“But if he walks? I’m a bit of a chicken when it comes to negotiating things like this. We both know the restaurant would be royally screwed if he leaves. I have no backup chef.” I heard another phone pick up on the line and it was Griffin. Just the sound of his voice did all kinds of things to me. I could barely concentrate on his advice.

“Just remember, it’s your restaurant,” Griffin added. “Pay him what you want to pay him.” And just as quickly, Griffin hung up. For the first time, it occurred to me that as Elliott’s wife, it really was also my restaurant now. So I did pay Rex.

“Elliott is going to have a stroke when he finds out,” Lea said. I knew that and didn’t care.

“Elliott isn’t here. Can I borrow some of your makeup?” I asked.

“I don’t know if the revenue can absorb that increase,” Lea said, fishing around for her blush and lipstick.

“How’s the new stove working?” I asked.

“It’s great,” she said.

“How much does one of those things cost anyway? I know they’re expensive,” I said, knowing we could look at Elliott’s meticulous records to find out.

“A lot. It’s a good thing the last one was still under warranty.”

“Elliott forgot to fill out the paperwork and send it in,” I said.

“Are you familiar with your anal-retentive husband? There is never an i he doesn’t dot or a t he doesn’t cross when it comes to that kind of thing. I’m sure of it,” Lea said. I was suddenly anxious to look at Elliott’s bank records to see where my check for fourteen thousand, mostly from Griffin, had gone, if not into a new stove.

I didn’t tell Lea what I was doing. Elliott was still her boss. For the next few hours, I studied every record. I saw where the fourteen thousand dollars was deposited, but I didn’t see any corresponding large deduction for a new stove or any equipment for that matter. Nothing. I did see multiple cash withdrawals on a fairly regular basis—two hundred here, four hundred there. No explanation for those. I was alone with troubling thoughts. My savings and Griffin’s trip to Italy had vanished into thin air. Maybe Elliott was having a bad month and didn’t want to tell me. I didn’t want to fight about money.

One night in bed, I just lobbed the question, “Lea said you found the warranty for the stove. What did you end up doing with the money?” At least I thought it was casual.