Husband by Choice

And that fact, far more than a man at the window in the night, scared her to death.

* * *

WHEN MAX CAME out from putting Caleb to bed, Chantel was in the kitchen, doing his dinner dishes.

“I was going to get to those,” he said. There were two days’ worth in the sink.

“I’m not good at just standing around,” Chantel reminded him. She’d been known to dust their living room, or mow the lawn when she visited. Anything to keep busy.

He’d asked Jill once why Chantel couldn’t ever just chill out. She’d shrugged and said that she was borderline ADD or something. He couldn’t remember exactly.

And wished he’d paid more attention.

Coming up behind her, he put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. “Really,” he said. “You don’t need to do my dishes for me. Sit. Have you had dinner?”

“I grabbed something in the car on the way up.”

“Then how about a beer?”

“You didn’t have any last time I was here.”

Neither he nor Meri were big drinkers.

“I picked up a six pack.”

He pulled out a bottle. Opened it and handed it to her before pulling out a second. While she sat sideways on a chair at the kitchen table, hands on the back as she watched him, he finished loading the dishwasher in exactly the way Meri liked. Moving some of the dishes that Chantel had already placed to make that happen.

He washed the pans and plastic container by hand.

And then, also to please his wife, he wiped down every single counter, although he hadn’t used them all during his food prep. They’d eaten soup and sandwiches that night.

When he was done, he took his first sip of beer, then joined Chantel at the table.

“What did you find out?” He’d put off knowing for half an hour. Avoiding what he knew he wasn’t going to like.

“Steve Smith told someone in the LVMPD, a guy he ran into in a casino about six months ago, that he’d purchased a little place on the beach.”

“Here? In California?” This was bad.

Really bad.

“We don’t know. But it bothered Diane enough that she thought I should check it out. I talked to Wayne about it and he agreed that it’s suspicious enough that it’s worth checking into, so tomorrow he and I are going to canvas areas around here. Tonight, our job—yours and mine—is to search public records of home and condo sales in the area since Meredith has lived here, and see if we get lucky and Steve’s name pops up. Though I suspect that he’d have paid cash using an assumed name. Or put the property in somebody else’s name.”

Max’s blood ran cold. His skin felt clammy.

Had Meri’s ex been watching her, watching them, all this time? “I’m not at all sure this’ll turn into anything, Max,” Chantel said, arms on the table as she leaned closer to him. And for once he wished she’d reach out and touch him. Because it would be inappropriate for him to touch her, and he could sure use a bit of human contact at the moment.

“According to Diane’s source, Smith had been drinking at the casino and the guy wasn’t sure whether Steve had been talking big, or if he was being serious. And there are a million beaches in the world....”

But not a million in a town where an ex-wife—who

m he’d already stalked through three states—lived.

“Wayne’s using official means and time to do this?”

“And working on his own.”

“Why? Surely he’s paid off his debt to you by now.”