You advised me to prepare for divorce.
Instead, I prepared a gift.
With warm regards,
Rachel
I read it once.
Then I added a final sentence.
P.S. Please don’t worry. Nothing has been used.
When Irvin read it, he covered his mouth with one hand.
“Rachel.”
“What?”
“You’re terrifying.”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“I know.”
He started laughing so hard that he had to sit down.
For the first time in weeks, the tension surrounding Vanessa felt almost ridiculous.
We weren’t fighting for our marriage.
We were simply deciding how to respond to someone who refused to respect it.
And Saturday was going to be interesting.
Chapter Four: The Barbecue of Her Dreams
By two o’clock on Saturday afternoon, Vanessa’s backyard looked like a magazine advertisement.
White folding chairs surrounded long tables covered with red-and-white checkered cloths. Balloons were tied to the fence. A large grill smoked beneath a canopy, and music played through a speaker beside the patio.
