Page 33 of The Arrangement

"I know what I said," she said, shaking her head as she stood from the couch. "Glennon was testing you… She wanted to prove I was lying."

"Well, how was I supposed to know that?" I demanded.

The sigh that escaped her throat said I'd done something awful, but I had no idea why it was the end of the world. Not compared to everything else we had going on. "Call her and explain. It'll be fine."

"How would you like me to explain?" she asked, pressing her lips together as she stared at me, phone in hand. "I can't tell her the truth."

"Just tell her I didn’t know what I was talking about.”

“It was your coworker’s daughter who was supposed to be our photographer, Peter. You would’ve been the one to hire her.”

“Then…tell her we were having family night."

"Glennon and Seth come to half our family nights." She put air quotes around the words family night. "Why wouldn't I have invited them if that were the case?" She shook her head, rubbing her temple and walking across the room. "I have to fix this."

"I'm sorry," I called after her, but she was already out of the room.

I stared back at the television, feeling like a child who'd been scolded and sent to his room. The news anchors were discussing a local food and toy drive for the upcoming holiday. I lowered the volume, hoping to hear what Ainsley was telling Glennon.

"I have a confession…" I heard her say in a low voice. "The other night, when you asked if Peter and I are having problems, I wasn't being honest with you."

There was a pause.

"Yeah, I mean, we are, but it’s worse than I let on. They aren't huge, don’t worry… We're…you know, we're hanging in there, but it's not great."

I felt the sting of her words. Was that how she felt, or was she lying again? She was only trying to smooth things over with Glennon, wasn’t she?

"Anyway, that's why I lied to you today. We were planning a stay-in date night sort of thing, and it was too embarrassing to admit."

She paused again.

"No, I know that. I do tell you everything. Almost everything. I don't know why this was so hard… I thought about asking you to watch the kids, but they're all off in their own worlds these days, it's not like they were a bother." She paused again, and then there was a laugh. I felt my muscles relax immediately.

"Yeah, he's been doing all sorts of chores around here lately. I’ve been complaining about that porch for months. At least he's trying… Oh, yes. That sounds great. We'll plan for dinner tomorrow, then… Okay. See you then. Yep, love you too."

There was silence in the kitchen, no sounds of footsteps or movement at all, then I heard her shuffling across the floor. When she reappeared in the living room, she smiled stiffly at me.

"Glennon and Seth want us to come over tomorrow for dinner."

"Now isn’t a good time, Ainsley…"

"Why not?" she asked, her eyes wide and purposefully innocent. After a moment of me trying to decide a response, she said, "We have to keep everything up as normal. We have to keep living our lives, Peter."

The dead cop under our porch doesn't get to keep living his life. "Did you have to tell her we were having problems?"

"I had to fix the lie. It was the only way."

I didn't tell her I could've come up with a hundred other solutions that didn't involve marital issues, but it wasn't as if Glennon didn't know we'd had issues in the past. "Fine. Whatever. What time tomorrow?"

"Sev—" She started to answer but stopped, turning her attention to the television screen, her jaw agape. "Turn it up…" came the horrified whisper.

I followed her gaze to where a blonde news anchor sat at a desk. In the corner of the screen, a small photo of a bald-headed, sharp-featured man in a cop's uniform was placed. The ticker across the screen read Police ask for help in search for missing officer.

I turned up the volume, listening closely as the anchor began to speak.

"Police today are reporting that a local law enforcement officer has gone missing. Stefan De Luca, forty-six, a decorated Army veteran and member of the Arrington police force for nearly twenty years, was reported missing when he did not report for his shift this morning at eight a.m. Officer De Luca's fellow officers say it is unheard of for him to not report for a shift, and they have been unable to reach him all day. De Luca's wife, Illiana De Luca, was on a business trip in Oakland, California, at the time that her husband disappeared, but she is home now and asking for the public's help to locate her missing husband. We'll talk to her when we come back."

The screen filled with a red and white transition, breaking away to a car commercial, and I looked over at my wife, who, for the first time all day, looked utterly terrified.