Chapters (46)
- Cover
- Other Titles
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Friday
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- Saturday
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- Sunday
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- Monday
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- EPILOGUE
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Shawn’s face is white with anger and so close now she can see the thin blue veins running along his temples. “How in the fucking world,” he says, his voice calm, level, “could you buy a house and not tell me?”
“I don’t know.” Katriina averts her eyes, picking at a tear in the laminate. “How could you get a job offer in Ottawa and not tell me?”
Shawn slams his hand down on the counter, making Katriina jump. “I already told you, that wasn’t a big deal!” he yells.
“If it wasn’t a big deal, why did you tell Finn?” Katriina can barely hear herself through the pounding in her ears, the dull roar of blood rushing to her head.
“Who gives a shit what I told Finn?” Shawn grabs her by the shoulders, his fingers digging into her arms. Dig harder, she thinks, her head swimming. Please. “It’s not like I went out and bought a house!”
“It was a business decision!” The roar in her ears grows into a wail, and all she can think is Claudia, Claudia. Claudia has come to save me. She looks to Shawn for confirmation, but she can already tell that he can’t hear it. “Why can’t you hear that?” she asks. “Why can’t anyone hear that?”
“What about the miscarriage?” he says. “What about the fact that you lost our baby?”
Katriina wrenches free and pushes Shawn back. “I didn’t lose her! Stop saying I lost her! Maybe she just decided she didn’t want to be a part of this screwed-up family!”
For a moment, she is sure that Shawn is going to hit her. She braces herself, but instead he stalks across the kitchen, running his hands through his hair. The wailing reaches a crescendo.
“Shh, Claudia,” Katriina says, her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Who the hell is Claudia?” Shawn yells. “What else are you keeping from me, Katriina? Huh? What else are you keeping from me while my family is in crisis?”
“I’m in crisis, Shawn!” she yells back. The noise suddenly stops. In the resulting silence, her voice echoes off the bare kitchen walls. “I am. Your wife.” She spreads her arms wide. “Look at me. Look at this house. Look what happened to your own family while you were dealing with the fucking Parkers!”
Shawn stares at her, and she can see herself reflected in his eyes – standing there in her half-buttoned blouse and her underwear against a backdrop of Post-it notes, her legs sliced up, ranting about phantom noises, imaginary children.
“I can’t handle this right now,” he says. He raises his arms in defeat and walks out the door.
TWENTY-TWO
