He barely looked up.
“I’ve told you. Work is demanding right now.”
“You’ve been saying that for months.”
“Because it’s been busy for months. Please stop worrying.”
I wanted to believe him.
So I stopped asking.
That had become a habit in our marriage.
Whenever something bothered me, I found a reason to overlook it.
I told myself that trusting my husband meant giving him space.
But sometimes, I wondered whether I was confusing trust with avoiding difficult conversations.
The signs I chose not to question
There had been other things.
Twice in one week, our home phone rang and nobody answered when I picked up.
A credit card statement showed an expensive dinner at a downtown steakhouse.
I’d never been there.
When I asked Tyler about it, he shrugged.
“A work dinner. I forgot to mention it.”
“You usually tell me when you have meetings like that.”
“I forgot, Deb.”
I let it go.
Then came the perfume.
