Chloe sank into the chair next to Paige. “After Matt left for work this morning…he had a closing on this mansion in Newton that he’s been trying to unload for months…anyway, it doesn’t matter; who knows if it’s even true?…Anyway,” she said again, stumbling over her words and pausing to catch her breath, “maybe ten minutes after he left, the phone rings and I pick it up and this woman says, ‘I think you should know that your husband’s on a bunch of dating sites,’ and then hangs up. I didn’t know what she was talking about. So, I decide to ignore her—I mean, she’s obviously some crackpot, right?— and then, of course, I decide to check, ’cause I can’t help myself, and I go to my computer and join Perfect Strangers, ’cause I’m an idiot and it’s free. And I scroll through and…bingo! There he is. My darling husband, father of my two children, on a dating site. And not just that one. A whole bunch of them,” Chloe continued. “Perfect Strangers, Tinder, eHarmony, Match Sticks…You name it, he’s on it.” She shook her head. “How could he not think I’d find out? Half my friends are on these sites.You’reon these sites!” Chloe stared at Paige. “Did you know about this?”
“Me? No. Of course not! I would have told you. You know that.”
“Would you? After the last time?”
Paige had told Chloe about seeing Matt with another woman when Chloe was pregnant with Sasha. And Matt, all righteous indignation, had talked his way out of that one, made it sound as if Paige was either mistaken or jealous. And in a classic case of shooting the messenger, it had almost cost the two women their friendship.
“Just look at these jerks,” Chloe said now, raising the screen of her laptop again and scrolling rapidly through the seemingly endless series of pictures. “Did you know they have a site specifically for cheaters? Which is probably the most honest one of the bunch. Look atthisguy,” Chloe exclaimed, stopping on a picture of a man calling himself Surfer Dude. “Andthisone,Mr. Right Now.”
Paige’s eyes zeroed in on the familiar photograph. Mr. Right Now stared back at her, almost daring her to look away.
“He’s another one who’s on all the sites.” Chloe laughed, a harsh, hollow sound. “As if any man who looks like that needs a dating app to meet women. What am I talking about?” she said in the next breath. “Matt’s just as handsome as he is. Shit.”
Paige looked back at her friend. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure,” Chloe admitted. “Maybe I should give one of these guys a tumble. Give Matt a taste of his own medicine.”
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”
Josh came bounding back into the room. “Who’s that?” he asked before Chloe had a chance to close the screen.
“No one,” Chloe said, snapping the laptop shut. “What’s up?”
“Do we believe in God?” the boy asked.
“Do we believe in…? What makes you ask that?” his mother said.
“This boy at camp today. He was talking about God and heaven and stuff. Do we believe in that?”
“This probably isn’t a great time to ask me.”
“Why not?”
“I’m just not sure what I believe anymore,” Chloe answered, clearly too tired to pretend.
Josh’s eyes narrowed. “But wedobelieve in the tooth fairy,” he said warily.
Paige smiled as Chloe fought back tears. “We absolutely believe in the tooth fairy,” Chloe said.