“And you didn’t say anything to him?”

“No. But I called his work. I normally call his cell, you know. But that day, I called the resort directly.” She shook her head. “He wasn’t scheduled to work at all that day.”

“Oh my god,” she murmured. She took her mother’s hand. “You need to talk to him.”

“It’s Christmas. I am not going to talk to him about this now.”

“Mom, when was this? Last week?”

“No. It’s been…a while,” she said evasively.

“Oh, Mom. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Fine. You won’t talk to him. I will.”

“Abigail Lynn Carpenter, you will not! I won’t have this ruin Christmas. I will deal with it after you all leave.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “I think I knew all along that moving up here was a mistake. I knew he wouldn’t be happy here. That’s how I know he’s having an affair. The last few months, the last six months, he’s been different. There’s life in his eyes again.”

Abby leaned closer. “Mom, how has…I mean, what about your—” She paused. “What about your sex life?”

Her mother looked at her sharply. “What is it you’re asking?”

“Are you still sleeping together?”

“Of course we sleep together!”

“Okay, there’s a difference between sharing a bed and having sex.” She closed her eyes and shook her head quickly. I can’t believe we’re having this conversation, she thought.

“I don’t think our sex life is any of your concern,” her mother said curtly.

“Well, it’s not like I want details. But if he’s having an affair, I wouldn’t think he’d want to…you know…with you.”

Her mother blushed freely. “Yes, you would think, wouldn’t you?”

“What does that mean?”

“It means,” her mother said quietly, leaning closer, “that our sex life has been extremely active lately.”

Abby stared at her mother, trying to get the visual out of her head. “So, that’s a good thing then, right? Maybe he’s not having an affair.”

“And maybe he is. Why else would he be meeting a woman for coffee?”

“Oh, yeah. Forgot about that.” She patted her mother’s hand. “You should ask him. Don’t let it drag on, Mom, or you’ll drive yourself crazy with it.”

“We had our rough patch before, you know.”

“I remember.”

“I never once thought that he was having an affair back then.”

Her eyes widened. “He didn’t, did he?”