He looked gaunt. “I should have noticed. I’ve been so damn selfish.”

“I didn’t really notice. Every moment of my day was swallowed up by things that needed to be done. There was no time for reflection. Painting used to be a bit like meditation for me—a time to be focused, and calm. When I stopped doing it, I lost that. I never had the time—or took the time—to stop and wonder if I was living life the way I wanted to. That day I left, all I wanted was space to think.”

“I’ve gone over that day in my head. You suggested dinner and I asked you to book somewhere, after first having assumed you wanted the kids along—and it was our anniversary—” He shot her a mortified look. “I don’t even know where to begin apologizing.”

“It wasn’t your finest moment, but a marriage is made up of many parts thankfully, and you’ve had many fine moments.”

“You should have hit me over the head with a skillet, like your mother did that intruder. If I hadn’t found that article, would you have said something?”

“Yes. I needed time to figure it out, that’s all.”

“You didn’t want to come home. That says a lot.” His eyes were tired, his jaw dark with stubble and he’d never looked sexier in his life.

Or maybe she was so shaken up by the thought of losing him she was noticing things she’d stopped noticing. Time did that, didn’t it? It made your gaze skim over things that should have captured your attention.

“I was going to come home, Sean. I was going to speak to you about the way I felt. I just hadn’t planned how or when. I didn’t know you’d find the article.”

“I didn’t find it. The girls did.”

“Oh.” Guilt mingled with anxiety. “How?”

“I sent them to find the spare car keys. They searched your bag and found it.”

It hadn’t occurred to her for a moment that anyone but her would ever read it. “What did they say?”

“Nothing at first. They didn’t know what to do, so they kept it to themselves for a few days and asked lots of questions they considered to be subtle. Then yesterday they confronted me. They had a lot of questions, none of which I could answer, which didn’t make me look great. If there are problems in your marriage, generally you’re supposed to know about it.”

“Are you angry?”