Mandy laughed. “What is a date night? Usually when I suggest going out, Cory’s too tired and we settle on getting takeout and an hour later, he’s fast asleep on the sofa.”
“What do you think he is up to?” Emma asked.
“I can’t think of any other possible explanation. I was in denial about it all afternoon, but there is just no good reason why he’d need a phone under a different name.”
“Are you going to ask him when he gets home?” Jill asked.
“I put the bill on our bedroom dresser, so he will see it. And yes, I am very curious to hear his explanation.”
Cory called to check in a few times while he was away and Mandy had to restrain herself from asking about the bill. She wanted to do that in-person so she could look into his eyes and see his expression.
She’d had a lot of time to think about her marriage while Cory was away in Vegas. She still loved him and it was beyond painful to think of him with someone else. She didn’t want to believe it, but she didn’t want to be naïve either. As she thought about the past six months she saw a few things differently. Like the extravagant gift he’d given her on her thirty-fifth birthday a few months ago.
He’d had a sleek, white Mercedes convertible delivered and when she stepped outside, the car was in the driveway wrapped in a big red bow. She’d been shocked. Even though they could easily afford it, Cory had never given presents like that before. She’d been thrilled at the time as it was so unexpected and it was a beautiful car.
But now she wondered if it was because he’d been cheating then and felt guilty. He’d worked a lot of late nights the week before her birthday. And he’d been grumpier than usual with her. He’d been short with her more recently, too, easily annoyed. But when she’d asked what was wrong, he’d said nothing, and that everything was fine. But obviously things were not fine.
His flight was due in at four on Thursday, but around noon, he called to let her know he’d be coming in later, and that he’d just grab an Uber from the airport and would see her around nine. That’s when Mandy decided to do what she’d been thinking about all week.
She went upstairs and opened the mysterious cell phone bill. There were only three phone numbers on it. She punched in a code to block the caller ID on her phone and dialed the first number on the list. The call was answered after the first ring by a woman with a perky voice. “This is Margie.”
“I’m sorry, I think I dialed the wrong number.” Mandy hung up quickly and looked back at the bill. There were several calls to Margie in the first two weeks of the month. She took a deep breath and dialed the next unfamiliar number. This time the call went to voice mail. “You’ve reached Sharon Jones and I’m sorry I missed your call. Leave a message.”
Sharon was mostly in the second half of the month. And in the last week, there was one more number. She dialed it and waited. It rang four times, and she thought it was about to go to voicemail when a breathless voice answered.
“Hello?”
Mandy froze for a moment. “I’m not sure I have the right number. Is this Nancy Smith?”
“No, it’s Anna Davis.”
“I’m so sorry.” Mandy hung up and sat down on the bed to catch her breath. She was out of tears. She’d cried enough so far, and now she was mad. She grabbed a piece of paper and jotted down their names, so she wouldn’t forget.
It was a quarter to ten by the time she heard Cory’s Uber pull into the driveway. The house was quiet, as the kids were in bed. Mandy had curled up in the living room, watching a movie and sipping a glass of chardonnay. She was trying to stay calm, but since nine, she’d been watching the clock and jumping every time she heard a car outside. She was dreading the conversation with Cory. Mandy had never enjoyed conflict or arguments of any kind. She liked everyone to be happy and get along.
The front door opened and Cory walked in, with his travel bag slung over his shoulder. He looked tired and smiled when he saw her.
“I wasn’t sure you’d still be up. I thought I’d be home earlier.”
Mandy looked at him carefully. “How was your trip? Did you have a good time?”
He grinned. “We did. Vegas was a blast. I can’t believe I waited so long to go there.”
“Your conference was good too?” She had no idea what it was about or who he was with.
“It was fantastic. A great exchange of ideas and good networking.”
“Who else did you say went?”
“Jim and John from the Boston office, and Daisy. It was a good group.”
