Chapter 5: He Comes Home
Ethan arrived three hours later.
He had not been at a conference in another state.
His car pulled into the driveway from the direction of Durham.
I was sitting in the living room when he walked in.
Daniel was in the armchair by the window.
Diane was on the sofa, her hands folded in her lap, her six suitcases still upstairs.
Ethan stopped in the doorway and looked at the three of us.
He was wearing the gray jacket I had given him for his birthday.
He looked tired, but not the way someone looks after a long drive.
The way someone looks after a long decision.
"Ava." He came toward me.
"Let me explain."
"Sit down, Ethan."
He sat in the chair across from me.
He glanced at Daniel once, then kept his eyes on me.
"The petition was a mistake," he said.
"I filed it on bad advice.
I was going through something, and I made a decision I should have talked to you about first."
"Bad advice from whom?"
A beat.
"A friend."
"The friend whose name is on the affidavit?"
His jaw moved.
"That's not what it looks like."
"Tell me what it looks like."
"She's someone I've known for a while.
She was helping me think through some things.
She doesn't have any actual claim to this house.
She was doing me a favor by signing."
"She filed a sworn affidavit with a courthouse stating she has resided at and contributed to this property," Daniel said.
"That is not a favor.
That is perjury, and it is also the foundation of a legal claim against your wife's asset."
Ethan looked at Daniel with an expression that was almost contempt.
"I didn't ask for your commentary."
"You're in my client's home," Daniel said.
"You filed a legal action against my client.
You'll have my commentary."
Ethan turned back to me.
His voice softened.
"Ava.
I love you.
I made a terrible mistake.
I got scared.
We never talked about what would happen to this property if something went wrong between us, and I panicked.
That's all this was."
"You panicked eleven days ago."
"Yes."
"And ten days ago you sat across from me at dinner and talked about paint colors."
He said nothing.
"And your mother arrived four days ago with six suitcases."
"I asked her to come because I knew you weren't feeling well and I had to be away."
"You were forty minutes away in Durham."
The room went quiet.
Ethan's hands were on his knees.
He did not move them.
"How long?" I asked.
"Ava—"
"How long have you been seeing her?"
He looked at the floor.
"Fourteen months."
Diane made a small sound on the sofa.
Not surprise.
Something more like confirmation of a thing she had hoped would not be said out loud.
"Fourteen months," I said.
"So when you told me things between us had become distant—" I looked at Diane.
She did not look back.
"You were the reason they felt that way."
Ethan's head came up.
"That's not fair."
"You filed a legal claim on my house.
You brought your mother here to occupy my home while I was sick and alone.
You have been with another woman for over a year.
And you would like to talk to me about fair."
He leaned forward.
His voice dropped.
"I'm not going to lose everything because of one mistake."
"One mistake that lasted fourteen months."
"The house, Ava.
I'm talking about the house." His eyes were direct now.
The softness was gone.
"I have lived here.
I have been part of this property.
Any judge is going to look at two years of marriage and ask why my name isn't on the deed."
May you like
Daniel opened the folder.
"Would you like me to answer that?"
