Beside me, Iris goes completely still. “That’s not possible.”
Steve glances at me, as if to ask me to help convince her it’s possible. I’m not doing that.
“I… I didn’t think so either,” he says. “She… she wanted money for the child, and Mike told her to contact me if anything ever happened to him. I told her she was going to have to prove he was Mike’s before I’d even speak to her. She…” He swallows hard. “She sent proof of an ongoing affair.”
Beside me, Iris begins to tremble violently.
I want to stab him in the fucking heart for doing this to her.
“But she had no way to prove her son was Mike’s. The last time you guys were at the house…” He swallows hard. “I kept a bottle Tyler drank from.”
Iris gasps.
“I had to know for sure before I told you, Iris. The results came back a week ago, confirming they have the same father.”
The news sucks all the air out of the room. I put an arm around her.
She shakes me off and stands. “Thank you for coming by, Steve. You can go now.”
“Iris, I’m sorry. I wanted to be sure before I brought this to you.”
“Why does she even need to know about this?” I ask him, outraged that he would blindside her with this when she’s already upset enough.
“Because the woman is threatening to sue Mike’s estate for child support. I couldn’t let that happen without you being aware of what’s going on. I tried to deal with this without you. I offered her a settlement. She said it wasn’t enough, and now she has this lawyer playing hardball with me, and he’s implied that he’s coming for you, too, since Mike didn’t leave her child anything in his estate.”
“I’d like to see the proof of the affair and the DNA testing.”
I don’t like that idea. “Iris…”
As if I hadn’t spoken, she says, “You can send it to my email.”
“Are you sure?” Steve asks.
“Very sure. Thank you for coming, but you can go now. You’ve done your due diligence.”
Steve stands. “I’m sorry, Iris. I had no idea this was happening when he was working out there.”
“I don’t blame you.”
The lack of emotion in her voice and expression worries me. The Iris I know and love is always full of fire.
He glances at me and then back at her. “Will you be all right?”
“She’ll be fine.” I stand to escort him from the room, with a look that leaves him with no doubt that he’s not welcome here any longer.
“We’ll fight this, Iris. Together.”
She nods but has nothing else to say to him as I send him packing.
I really wish murder was legal, although the person I’d like to kill is already dead.
“I’m sorry,” Steve says when I walk him out. “I hated having to do this, especially now, but I couldn’t let her be served without knowing what’s happening.”
I don’t know what to say, so I say nothing while I wait for him to leave. After he’s gone, I close and lock the door as my mind races with concern and anguish for my friend. What do I even say to her after this? What would it be like to find out Nat had been involved with someone else? I simply cannot imagine that.
When I return to the living room, Iris isn’t there. I find her in the kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil. “What can I do?”
Her laugh is brittle. “What can anyone do? Just when I thought this widow thing couldn’t get any worse…”