“Check what?” I asked, my body still pulsing from the thrill of his kiss.
“I enjoy spending time with you. You’re easy to talk to.” He smiled. “I wondered if the chemistry was there too.”
“And?”
“Wow,” he responded. “Just wow.”
“And how,” I added breathlessly.
He laughed a little, looking at me with eyes that glittered with appreciation. “You’re a surprise.”
Up until that point, I definitely had a crush on Ali. I think I fell in love with him that afternoon. The memories of those early days, of that first kiss on Skyline Drive, have a shimmer to them, as if my mind dusted them with golden glitter. The excitement of connection, of undeniable physical attraction, of the idea that this man might be my forever person, was powerful.
And I was happily intoxicated by it.
Chapter Six
Now
“How could Ali buy an entire house without you knowing?” Lulu asked when I called her after talking to the bank. “It’s not like that’s a small purchase.”
I sighed. Since Ali’s death, nothing made sense. “You know I never checked the finances. That was Ali’s department.”
“I understand that, but ahouse?”
“Maybe it’s an investment property.”
“Even so, how could you not know about it?”
“It beats me. I’m obviously an idiot.”
“No, you’re not.” Her tone softened, the new tough love approach swiftly abandoned.
Instead of making me feel better, Lulu’s tenderness put me on edge. “I need to find out who lives in that house and what the deal is. Maybe we get rent from it.” I still spoke inwe’s, as though I were still part of a couple.
Lulu paused. “Did you try researching the address online?”
“Yes, but nothing comes up. The address appears, but there’s no picture of the actual house and I can’t tell who owns it.”
“That’s weird. You’d think Google Maps or some real estate website would have a decent picture of it. Maybe it’s a private gated community? What are you going to do next?”
“What choice do I have?” I’d racked my brain. “I have to drive down there and find out what I can. If there’s a tenant, maybe they have some answers.”
“Ali is literally the last guy in the world I’d expect to keep a big secret like this.”
Lulu’s tone, her willingness to voice her assumption that my husband deliberately hid a significant purchase, threw me off. I hadn’t even gone down that path. I’d automatically assumed there was a reasonable is-that-all explanation for why Ali was paying for a house I knew nothing about.
I trusted my husband. He was a solid guy, a good husband and father who lived a routine life. Work during the week. Lawn care and coaching kids’ games on weekends. A couple of vacations a year. And he seemed content.
But Lulu immediately assumed Ali had been up to no good, even though she liked him and they always got along. Our husbands had been close. Khalid, Lulu’s husband, and Ali were opposites in a lot of ways. Khalid was outgoing and very social with a wide circle of friends, while Ali was more introspective and maintained a smaller, tighter friend group. Still, they bonded. Our families took vacations together.
“You’re assuming the worst,” I said accusingly. I wanted her to reassure me, to tell me that I was being silly.
But she didn’t. “I don’t know what to think, except that when a husband buys a house without telling his wife, that raises a lot of red flags.”
I winced. “I’m going to take some days off work and drive down there.” Ali wasn’t capable of lying about something of this magnitude. I was married to the man for twenty-three years. I knew him better than anyone. Sure, we argued and got frustrated with each other from time to time, but what couple didn’t? Ali never once gave me any reason to doubt him. He and I clicked from the beginning. Wegoteach other.
“You’re not going alone,” Lulu said. “I’m coming with you.”
