The Shopping Trip
We drive to The Domain, an outdoor mall in north Austin.
Chloe talks the whole way. About Mark’s promotion. About the new landscaping she wants for “our” backyard.
“We should get a pool,” she says. “For Lily, when she’s older.”
I just nod. I’m watching the rearview mirror.
A black Ford Explorer has been behind us since we left the house.
My PI, Dave. Retired Texas Ranger. He’s good.
We park. Chloe grabs my arm like we’s besties.
“Let’s go to Nordstrom first. They have the cutest baby dresses.”
We walk in. I let her lead. She picks out a $200 white lace dress.
“For the christening,” she says. “I’m going to be the godmother, right?”
“Of course,” I say. “I already talked to the priest.”
A lie. The priest is my uncle. He knows everything.
While Chloe is in the dressing room, Dave texts me a photo.
It’s Chloe’s car. Parked at a motel off I-35. Three nights ago. The night Mark said he was “working late.”
The time stamp is clear. 11:47 PM.
I text back: “Get the room number. And the credit card receipt.”
He replies: “Already did. Room 212. Paid with a card in the name of ‘C. Williams.’ That’s her maiden name.”
I forward the photo to Vera, my lawyer.
Her response: “Adultery in Texas doesn’t affect custody much. But using marital funds for a motel? That’s dissipation of assets.”
Chloe comes out of the dressing room. “What do you think?” she asks, twirling in the white dress.
“It’s perfect,” I say. “You’ll look beautiful.”
She hugs me. “You’re the best sister I never had.”
I feel her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulls it out. A text from Mark.
I can’t see the whole thing, but I see the word “lawyer.”
Her face pales. Just for a second.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Fine! Just work stuff. Let’s get this dress.”
She pays with Mark’s credit card. The one linked to our joint account.
Another $200 for my asset dissipation file.
We leave Nordstrom. Dave is sitting on a bench, pretending to read a newspaper.
I steer Chloe toward a coffee shop. “Let’s get a latte.”
Inside, I pick a table near the window. Dave sits two tables away.
Chloe starts talking about the future again. “You know, once you’re better, you could go back to work. I could be a stay-at-home aunt for Lily.”
“That’s so generous,” I say. “What would Mark think?”
She shrugs. “Mark and I are on the same page. We just want what’s best for the baby.”
“We,” I say. “You keep saying ‘we.’”
She freezes. Her smile falters.
“I just mean… the family. We’re all a family.”
Dave stands up. He walks past our table and “accidentally” bumps into Chloe’s chair.
“Sorry, ma’am,” he says, tipping his hat.
In the two seconds he’s next to her, he drops a small recording device into her open tote bag.
A gift from my lawyer. It streams directly to Vera’s secure server.
Chloe doesn’t notice. She’s too busy checking her reflection in her phone screen.
“Let’s go home,” she says. “I want to see Lily.”
“Me too,” I say.
On the drive back, she gets another text. This time, I see the screen.
Mark: “She can’t know. We move next week.”
Move. They’re planning to move me out of my own house.
I grip the steering wheel. My knuckles are white.
But I smile. “Great day, huh?”
“The best,” she says.
When we get home, Mark is in the nursery. Holding Lily.
Chloe rushes in. “Let me hold her!”
She takes my baby from my husband’s arms.
I stand in the doorway. Watching.
They look like a family. A happy, normal family.
And I’m the crazy lady in the background.
For now.
She’s playing house with my husband and my baby. Next, I show her what “crazy” really means.
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