Chapter 2 - Hazel Knew More Than Either Woman ExpectedEvelyn moved first.
Not toward Jonathan.
Toward Hazel.
"Sweetheart, why don't you go downstairs and watch—"
"No."
Jonathan's voice stopped her.
He crouched beside his daughter again.
Hazel immediately looked worried.
"Am I in trouble?"
The question broke through his shock.
Jonathan took both her hands.
"No."
"But Mommy told me not to tell."
"You are never in trouble for telling me the truth."
Hazel looked toward Evelyn.
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
Jonathan noticed.
He also noticed Scarlett wouldn't look at him.
"Can you go to your room for a few minutes?" he asked Hazel.
"Are you mad at Mommy?"
Jonathan swallowed.
"Adults need to talk."
"Why?"
"Because something happened."
Hazel looked toward Scarlett.
"Is Aunt Scarlett staying for dinner?"
Scarlett finally raised her head.
Her eyes were red.
"No, sweetheart."
Hazel frowned.
"But you always stay."
Jonathan felt the words like another blade.
Always.
Not sometimes.
Not once.
Always.
He kissed Hazel's forehead.
"Go pick a movie."
"The princess one?"
"Any one you want."
Hazel left slowly.
At the doorway, she turned.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah?"
"I really didn't mean to make you sad."
Jonathan's throat closed.
"You didn't."
She disappeared into the hallway.
Jonathan waited until her bedroom door shut.
Then he closed his own.
Not violently.
That calmness frightened Evelyn more than shouting would have.
Jonathan looked at Scarlett.
"How long?"
Scarlett glanced toward Evelyn.
Jonathan caught it.
"No."
Both women looked at him.
"Don't look at each other before answering me."
Scarlett swallowed.
"Jonathan—"
"How long have you been sleeping with my wife?"
The words changed the room.
No more pretending.
No more hiding behind friendship.
Evelyn whispered:
"Please keep your voice down."
Jonathan looked at her.
"You taught our daughter to keep your affair secret, and you're worried about my volume?"
"I never involved Hazel."
He stared.
"She just told me you did."
"I didn't explain anything to her."
"You told her not to tell me Scarlett slept here."
Evelyn's face crumpled slightly.
"I was trying to protect her."
"From what?"
"The fighting."
"We weren't fighting because I didn't know."
Scarlett stepped forward.
"Jonathan, this is on me too."
He looked at her.
Something about Scarlett taking responsibility made him angrier.
He had known her since before he married Evelyn.
She had toasted them at their wedding.
She had been in the hospital waiting room when Hazel was born.
She had spent Christmas mornings in their house.
Jonathan had once joked that Scarlett was the only person he trusted to tell him when Evelyn was angry before Evelyn admitted it herself.
Scarlett knew everything.
His schedule.
His marriage.
His weaknesses.
"How long?"
Scarlett closed her eyes.
"Six months."
Evelyn immediately said:
"Scarlett."
Jonathan turned toward his wife.
"What?"
Evelyn shook her head.
Scarlett looked ashamed.
Jonathan understood.
"That's not true."
Nobody answered.
He stepped closer.
"How long?"
Evelyn whispered:
"Eight months."
Jonathan stared.
Scarlett's face changed.
"Eight?"
Now she sounded surprised.
Jonathan noticed.
Interesting.
Even the two people betraying him didn't have the same timeline.
"What does that mean?"
Scarlett looked at Evelyn.
"You told me March."
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Jonathan almost laughed.
"What happened before March?"
"Nothing physical."
The phrase came from Evelyn.
Too prepared.
Jonathan's expression hardened.
"What does physical mean?"
"Jonathan."
"Did you kiss?"
Silence.
"Did you tell each other you wanted this?"
Evelyn looked away.
Scarlett answered.
"Yes."
"When?"
"January."
Jonathan's mind immediately traveled backward.
January.
His birthday.
A ski weekend Scarlett had canceled.
Evelyn supposedly spending two nights helping Scarlett through a breakup.
Jonathan had stayed home with Hazel because he'd thought Scarlett needed Evelyn more.
His stomach turned.
"January?"
Evelyn nodded.
"Did you sleep with her then?"
"No."
"Did you want to?"
Evelyn began crying.
Jonathan waited.
"Yes."
He walked toward the window.
Outside, their neighborhood looked offensively normal.
A delivery truck passed.
Someone watered roses.
A dog barked.
Inside his bedroom, his marriage was changing shape every thirty seconds.
Scarlett spoke softly.
"I should leave."
Jonathan turned.
"No."
Scarlett froze.
"You're staying until I understand why my daughter said you've slept here before."
Evelyn spoke quickly.
"She means sleepovers."
Jonathan looked at her.
"What?"
"Scarlett has stayed here before."
"With Hazel here?"
"Yes."
"When I was traveling?"
Evelyn didn't answer.
Jonathan nodded slowly.
"How many times?"
"I don't know."
"Try."
"Three."
Scarlett said:
"Five."
Evelyn turned on her.
Jonathan almost smiled from disbelief.
"Excellent."
Scarlett looked miserable.
"I'm not going to lie about that too."
Jonathan stared at both women.
"Five nights."
"Not all of them were—"
He raised a hand.
Scarlett stopped.
"You slept in this bedroom?"
She nodded.
Jonathan looked toward the bed.
His bed.
Where Hazel sometimes crawled in after nightmares.
Where he had held Evelyn after her father's funeral.
Where he'd spent Sunday mornings drinking coffee beside the woman he thought he knew.
"Did Hazel ever see you together?"
"No," Evelyn answered immediately.
Jonathan looked at Scarlett.
Scarlett hesitated.
Evelyn's head snapped toward her.
Jonathan saw it.
"What did Hazel see?"
Scarlett whispered:
"Once she came in early."
"And?"
"Nothing explicit."
Jonathan's jaw tightened.
"Then what?"
Scarlett looked toward the floor.
"She saw Evelyn and me asleep together."
Jonathan stopped breathing.
Evelyn whispered:
"Fully dressed."
He looked at his wife.
"You let our daughter find you in bed with Scarlett."
"It wasn't—"
"And then told her not to tell me."
Evelyn began crying harder.
Jonathan felt something inside him settle.
Not forgiveness.
Clarity.
The affair was terrible.
But making Hazel responsible for hiding it was something else.
He opened the bedroom door.
"Scarlett, leave."
Scarlett nodded.
She walked toward the hallway.
Then Hazel appeared at the far end carrying a drawing.
"Aunt Scarlett!"
All three adults froze.
Hazel ran toward them.
"I found it!"
She held up a crayon picture.
Three figures stood in front of a blue house.
MOMMY.
HAZEL.
AUNT SCARLETT.
Jonathan stared.
There was no figure labeled Daddy.
Hazel smiled.
"It's the house Aunt Scarlett showed us."
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And suddenly Jonathan realized the betrayal wasn't only about what had happened in his bedroom.
Evelyn and Scarlett had already started planning what came after him.
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