Eliza Starts a Rumor(41)
Olivia hugged her, grateful that she had read her mind. Alison added, “Plus, I have a date Thursday night with that gorgeous guy whose shoulder you fell asleep on, so we can deconstruct every detail.”
Olivia perked right up. “What? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Well, given the circumstances . . . Also guess who texted me last night?”
“The baby daddy?”
“Yes.”
“I guess the drama is all in your court now.”
“Uh-huh, and it is not the court I’m used to.”
CHAPTER 23
Olivia
Olivia went to great lengths that day to get her marriage back on track. Feeling the pain of it possibly ending had been enough to scare her into action. Spencer walked in the door that night to a dinner of homemade osso bucco and mushroom risotto, his two favorites, and a warm chocolate cake for dessert. She knew this couldn’t be an everyday occurrence; she had run around all afternoon like a piping plover getting it all together, but hoped the effort would be appreciated. It was.
The night felt like it totally set things straight. They talked about simple, happy things, like what color to paint the den, and whether to go to the Cape or Nantucket for summer vacation. After making love they lay in each other’s arms and promised never to doubt each other again. It may have been the deepest love that Olivia had ever felt for Spencer. Lily even cooperated by sleeping through the night, and in the morning, they all woke refreshed and happy. It gave Olivia an idea. After feeding Lily, she poked her head into the closet where Spencer was getting dressed to run.
“If you can wait ten minutes, Lil and I can come with you. I’ve got a real hold on this jogging stroller thing now!”
“Not today, honey. I have an eight thirty conference call.”
“A conference call? While you’re running?”
“Yeah. It’s a mandatory compliance thing. I mute the phone and just listen.”
“Oh well, I guess it’s silly then.”
“Definitely another time.”
He kissed her on the nose in his old sweet way, and any hurt she felt from the rejection of her offer to run with him melted away. Everything felt right with the world.
Until about ten minutes later when, while making the bed, Olivia fanned out their comforter and Spencer’s cell phone shot across the room.
“Uh-oh, Daddy forgot his phone,” she said out loud to Lily as she looked at the time—8:23.
“I guess he’ll be back any minute.”
She felt bad for him. He hated to miss a run. She slipped the phone into her robe pocket and continued straightening up while Lily watched her happily from her bouncy seat. As 8:30 came and went, she began to worry that something had happened to him. Soon, she dismissed it and decided that, in typical Spencer fashion, his run came before anything else. He must have put it in front of the call. Lily fell back to sleep, and Olivia quietly stepped out of the room to get a few more things done.
She was in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher when Spencer ran in, sweaty and thirsty. He reached for a glass with one hand; his phone was in the other. Olivia flashed back to the meeting with Andie Rand:
“The worst cheaters have two phones,” Andie had said. Olivia remembered it clearly because, at the time, it gave her hope.
“Spencer only has one,” she had responded. “I’m sure of it.”
He smiled at her. “Last night was great, baby. Thanks again.” She just stared, frozen. He was already out of the kitchen and didn’t notice.
“I’m taking a shower,” he yelled on his way to their bedroom.
She wanted to close her eyes and pretend his second phone was not in her pocket, but she couldn’t. Both anger and fear burned inside her. She ran up the stairs, intent on confronting him. As if fate put out its foot, she tripped on the top step and fell forward, knocking the wind out of her. The jolt stopped her in her tracks. She pushed herself up against the wall to get her breath back and regained control. “Stop and think, Olivia,” she said to herself.
On one hand she wanted nothing more than to listen to Spencer’s explanation, but on the other she questioned what it would do for her. She could picture him making excuses: “I have a second phone for work. I thought we were done with this paranoia.”
She longed to hear that, to believe it, and to stick her head back in the sand where she wished it could stay. Andie Rand’s words, “cheaters have two phones,” ran through her head again. She called Alison and told her what had happened. Apparently, her words were indistinguishable.
“Slow down, Olivia, slow down,” Alison begged.
“I can’t! Spencer is in the shower. I need to think quickly, but I can’t think at all. You need to think for me. I found a second phone caught up in our covers. It’s in my pocket. I haven’t confronted him yet.”
Alison took a beat.
“OK. Leave it in your pocket. See if he looks for it. Do not confront him except to ask what he is looking for. If he lies, then we know there’s a problem. If he comes clean, then maybe there isn’t. I know what Andie said about second phones, but I used to have two and certainly wasn’t cheating on anyone. Maybe it’s for work, and you just don’t know about it.”
The shower stopped, signaling time’s up. Olivia took a deep breath.