“Daisy went?” Cory hadn’t even asked her if she wanted to go. Not that she did, but she was surprised to hear that Daisy went with them.
“Didn’t I tell you? She’s working in the Boston office now too, training to be an analyst. She loves the business.”
“No, you didn’t mention that. I had no idea about Daisy. I thought she liked not working and doing her charity stuff.”
“I think she got a little bored with all that and was looking for something more challenging.”
“Well, I can certainly relate to that.” Mandy couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice and Cory just nodded.
“I’m going to head upstairs and unpack. I’ll be back down in a bit.”
She watched him go, waited a few minutes and went up after him. He was just about finished unpacking when she walked in the room. And he hadn’t noticed the bill on the bureau yet. He looked up and smiled when he saw her. Mandy went to the bureau, picked up the bill and handed it to him.
“This fell out of your gym bag when I was emptying it to do laundry.”
He looked surprised but just took the bill and stuffed it in his briefcase.
“Thanks.”
“So, who is Scott Lawson?”
There was a long, uncomfortable silence. Mandy waited, with her arms crossed. Cory looked down and she could sense his wheels turning trying to come up with an explanation. Finally, he laughed.
“Yeah, it’s a funny story. I thought I’d lost my cell phone, but I was also pretty sure it was going to turn up so I didn’t want to get a new phone with the same name and number. This way I figured I’d just have a backup phone. And I was right. Turned out I left my phone in the Boston office. Patrick overnighted it to me the next day. But in the meantime, I couldn’t be without a phone. You know how that is.”
“What’s funny is if that is true, you never mentioned it to me.”
Cory just stared at her, saying nothing. Did he really expect her to buy that ridiculous story?
“Who are Margie, Sharon Jones and Anna Davis?” Mandy glared at him.
A look of shock flashed across his face. But he quickly recovered and tried again.
“They’re new high-net worth clients.” But he didn’t look her in the eye. He just stared at the floor, saying nothing.
“I’m not an idiot, Cory. You didn’t call anyone else. I don’t know who they are, but they’re not new clients. What’s really going on?
Finally, he sighed. “Okay, I messed up. I’m sorry. I used that phone and my middle name for a discreet dating site. Nantucket is a small place, so I had to be careful.”
Of all the things she imagined him saying, going on a dating site wasn’t it.
“A discreet dating site? You were online dating?”
“Well, not exactly dating. It was no secret that I was married, that’s why it’s called discreet.”
“So, you were hooking up with random strangers? Why?” Mandy stepped back and wondered who this person was that she was married to.
“None of it meant anything. It has nothing to do with you. It was just something I needed to do. It’s hard to explain.”
“Well, try. I’d love to know why my husband thought it was a good idea to find other women online to sleep with.”
“It was just a release. And the thrill of doing something forbidden. I’m not proud to admit that, but it’s true. I didn’t care about any of those women. I love you. I won’t do it again, I promise.”
Mandy’s jaw dropped. “You’re serious? You expect me to forgive that and act as though it never happened?”
A panicky look crossed Cory’s face. He wasn’t used to people saying no. “I swear I’ll make it up to you. I don’t want to lose you.”
“You should have thought of that before you got your second phone and placed that ad. I think you should leave.”
“Now?”
Mandy sighed. It was after ten. “No. You can stay here tonight. But tomorrow you need to go. I can’t forgive this Cory. It’s too big.” She sniffed and looked around for a tissue. She tried to keep the tears back, but they fell hard. Cory took a step toward her and looked like he wanted to hug her. She sidestepped him and walked toward the door.
“I’m so sorry, Mandy. I never intended to hurt you.” He did sound sorry, but she knew he was probably more sorry that he got caught than anything else.
“I’m going to sleep in the guest bedroom tonight,” she said.
“You don’t have to. I’m happy to sleep there,” he offered.
But Mandy didn’t want to sleep in their bedroom tonight. There was too much Cory in that room and she wanted to be far away.
