I put the book down. The Snoqualmie Falls thing. You said you'd try to be back by 3.
Damon had more questions than I expected. It just went long.
Petra, I turned down Singapore for this marriage.
Something shifted in her expression. Don't do that.
Don't do what?
Don't use Singapore as a weapon every time we argue.
I'm not using it as a weapon. I'm telling you that I made a significant sacrifice for this relationship and I feel like it's been completely invisible to you.
I didn't ask you to turn down Singapore. You told me you wanted to stay in Seattle.
I told you what I wanted. The decision was yours.
I stared at her. There was something very precise about the way she'd said it, like she'd been waiting to use that framing for a while.
I want to know where this is going, I said. With Damon, with us. I want to know what we're doing here.
What does that mean?
It means I feel like a roommate in my own marriage, and I want to know if you feel that way, too, or if this is just me.
She crossed her arms. Her jaw set in the way it did when she'd made up her mind about something and was organizing the words.
"Eli," she said. "Damon is my friend. He was in my life before you and he's going to be in my life going forward. If you can't handle me spending time with my ex-husband, maybe we're not right for each other."
I heard it. Sat with it for exactly 3 seconds.
You're right, I said.
She blinked. What?
You're absolutely right. I appreciate you saying that clearly.
I got up, went upstairs, and sat on the edge of the bed for about 20 minutes.
I wasn't angry exactly. I was something else. The feeling you get when a number you've been trying to make work finally resolves itself cleanly.
When the answer is obviously what it is and you stop trying to make it be something different.
Then I picked up my phone and called Ford Gallagher. He answered on the second ring.
Ford, I said, is the Singapore position still available?
A pause. Eli?