Page 8 of Don’t Open Your Eyes

Scarlett shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. I thought they were my friends, but—”

Avery looked across the room to where Zoe was sitting and then back at Scarlett. “Let me guess. It was over a guy?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, if you ask me, you’re better off without all of them, including Ethan. That guy may know how to spin a lacrosse stick, but he can hardly string two sentences together.”

Scarlett nodded. “I guess I got distracted by how cute he is.”

“Cute only goes so far. Don’t you want to be with someone who has brains too?”

“I don’t care about Ethan anymore. He’s a jerk. Zoe can have him. I’m more interested in getting to know someone else right now anyway.”

The Wife

He’s hiding something. I found a key for a post office box in his briefcase. When I asked him about it, he pretended he had no idea where it had come from. But he’s hidden things before, and I can always tell when he’s lying. He’s definitely lying now. So I kept the key. Told him I’d throw it out, and to his credit, he didn’t argue. Probably because he figured then I would drop it. But that’s where he was wrong. While he slept, I pulled his corporate Visa card from his wallet and took pictures of it. The next day I called the bank and told them I needed the past couple of statements. The charge for the post office box was right there. The post office was understanding about my forgetting my box number. The key fit, and I found out his secret.

Annabelle

Annabelle had to give Madeline her answer tomorrow. She’d been mulling it over for the past several days and was planning to discuss it with James tonight. He’d been on call for the last three nights since two of his partners had come down with the flu. They’d finished dinner, and the girls had gone upstairs to their rooms to do their homework. Annabelle was checking her emails on her laptop while James loaded the dishwasher.

“Tea?” asked James, after he finished.

“I’m okay.”

“Come on. Some nice chamomile will relax you.” He made two cups and brought them over to the large island, sitting next to her.

“What’s going on? You’ve been preoccupied.”

She took a sip of her tea. She reached out and squeezed his hand. He could read her so well. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something. Madeline’s leaving, and she offered me her job. But I’m not sure what to do.”

His face lit up. “That’s great, babe. Congratulations! What’s the problem?”

“Well, it’s a lot more hours. Late nights. More travel. I don’t know.”

“Is it something you want?”

“I mean, yeah, I love what I do. I’d have a lot more creative control. I’d be overseeing the whole team. In some ways, there’d be less daily work, but I’d have more meetings, at least in the client acquisition phase.” She exhaled. “The girls are both still young. I worry that I won’t be there when they need me. What do you think?”

“I think it’s your decision. There are bound to be regrets either way. If you don’t take it, you may always wonder if you should have. And if you do, you’ll wonder if you shouldn’t have.”

Annabelle rolled her eyes. “Now I understand why you went into medicine instead of philosophy.” She laughed. “I get that there’s an upside and a downside to both. But which is the right decision?”

“And I get that you like to know how things are going to turn out; I understand there’s been a lot of uncertainty in your past. But you know as well as I do that there are no guarantees. We can always get more help if you decide you want to go for it.”

“I know. But I don’t want to miss the important things.”

James gave her a tender look. “I understand that. But you’re a wonderful mother, and the girls are happy and well-adjusted. You don’t have to give up your dream job for our children. But on the other hand, I don’t think you should feel pressured to take it just because it’s a promotion.” He stood and gave her a peck on the lips. “I know you’ll make the right decision.”

She stayed there after he left, thinking through her options, then looked up when she heard footsteps. Olivia walked over to her, clad in her pajamas.

“Can you come up and read to me?”

“You got it, sweetie.” Even though Olivia was a good reader, this was a bedtime routine that she’d established years ago, and both girls still enjoyed it. She followed her up the stairs, and they stopped at Scarlett’s door. Annabelle knocked.

“You ready for story time?”

“I don’t feel like it tonight. Go on without me.” Scarlett didn’t look up from her phone.