Page 52 of Dear Debbie

My scribble from last night is hard to read, but there’s no doubt the street name is the same.

Debbie was at Coach Pike’s house in the middle of the night. Then the next morning, he was arrested for having incriminating software on his phone.

There’s no way that could be a coincidence.

But it also seems impossible. Could my sweet, unassuming wife really have broken into the coach’s house while he was sleeping and installed something on his phone? Mild-mannered housewives don’t do things like that.

Just like they don’t break into the neighbor’s basement to destroy their fuse box. Or post pornographic videos of their bosses online.

I stare at the piece of paper with Pike’s address on it, trying to figure out what to do with this information. If my wife did all those things, she is an incredibly disturbed individual. She would be somebody in need of serious psychiatric help. Because if she could do all that, who knows what else she could be capable of?

She could be dangerous.

42

DEBBIE

It seems like Lexi has broken up with Zane.

Ordinarily, this would be cause for great celebration. I do not like that boy, and I’m grateful that he won’t be in my house again or blasting his horn in our driveway. Lexi could do way better. Nobody would be way better.

But it’s hard to celebrate when Lexi is clearly upset. She’s barely said five words during dinner, and she took only a few bites of the pasta I made. It wasn’t exactly a gourmet meal, but she usually eats what I put in front of her. Tonight, she’s completely uninterested.

Cooper also seems distracted. He went upstairs with an excuse about checking something for work, but his laptop is sitting on our coffee table. So what was he checking? All I know is that when he came back downstairs, he looked pale.

Only Izzy is happily scarfing down her food. One out of three isn’t bad, but it could be better.

“I have to do homework,” Lexi mumbles as she pushes her chair back.

“You barely ate anything,” I point out. “Didn’t you like the dinner?”

She lifts a shoulder. “I’m not hungry.”

“Do you want me to make you something else?”

“Oh my God, Mom.” Lexi glares at me. “I told you, I’m not hungry. Stop asking me a million times if I want to eat something else.”

I bite my lip to keep from pointing out that I only, in fact, asked once. “Fine. Go do your homework.”

Izzy announces she has homework too, although at least her plate has been practically licked clean. I’m thrilled she’s eating normally again, but it’s hard to celebrate when Cooper is at the table, pushing a clump of noodles around his plate.

“Not hungry either?” I ask him as the girls climb the stairs to go to their respective rooms.

Cooper lifts his eyes, blinking as if surprised to see me still sitting at the table with him. “Oh,” he says. “I, uh, I guess not.”

“Are you okay?”

Of course he’s not okay. Instead of getting a promotion, he just lost his job. He’s got to be worried sick about how we’re going to pay the mortgage and afford Lexi’s college tuition. But there’s a look in his eyes that makes me think there’s something more going on. Something that he hasn’t shared with me.

He opens his mouth as if to reply, but before he can, his phone’s familiar generic ringtone fills the room. It’s the same chimes the phone came with, because he doesn’t know how to change it. He digs it out of his pocket, angling the screen so I can’t see it. He sucks in a breath.

Who is calling him? What is he hiding from me?

“I, uh…” He jumps from his seat, an uncomfortable smile on his face. “I better take this.”

He rushes away from the table, his phone pressed to his ear. As he’s leaving the room, I can just barely make out the sound of a voice on the other end of the line. A female voice. A few seconds later, the door to our bedroom slams shut.

Hmm.