She did not stop. She got more obvious. One morning, with me four feet away, she asked him to get something down off the top cupboard for her.
Gideon picked his coffee up and left the room.
That night I said it again, properly.
And she rolled her eyes and said, “Why are you being so insecure?”
“I’m not. It’s my house and I’ve asked you once.”
And then she leaned back on that counter and said the thing.
“Honestly? Think of it as a test.”
“A test.”
“If your husband can be got at because a woman walks past him in a towel, wouldn’t you rather find out now?” And then: “And if he fails, that’s his problem.”
I could not make a sentence for about ten seconds.
I had put that woman in my spare room when she had nowhere. I was buying her food. She had my car three days a week for interviews.