“No, you have it. Enjoy your last night in our bed, alone.”
The next morning, Mandy was in the kitchen making a cup of coffee when Cory walked up to her and looked like he’d been crying too. She was surprised to see it, but it didn’t change anything. She’d cried more last night than she’d thought possible until she finally fell asleep.
“Can we talk about this? What can I do to make it up to you? I’ll do anything.” He flashed the smile that used to melt her heart. It only made her want to cry again, and she’d told herself she was done crying.
“There’s really nothing to talk about. I’m not going to change my mind. It’s over.”
He sighed. “I thought maybe you’d think more about it and want to try to save our marriage. I’d even be willing to go to counseling.”
“I don’t see how counseling can fix this, Cory. How can I trust you again? And what kind of example would I be setting for our children?”
He was silent for a moment before saying, “They’d never need to know. We could pretend this never happened.”
“Maybe you could, but I couldn’t. You should call a realtor and see about getting yourself a rental, or buy something, whatever you prefer. In the meantime, there are plenty of hotels and bed and breakfasts for you to choose from. Just let us know where you decide to stay, and we can figure out some kind of visitation for the kids.”
He nodded. “Okay. I’ll go pack a suitcase. I can get the rest of my stuff this weekend, maybe?”
“That’s fine.”
“Maybe we could just separate for a while, take a break, and then maybe revisit things?” His tone was hopeful, but Mandy shook her head.
“I’m don’t think I’m going to change my mind, Cory. I’ll let you know if I do. Right now, I just can’t be around you.”
He nodded. “Okay, we don’t need to rush into anything. But whatever you want to do, I’ll support. Again, I’m really sorry, Mandy.”
Mandy felt the tears threaten again, and she tried to channel her anger to keep them at bay. She did not want to cry again in front of Cory. He wasn’t worth crying about. She picked up her coffee cup and turned to head into the sunroom.
“Bye, Cory. Let me know when you get settled somewhere.”
Chapter 13
Mandy was relieved that Cory didn’t take long to pack a suitcase. He was out the door before the kids were up, which she was grateful for. She wasn’t up to explaining anything to them just yet. They were bound to be upset, and Mandy hoped to disrupt their lives as little as possible. They would have to spend some time with Cory, most likely on weekends, and given that he was rarely around and always working, they might end up actually seeing more of him this way—though she knew it was going to be a huge change for all of them. She felt like she was going through the motions and that the full impact of what happened hadn’t really hit yet.
She woke the kids up and once they were eating breakfast, she jumped in the shower and stayed in a few minutes longer than usual, letting the hot water soothe her. After dropping the kids at school, she called Emma as she knew she was up early.
“Did you talk to Cory last night?” Emma asked as soon as she answered the phone.
“I did. It’s—well, it’s worse than I could have imagined.” Her voice broke, and she felt the tears coming again.
“Where are you? Can you stop by here on your way into the restaurant? I’ll start the coffee now.”
“I’m about five minutes away. I’ll be right over.”
When she walked into Gram’s house, Emma and Jill held the door wide open and pulled her in for a group hug. Emma handed her several tissues as they walked to the kitchen and sat down with their coffees.
“I have some cinnamon crumb muffins if you’re interested too? I just had one,” Emma offered.
Mandy shook her head. She had no interest in food.
“No, thanks. I had breakfast already.”
“So, when you’re ready, tell us about Cory,” Emma said gently.
Mandy took a deep breath and told them.
“A discreet dating site?” Emma looked horrified.
“He thinks he can do whatever he wants. His success has gone to his head,” Jill was clearly disgusted.
Mandy nodded. “I think that’s very true. Everyone has put him and Patrick on a pedestal, the golden boys that can do no wrong. He’s always been a risk taker, but he pushed it too far this time. He really seemed shocked that I wouldn’t consider forgiving him. He even offered to go to counseling and I could tell he was pretty proud of himself for that.”
