Eliza Starts a Rumor(39)
She’d planned on initiating sex with him that night, to further prove her stance, but couldn’t go through with it. It had now been months since they had been together that way, so he didn’t notice or care. She had heard of other new fathers practically begging their wives for sex as early as two weeks after childbirth. At the time she thought, How lucky am I to have such a selfless husband? Now it was all coming into question.
She had followed Andie’s advice to a T, but in her heart, she still wanted to ask Spencer for explanations. She wanted him to make her feel better, even if his words were lies. She wished she could tell him what she had done that day, how she was sure he was cheating. Then he could respond by telling her he adored her and would never even look at another woman. She could just believe him and that would be that. But that was not who she was.
As she walked to Alison’s, the morning mist hung heavy in the trees. It eerily matched her psyche, heavy with burden, her empty stomach so filled with fear that it blocked her breath. She again felt as if she were walking to her execution. She wished she hadn’t brought Lily with her and wasn’t sure if she could even care for her in her shaky arms, but Alison had insisted. She felt Eliza Hunt would not be able to resist telling the truth to a woman with an infant. What woman could?
Alison was waiting for her, ready to walk, but changed her mind when she saw her. There was a fine line between a sympathetic witness and a pathetic one.
“Come inside for a few minutes.”
They had wanted to get to Eliza’s early enough that she would hopefully be home, but not too early for it to be rude. Alison had done a bit of online investigating and was confident that Eliza wasn’t employed, that her husband was, and that their kids were in college. Arriving between nine and ten seemed like their best shot to find her home alone. Alison looked at the time. They had enough for one cup of tea to calm Olivia’s nerves. As they drank, Alison prepped her.
“So, if she’s home, I imagine she will come out and talk to us. I’m confident that I can get her that far at least. Once she does, let me do most of the talking.”
“Thanks, I would rather that.”
“It’s fine. I’m going to guide the conversation, I promise, but you have to elicit her sympathy for this to work. You can’t appear deranged, not that I think you are deranged—of course I don’t—but she has to see herself in you in order to want to help you.”
Olivia sipped her tea and nodded her head in agreement. She could see that Alison needed more assurance.
“I got it. I’ll be strong. I am strong.”
“OK, are you ready?” Alison cheered her on, with two fists in the air.
“I’m ready!” Olivia feigned matching enthusiasm.
* * *
—
For a minute or two, Alison and Olivia stood between Eliza’s house and her neighbors’, assessing the situation. Actually, Alison was assessing the situation; Olivia was concentrating on breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth.
In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.
In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.
The neighborhood they were standing in was much more of a neighborhood than where either of them lived, with Olivia up in the cliffs and Alison smack in the middle of town. The difference registered in both of their minds.
“It’s nice here,” Alison said. “More like what I imagined the suburbs to be like.”
“I guess,” Olivia somewhat agreed. She had not spent much time imagining the suburbs. She was sure she would still be in the city if she hadn’t fallen so head over heels in love with her house.
“You good to go?” Alison asked.
Olivia nodded and continued listening to her breath. As they reached the door, she felt a wave of strength come over her. Knowing the truth, whatever that may be, had to be better than living with doubt and uncertainty. She couldn’t bear the thought of even one more night of pretending that everything was OK. They had to get an answer.
Alison motioned for Olivia to ring the bell, as if it were symbolic—of what, she wasn’t sure. The ring surprised them, it wasn’t the normal ding-dong, but a repeat of the first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth. They both laughed, causing them to laugh again at the fact that they were laughing. Eliza answered the door. She looked taken aback, but, thankfully, kind.
“Can I help you?” she asked from behind the screen.
“I hope so,” Alison answered. “We understand that you’re the moderator for the Hudson Valley Ladies’ Bulletin Board.”
They certainly didn’t look dangerous, but Eliza kept a strong hand on the inner door, ready to slam it, if necessary.
“That’s correct,” she answered cautiously, surprised by the sight of two women with baby strollers standing at her door questioning a forum that had only ever existed online.
Alison smiled warmly, realizing as much.
“I’m Alison Le and this is my friend Olivia York. We both recently moved here.”
Olivia smiled, too, and added, “I bought this jogging stroller from someone on the bulletin board. Thank you!”
Eliza relaxed and smiled back now that she felt more confident that this was a friendly visit, odd as it may be. How did these two even know where she lived? She waited for them to get to the point. As she did, she saw Amanda arrive home. She sensed she needed backup.