Page 39 of Convincing Carrie
Ah. Now I understood. “I’m not. I’m just a little… off at my stomach.”
“Completely understandable,” my dad said as he came into the room. He heaped some of everything on his plate while Mom went to get me some plain toast.
He looked at me. “You know I’d like to take my gun, go to his office, and kill him, don’t you?”
I nodded as if this was a normal thing to say.
“I’d rather stay out of jail, though. Another way to kill him is to take him for all he’s worth. He’s a fucking…” he turned guiltily to see if Mom had heard him, but she was still puttering away in the kitchen. “He’s a fucking Caldwell,” he said in a lower voice. “And he cheated. That makes that stupid prenuptial agreement you signed null and void. You know you should have let me look over it first, right?”
I looked sheepish. He was still pissed about that more than five years after I’d done it. “I wanted to prove to Karen Caldwell that I wasn’t a gold digger.”
He chuffed out a cynical laugh. “Nothing could have made that witch think you weren’t a gold digger, honey. We could havemore money than them and she would still think you were a gold digger.”
I looked down at the table, feeling tears well up again. Why was I crying so damn much?
“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel worse.” He reached out and patted my hand.
“No, it’s fine,” I said willing the tears not to fall. I didn’t have time to cry. “I’m just more emotional than usual. I guess itcouldhave something to do with seeing the aftermath of my husband fucking another woman.”
“There’s no need for sarcasm, dear,” Mom said, startling me. I hadn’t realized she was back in the room. “Or foul language.”
“Sorry,” I said perfunctorily. “I have a plan.”
“Of course you do,” Mom said, a smile on her face. “The Wyeth women are not weak. Not in any way.” Wyeth was my mom’s maiden name.
“For that matter, neither are the Crenshaw women,” Dad threw in.
“Good genes on both sides,” Mom nodded. “Now, tell your father your plan while I make you some toast.”
“I’m going to do a reconnaissance mission. It’s going to be painful, but I need to find anything and everything that will prove he was having an affair. I’m going to look at bank accounts for any purchases he might have made for her. I’m going to look at his iPad and computer for texts and emails. They’re both linked to his phone, so that should be easy.”
“Good ideas,” Dad said, sipping his coffee. “Get screen shots, print outs, everything you can get your hands on to take to the lawyer.” He thought for a minute, and I could tell he was trying to think of anything he might be forgetting. “Oh, take Blair,” he said as if that might be the most important part of the plan.
“Why do you want me to take Blair?” My best friend didn’t exactly scream ‘expert spy.’
“You’re probably going to need comfort, sweetheart.”
“Oh. Okay.” Damn. He was right.
My mom’s heels clicked as she started walking my toast towards us.
“What lawyer have you picked out for her?” she asked my dad.
“Ellis Malloy. I know he’s over in Halliwell, but he’s a tough son of a bitch…”
Mom dropped the plate and it shattered into about a hundred pieces. Dad and I stared at her. She looked shaken and her face had gone totally pale. “Ellis Malloy?” She grabbed the nearest chair, pulled it out, and sank into it.
“Yes,” Dad said slowly, exchanging a look with me. “Do you know him or something?”
“No. Not at all. Of course not,” she laughed loudly and awkwardly. “Why would you think that?”
My eyes widened and Dad’s mouth had dropped open.
“I’ll go make you some more toast,” she said, practically jogging into the kitchen in her heels and dress.
“I’m not hungry,” I called after her, but she pretended not to hear me.
“Anyway,” Dad said, “I don’t know what that was about, but you have an appointment with him today at three. I was able to call in a couple of favors to get you in so quickly. I’ll text you his address.” He looked at his watch. “For now, you’d better get ready and go do a deep dive at your house.”
