn’t come up to me, either. She avoids me. I think she wants me out of here, out of my own home.’

‘No, I think it’s the other way around. I think you want her out of here. And it’s my home too. And now this?’ Maggie felt herself fighting to understand what was happening. She could hear Anna crying upstairs, and Noah was still shaking his head, his lips parted.

‘Maggie, I would never.’

‘I don’t know if I believe you!’ Maggie blurted out, her heart speaking out of turn, and for the first time, she heard truth.

‘How can you say that?’

‘How could I not?’ Maggie reached for the banister. ‘I’m going to ask her what happened.’

‘Go ahead, she’ll just lie to you.’

‘What if you’re the liar, Noah?’ Maggie shot back, hurrying up the stairs.

‘I’m not!’ Noah called back. ‘She is!’

The bedroom was dark, and Maggie leaned against the headboard, holding Anna close as her sniffling subsided, just like she had held Anna when she was a baby, crying from colic, fatigue, or the myriad mysteries that made babies unhappy. Maggie had loved the sensation of cuddling her baby girl, a warm bundle in a flannel onesie, and when Anna would finally stop crying, Maggie would feel rewarded, affirmed that she had done something right. Mothers had a sacred duty to love, protect, and comfort their children, but after Maggie’s postpartum psychosis had crept over her, darkening those peaceful, happy moments, she felt stricken that she had failed Anna. And if Anna was telling her the truth, Maggie was failing her all over again.

Maggie closed her eyes, anguished. Anna had said, between sobs, that Noah had tried to molest her on the driving lesson and in the powder room downstairs. The very notion turned Maggie’s stomach and shook her to her very foundations. She tried to collect her thoughts but her mind reeled. She didn’t know who to believe. She couldn’t conceive that this was happening under her own roof. She’d read the news about young women being preyed on by their stepfathers. She knew it happened everywhere, even in the nicest homes, like her own. She closed her eyes, tried to slow her heartbeat, and prayed that she could sort out what was true from what was false.

Maggie heard Anna’s breathing settle into a soft rhythm and realized her daughter had fallen asleep in her arms, just as she had back in Congreve. Maggie thought back to that night, remembering her silent vow to never let Anna down again. A wave of guilt washed over her, and a sadness so deep she felt it to her very marrow. Tears came to her eyes, and she bit her lip not to cry. She couldn’t understand any reason Anna would lie. Even Noah had no answer for why Anna would lie. People didn’t lie without reason, did they?

Maggie’s gaze fell on her phone when it lit up with a notification for an incoming text. She didn’t recognize the number, and the notification showed a tiny photo with writing too small to read. She picked up the phone and opened the text. The photo was of Noah, caught in motion, leaving what looked like a hotel room. A banner across the photo read:

Enjoy your party, Maggie? Hope he wasn’t too tired.