Jill shook her head. “I’m so sorry, Mandy. I have to admit, I’m shocked. I thought you guys were so solid, the perfect family. Looking back, were there any signs?”
“Yes, but I didn’t see it at the time. You know the convertible he gave me for my birthday? Well, we don’t do that. That was very much out of character for Cory. I think it may have been a guilt gift. He was working really late the week before my birthday. All those nights he worked late or went back to the office after dinner—well, he may have been doing something else.”
“So now what? Do you want to try to save the marriage?” Emma asked.
Mandy sighed and grabbed a fresh tissue. “I’m not sure that I can. The trust is gone. Cory packed a bag and moved out this morning.I told him I’d let I’m know what I want to do.”
Jill nodded. “It’s a horrible situation, but maybe it’s best to be decisive about it. I would imagine it would be harder to try to make it work.”
“Part of me wants to try to fix it, but I feel physically ill now when I look at him.I’m not sure we can come back from something like this. It’s just the shock of it all. It was so unexpected, though I guess I missed other signs too. He’s been short with me more often and hasn’t been all that fun to be around. I just assumed it was work stress.”
“What can we do to help?” Emma asked.
Mandy looked at both of her sisters and her eyes welled up again. She was so grateful that they were there.
“There’s really nothing to do. I’m just glad you’re here and that we have Mimi’s Place. It is a blessing really and will give me something to focus on.”
“If you need help with the kids or anything, please let us know,” Jill offered.
“Yes, definitely,” Emma agreed.
Mandy smiled as a thought came to her. “You know there is something. When I got this place ready for you, I found a diary on Gram’s desk and started reading it. I think I mentioned it. Have you guys seen it? It was a fascinating peek into her life. If you don’t mind, I’d love to borrow it. I’ll have more time for reading now with Cory gone.”
“Of course. I haven’t seen it. Have you, Jill?”
“No. I didn’t know Grams even had a diary.”
“When I finis
h, I’ll bring it back so you can read too. Oh, and we have our meeting with Paul later today.”
Emma looked concerned. “Are you sure you’re up for that?”
“I’m looking forward to it. To seeing what Paul thinks and to get started on these changes. I’ll need a project to focus on now more than ever.”
Paul came in early to meet with Mandy, Emma and Jill about the consultant’s suggestions. They grabbed coffee and went into the function room side of the restaurant, so it would be quiet. Mandy walked through the list of recommendations, and Paul was surprised to find himself agreeing with most of them, except for cutting staff. They were all in agreement that Grams wouldn’t have supported that idea and they didn’t plan to, either.
He especially agreed with the suggestion to get new carpet in the dining room and to hang local art on the walls. As they went through everything, though, he couldn’t help but notice that something seemed a little off about Mandy.
“What are your thoughts on changing the menu?” Mandy asked.
Paul grinned. “I agree that it’s long overdue. I tried to add my own spin through the specials, but other than that the menu really hasn’t changed much over the years.”
“I thought it might be good to have a grand reopening party of sorts. Invite the regulars, local businesses and hotels and have samples of some of the new menu additions—whatever you decide on. If you are up for it?” He could tell Mandy was excited about putting the event together.
“We thought it might be a good way to thank the regulars and get the word out about the new menu,” Jill added.
Paul thought about it for a moment and realized it was a smart idea, and a good chance for him to show them what he could do. It would be a fun challenge. “I like it. I have some ideas on menu items. Let me think about this and get back to you with what I have in mind. Sound good?”
“That sounds perfect,” Jill said and Emma nodded in agreement.
Mandy took a deep breath. “Good. I am looking forward to this event. It will give me something to focus on.” She glanced at her two sisters and then at Paul and hesitated for a moment as if she wasn’t sure whether to continue. Emma reached out and grabbed her hand and Jill nodded. Paul knew then that his initial sense that Mandy wasn’t quite herself was on target. Something was wrong.
The Restaurant Page 10
