Page 2 of The Birchwood House

“Is he alive?” she blurted, her voice loud.

“Oh yes, alive and well. Very alive.” The cop cleared his throat, and Audrey sank against the counter in relief.

A second later, however, the knot in her stomach returned. The cop had bad news, she could tell. She could hear it in his voice and the way he was speaking so awkwardly, as if he didn’t know how to tell her what was going on.

“What happened?” she asked, her voice quiet.

“We traced his vehicle to a residence on the east side of the city. One of our officers made contact with him about an hour ago. He’s not injured, ma’am. He’s not in any trouble.” There was a pause. “He’s, uh, staying there voluntarily.”

Audrey blinked at the counter. “Staying there,” she repeated. “Staying where?”

“He asked us to let you know that he’s fine. I’m sure he’ll, um, get in touch with you himself at some point.”

The kitchen seemed suddenly very bright and very quiet. She could hear the refrigerator humming behind her.

“Wait. You saidhouse,” she said slowly. “Not a hotel. You said a residence.”

The officer didn’t answer.

“Whose residence?” Her voice came out thin and strange, as though it belonged to someone standing across the room. “Who is he with? Is it somebody from his work?”

There was a long breath on the other end of the line. “Ma’am, it’s not our place to get involved in extramarital affairs, so you’ll have to sort this out with him. All I can tell you is that the residence is leased to a Molly Taylor.”

Audrey went numb.Molly Taylor?She’d met that woman. Mollydidwork with Clark, but Audrey had never given it a second thought until now. The coworker he was apparently shacked up with was younger than both Clark and Audrey, not even that much older than their daughter, for goodness sake.

Clark had run off with her?

Indignation covered up Audrey’s other emotions for a moment. She had been a wonderful wife to Clark. Caring, compassionate, and considerate. They’d built a beautiful home together. She might not look quite as beautiful as she had when she was in her twenties, but she was still an attractive woman.

And Clark had gone and thrown away their whole marriage for someone who laughed at the end of every sentence and had a pink sparkly phone case that made her seem like a fifth grader?

For a strange second, she almost felt sorry for him. He’d thrown away something good and real for something flashy that wouldn’t last. People’s respect for him was going to fade enormously after this. Had he really been such a fool all along, and she hadn’t known?

She didn’t say anything to the cop in response. She was stunned into complete silence, her mind beginning to whirthrough memories of Clark coming home late or making bizarre excuses for having to leave the house to make a phone call. At that time, she’d never suspected anything.

I guess I should have,she thought, feeling as though there was an aching hole in her chest.I should have been more suspicious. But I trusted him.

Hot tears sprang into her eyes, but she did her best to blink them back and keep her voice steady.

“Thank you, officer,” she said. “I appreciate you calling.”

The officer murmured an awkward goodbye, and she hung up the phone. Silence buzzed in her ears, and for a few seconds she simply stared at the kitchen counter, feeling completely numb and dazed.

Then, somewhere underneath the numbness, something quiet and hard settled into place. She was going to stop thinking about him. As much as she could. It was time to move on, although she knew what a long and painful process it was sure to be.

Then her phone began to ring again, and for a terrible moment, she thought it was Clark. She didn’t want to talk to him—possibly not ever again. The man she’d loved, who she’d thought Clark was, didn’t exist. She would mourn him, but she didn’t want to talk to Clark about why he’d done what he’d done or suffer through any self-absorbed apologies he might offer.

A second later, however, she breathed a sigh of relief. The caller was her daughter, Michelle.

A rush of peace swept over Audrey. She had lost so much in the past few minutes, but she hadn’t lost her daughter. Her bright, brave, beautiful daughter was still in her life and always would be.

“Hey, hon.” Audrey did her best to swallow the sound of her crying, since she hadn’t told Michelle anything about her father’s disappearance yet. She hadn’t wanted to worry her, clinging tothe hope that it would all work out fine and there would be no need to alarm her daughter.

As soon as she heard her daughter’s voice, however, Audrey wondered if Michelle had somehow heard the news. Michelle sounded distraught, and her voice shook as she spoke.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Hey. Are you okay, sweetie?”