Annie breathed in and out, long slow to breaths to center herself, as she lay on the hotel bed, picking over the carcass of her marriage. Enough was enough. She’d spent too long running and going nowhere; she was jumping off this hamster wheel. There would be no more hiding, no more excuses, for her or Max. Her children had grown and flown, and there would be no better time to rebuild herself. Annie had ripped the blinkers off, and she was ready to face the music.

Chapter 4

Most of the tables in the hotel restaurant were occupied by families with young children; crayons and character backpacks littered the floor and the ignorable Muzak melodies were almost lost beneath their cacophony.

Annie sipped her wine. She was the only woman eating alone. She didn’t mind. Being by herself had been a rare treat when the boys were small. Since they’d grown up, being alone had become her state of being. A man in a cheap suit a few tables down, also eating solo, consistently tried to get Annie’s attention, raising his glass and winking at her every time she looked down that end of the restaurant. Annie smiled weakly and ignored him. As she scoured the dessert menu, another man approached her table and asked if she’d like some company. She politely declined, and the man shrugged and went back to propping up the bar. She was just scraping up the last of her triple chocolate delight when another man-shaped shadow fell across the table. Annie was about to insist that she really was more than happy to share a meal with herself when she caught sight of the shadow’s shoes: two-tone, well-worn brogues. Max’s shoes.

“Hello,” said Max.

His face was all angst. His big blue eyes looked down at her imploringly. Annie realized she had frozen with the fork halfway to her mouth. She laid it down, unable to eat the last mouthful of her pudding, which pained her slightly.

“May I sit?” asked Max.

Annie gesticulated toward the chair opposite hers and Max sat. He looked tired. Contrite. His blond hair, graying attractively at the temples, was fluffy and uncharacteristically wild. His beard was almost entirely gray with flecks of white at the sides and at the edges of his mustache. She resisted the urge to stick her dessert fork into his forehead but only just.

“You froze me out of our bank accounts.” Annie’s voice was quiet but loaded.

Max looked nervous.

“Come home and we can work it out,” he said.

“What you did cannot be worked out. Not this time. Unlock the accounts. That’s my money too, and you have no right to take control of it.”

“I was frightened. I didn’t know what you might do.”