The Perfect Marriage(31)
“I’ve been thinking lately that I might be psychic,” she said.
“Is that a fact?”
“It is. And right now, I’m getting the very strong psychic vision that your dinner companion tonight was short-haired and thin?”
An odd smile came to James’s mouth. “Were you at the restaurant?”
“No.”
“Then who told you?”
“Your other wife.”
His smile disappeared. “What did Haley do this time?”
Jessica sighed. “While Owen and I were having a lovely lasagna dinner, I received a phone call. A man’s voice on the other line told me to ask my husband how he enjoyed fucking the thin, short-haired bitch.”
“Jesus,” James said. “I’m so sorry, Jessica. That’s terrible.”
“It is now that I know you were at the most romantic restaurant in Manhattan with a thin, short-haired woman.”
James rolled closer to her until their faces were only inches apart. “Of all the gin joints in all of Manhattan, right? What are the odds that Haley would be at Eleven Madison on the same night I was? But it doesn’t matter. There’s no excuse for her calling you. I’ll reach out to Amanda tomorrow and see about getting her to file something in court. This craziness has got to stop.”
“Just tell me that I have nothing to worry about, James. Please.”
He kissed her on the lips. “Jessica, I love you. You have nothing to worry about. Not now. And not ever.”
He certainly looked sincere. Then again, so had Jessica when she made the same promises to Wayne.
9
Owen thought it was odd that, when he exited his bedroom on the way to school the following morning, James was sitting at the dining table. His stepfather almost always slept later than anyone else. Owen might have assumed that James had an early meeting had it not been for the fact that he was still wearing pajamas.
“You got a few minutes to have some breakfast?” James said. “I’m having a delicious and nutritious bowl of Cap’n Crunch. Fix yourself one and join me.”
Owen was usually pressed for time in the morning, but as luck would have it, today he was running early. Besides, Cap’n Crunch actually sounded good. Owen poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat down beside James.
“Your mom told me that you all had a good doctor’s visit yesterday. I know that it’s a tough road ahead for you, but I also know that you can handle it.”
Owen’s usual comeback when someone said something in this vein was to point out that he didn’t really have much choice in the matter. Inside, he wondered if he really could handle it.
Neither response seemed right here. He hoped that he could go without replying, but when it seemed as if James was waiting for an answer, he offered up, “I guess.”
“I don’t need to guess. I know.”
Owen was glad that James, who would not lose his hair or feel sick as a dog for weeks or spend more than a month in the hospital, had such confidence that Owen could endure all those things. Another lie from someone who had no idea what the truth was.
James took a spoonful of cereal. Before he had finishing chewing, he said, “I understand your mom got a very disconcerting phone call last night.”
This was undoubtedly the reason James had gotten himself out of bed early this morning. “Yeah. She seemed upset by it.”
“I know. It came from Haley. Or at least Haley asked some poor sap to make the call for her. Haley’s crazy. I’m sorry to say it like that, but, sadly, it’s just a fact. I don’t know if anyone ever told you this, but Haley used to be an investment banker. She worked at a top-tier firm. After she and I got divorced, totally unrelated to our split, she had this problem at work and got fired. She says she’s unemployable now because of it. I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that she blames me for every bad thing that’s happened in her life since we split up. Probably blames me for climate change at this point too.”
James chuckled, but Owen could eke out only the smallest of smiles. He was still waiting for James to get to the purpose of this tête-à-tête.
“Anyway, she’s so filled with hate these days she’s become unstable,” he continued. “Like what she did at our anniversary party.”
Owen nodded. “Yeah. That was messed up.”
“Messed up seems to be Haley’s specialty lately. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that I’m really sorry that she’s been so intrusive. It’s not fair to you and your mom. Me either, really, but I can take it, and besides, I was fool enough to marry her. But you and your mom, you’re just collateral damage. I’m going to talk to my lawyers to make sure this stops, once and for all. And finally, and far most importantly, I wanted to tell you what I told your mom last night. What Haley—or her boy toy—said is just not true. The short-haired woman Haley saw me with last night is named Allison. She’s just a business colleague. We’re doing a deal together. Your mom and I are solid. Trust me on that.”
So that was what the call was all about. Some guy claiming James was cheating.
And now James wanted Owen, who had known him for barely two years, to trust him when he claimed he was faithful, while his own mother was still lying to him about her own infidelity.