“Is that why you remember her name?” I asked. “I can’t believe I would have ever mentioned her around here.”

“Tell me what happened, Ryan,” she said. “Why was she writing to you?”

“How did you find out? Did you check my messages? I didn’t think you ever snooped around on my devices.”

“I wasn’t snooping.” Her words came out more sharply, like nails from a nail gun. “Do you want to know how I saw them? It was about a week before Henry was born.” When she mentioned his name, Henry turned her way. Maybe he thought his parents were having an important discussion about him. I hoped he thought that. “You remember how big I was then. I was like the side of a house. It was hell going up and down the stairs. I was miserable.”

“I know. I remember.”

“Well, I was down here one night. And you were out. I think you were playing basketball. Again. Anyway, I realized my phone was upstairs. Rather than waddle up there, I decided to use your computer to check my work e-mail. It was my last chance to feel like a normal working person for a while. I was wrapping stuff up before Henry was born.” She tapped her fingers against the table. “You’re right. I wouldn’t snoop on your stuff. You have a lot of work things on there. I don’t want to disrupt any system you have for organizing things. It’s the same reason I don’t want you logging on to my devices.” She cleared her throat. “But I saw the messages. One of them came through and dinged while I was on the computer. I saw what she said to you about hoping your relationship went beyond the professional. Or something like that.”

“That means you saw something else,” I said. “You saw that I never wrote back. That she wrote to me a few times, but I didn’t reply. That was it. I ignored her, and she went away.”

“But you didn’t tell me about it,” Amanda said. “Why not?”

“You just explained why,” I said. “You were about to have Henry. And you were stressed and uncomfortable. And you were ambivalent about quitting your job. I didn’t want to add anything else to your shoulders. I didn’t want to pile on.”

Amanda said nothing. She appeared to be absorbing everything I’d told her. She stood up and used a napkin to wipe milk off Henry’s face.

When she was seated again, I said, “You of all people should know about people flirting with you and coming on to you whether you want them to or not.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

“You’re really bringing that up?” Amanda asked.

“It seems relevant. Doesn’t it?”