“I’ve come to make you an offer,”
“No,” I said.
“Get off our porch,” Irvin added.
Vanessa smiled.
“You have until tomorrow morning to reconsider.”
She left the wine on the railing and walked home.
The door had barely closed when Irvin rubbed both hands over his face.
“Don’t get mad at me,” he said, “but we should at least think about it.”
“You have until tomorrow morning to reconsider.”
I stared at him.
“We know the truth,” he continued. “She knows the truth. Why risk your business over an apology nobody important would believe?”
“Because then she learns she can hurt us until we say whatever she wants.”
“And if we don’t, you could lose six years of work.”
Neither argument was ridiculous. That was the problem.
***
The next morning, we found out just how serious Vanessa had been about her deadline.
“We know the truth,”
My phone began filling with messages from neighbors. She had started circulating screenshots of conversations with Irvin.
Can you come over? I need you.
Give me ten minutes.
You’re a lifesaver. Heart emoji.
Anytime.
Standing alone, his replies looked warm. Too warm.
Can you come over? I need you.
I didn’t think he’d cheated.
But I was furious that he’d given Vanessa so much material to work with before finally cutting her off.
“You knew she was flirting with you,” I said. “Why did you keep going over there?”
“Because I had zero interest in her. I thought that was obvious.”
“It wasn’t enough for it to be obvious to you.”
He went quiet.
He’d given Vanessa so much material to work with
***
Two days later, the wedding cake customer canceled. She had heard there was “some trouble” with my bakery and couldn’t risk her order.
I stared at the message until the words blurred.
Vanessa wasn’t just embarrassing me anymore.
She was costing me money.
That night, I put my phone on the kitchen table.
“We post everything,” I said. “Every conversation. Full screenshots. Dates. All of it.”
She was costing me money.
Irvin shook his head.
“And turn our marriage into neighborhood entertainment? No. We fix the garage, stabilize the business, and stop giving her more of our life.”
