"I'm worried about Peter," Chelsea told her friend Veronica. "Something's not right with him."
Veronica stared at Chelsea. "How can you tell? Since he left you, you've hardly seen him."
"I know but I did see him the other day and he started talking about Mary Austin's murder. It doesn't make sense, Veronica. We've lived next door to the house where Mary died for most of our marriage and Peter never mentioned her or what happened to her, not once. Now he says that he left something in the house before she died and he wants to get it back."
Veronica frowned. "What did he leave there?"
"I wish I knew. I'm not so sure that Peter even knows. I think he might be imagining all of this, which makes me think he's having some kind of breakdown because of all of the pressure he's under."
Veronica laughed. "I think you're under a lot more pressure than Peter at the moment. After all, you're going to have a baby all by yourself."
"No, I'm not," Chelsea said confidently. "Peter's coming back to me."
"How do you know that? Did Peter say he's coming back to you?"
"Not in so many words but I've been married to the man for ages," Chelsea replied. "He's not going to stay with that...woman much longer. Mavis Schuyler might have money and she might be beautiful--for someone her age--but she has a heart of stone. Peter's going to figure that out sooner or later."
"Well, if that's what you really want I hope you're right. But there's still that other matter..."
Chelsea looked up sharply. "What other matter?"
"You told me once that you're not 100 percent positive that Peter's the father of your baby. Suppose he isn't? Suppose that one night stand--"
"That's impossible," Chelsea replied. "I spent one night with another man. Not even the whole night--just an hour or two. There's no way he could be my baby's father."
"Chelsea," Veronica gently said, "he could and you know it."
"What difference does it make? You're the only one I told. Even if that other man is the father, he'll never know and Peter will never know as long as you keep your mouth shut." Chelsea looked pleadingly at Veronica. "Promise me you'll never tell anyone else what I told you."
"I won't," Veronica agreed, "unless I absolutely have to."
No comments:
Post a Comment