Chapter 5 - Rachel Stops Pretending)
Rachel did not bother inventing a reason for being there.
She walked into Claire's kitchen carrying a bottle of wine and wearing the confidence of someone who already believed the house belonged to her.
Derek closed the back door behind them.
Claire sat at the table.
The old phone was recording.
Emily and Noah were asleep upstairs.
"You're late," Claire said.
Derek put his keys down.
"Didn't know I had a curfew."
Rachel laughed.
Claire looked at her.
"Why is she here?"
Rachel answered.
"We need to talk."
"I asked my husband."
Derek opened the refrigerator.
"She's part of the business."
"At eleven thirty at night?"
Rachel poured wine into one of Claire's glasses.
"You're obsessed with time."
Claire watched her.
Something had changed.
Rachel no longer seemed interested in hiding the affair.
Maybe because she thought hiding was no longer necessary.
Derek took the refinancing folder from his briefcase.
"We're ending this tonight."
Claire looked at the papers.
"I'm not signing."
"You haven't heard what I'm asking."
"It's the same document."
"No. We changed it."
"Who is we?"
Silence.
Rachel smiled.
There it was.
Not an admission.
Something better.
Confidence.
Claire looked from Rachel to Derek.
"How long?"
Derek sighed.
"Don't."
"How long have you been sleeping with her?"
Rachel's glass stopped halfway to her mouth.
Derek looked at the ceiling.
"Claire."
"Six months?"
"No."
"A year?"
"You're embarrassing yourself."
Rachel said quietly, "Eighteen months."
Derek turned.
"Rachel."
Claire stopped breathing.
Rachel looked almost pleased.
"You wanted honesty."
Claire gripped the edge of the table.
Her baby moved.
Eighteen months.
While Noah had pneumonia.
While Derek took Claire to dinner for their tenth anniversary.
While Claire sat beside Derek's hospital bed after his minor surgery.
Eighteen months.
Rachel leaned against the island.
"He was going to tell you."
"When?"
"After things were settled."
"What things?"
Derek stepped in.
"Enough."
Claire looked at him.
"After what was settled?"
"The business."
"What does my marriage have to do with the business?"
"Everything right now."
"Because you're broke?"
Rachel's expression changed.
Derek stared at Claire.
"Who told you that?"
Claire knew immediately she had made a mistake.
She said nothing.
"Vanessa?"
Still nothing.
Derek came closer.
"How much does she know?"
Claire stood.
"Enough."
Rachel placed her wine glass down.
"That's a problem."
Claire looked at her.
"A problem for who?"
Derek's voice dropped.
"Sit down."
"No."
"Sit."
"No."
For a moment nobody moved.
Then Derek smiled.
Not warmly.
"You see this?"
He looked at Rachel.
"This is what I deal with."
Claire felt a chill.
Rachel nodded.
"She's unstable."
The word sounded rehearsed.
Claire stared at them.
Derek turned back.
"You haven't been yourself in months."
"I'm pregnant."
"You forget things."
"You move them."
"You accuse people."
"You lie."
"You become emotional."
"You forged my signature."
Silence.
Derek's face changed.
Rachel put down her glass.
Claire realized she had gone too far.
Derek stepped forward.
"Say that again."
Claire refused.
"Say it."
"You forged my signature."
Derek's palm struck the table.
Claire jumped.
Upstairs, a floorboard creaked.
Emily.
Claire looked toward the ceiling.
Derek saw the fear in her face.
His expression softened instantly.
"Go check the kids."
Claire did not move.
Rachel whispered, "She's recording."
Derek turned sharply.
Claire's heart stopped.
"What?"
Rachel looked around the kitchen.
"She knows too much."
Derek scanned the room.
Claire forced herself not to glance at the drawer.
Rachel moved toward the cabinets.
"Check her phone."
Derek held out his hand.
"Give me your phone."
"No."
"Claire."
"No."
He reached.
She stepped backward.
Then a small voice came from the hallway.
"Mommy?"
Emily stood at the bottom of the stairs.
Everyone froze.
Claire rushed to her.
"It's okay."
Emily stared past her at Rachel.
Rachel smiled.
"Go back to bed, sweetheart."
Emily moved behind Claire.
"I don't like her."
Rachel's smile tightened.
Claire took Emily upstairs.
When she returned, Rachel was gone.
Derek was standing alone near the counter.
The refinancing papers had disappeared.
"Where is she?"
"Home."
Claire walked toward the stairs.
Derek spoke behind her.
"You should be careful what you tell Vanessa."
Claire stopped.
"Why?"
"Because lawyers make everything worse."
Claire turned.
Derek's expression was calm.
"You don't want this family destroyed because your sister filled your head with ideas."
"You and Rachel already destroyed it."
Derek smiled again.
"No, Claire."
He looked toward the ceiling where the children slept.
"You have no idea what destroyed looks like."
After he went upstairs, Claire ran to the drawer.
The old phone was still there.
Recording.
But one sentence mattered more than everything else.
Rachel's sentence.
She's recording.
Claire played back the last thirty seconds.
Then she heard something she had missed while taking Emily upstairs.
Rachel's voice.
Quiet.
Distant.
Speaking to Derek near the back door.
"Tomorrow."
Derek answered.
May you like
"Tomorrow."
Rachel said, "And this time, make sure the kids see enough."
