Bobby, still on his feet, turns around slowly. Could he be dreaming?
No. There she is, standing on Nick’s lawn. Gina.
Bobby holds his breath, taking in the sight of his wife. She looks flushed, like she has gone for a run. Seeing her pink face reminds him of the first time he saw her run track in college. She was younger then—slimmer and unbelievably toned. Motherhood had made her softer, fuller. Back when Calan was still a baby she once asked him if he still found her attractive. He had laughed and taken her in his arms and made love to her for as long as Calan’s nap had allowed them to. “You look even more beautiful,” he had told her, over and over again. It was true then, and it’s still true now. To Bobby, Gina is the most beautiful woman in the world.
He swallows and slowly walks down the steps of Nick’s porch. Gina is hugging herself, hands wrapped around her puffy charcoal jacket. He resists the urge to take her in his arms. He doesn’t want to be presumptuous.
“Did something happen with Calan?” he asks. He’s close enough that he can smell her perfume: citrus and earthy and utterly irresistible.
Her face opens in the widest grin Bobby has ever seen. She nods, quickly.
Bobby frowns. She looks… happy. When was the last time she looked happy?
“He raised one-hundred dollars today,” Gina says, the words coming out of her mouth so fast they sound like chugs of a motorboat. “Two girls bid on him, Bobby. Two! One of them was a really pretty girl in his class, the other one was Malaika—”
Bobby’s brain is scrambling to catch up. He’d forgotten all about the Basket Boy auction. Without Gina, there hadn’t been anyone to remind him. “Malaika bid on our son?”
“One-hundred dollars, Bobby! Our boy broke the town record!” Gina bounces on her feet.
Bobby feels his chest swell with pride. “Would you look at that…” He thinks back to his very first Basket Boy auction. Theresa Cummings had bid twelve dollars on him, the second highest amount that year. It would’ve made Bobby’s day if Nick’s bid hadn’t been nearly double. Probably, Calan paid Malaika to bid on him. Even so, Bobby is impressed by his son’s initiative.
“You should’ve seen the look on his face!”
Bobby’s body acts without his mind’s permission: he takes a step forward and wraps his arms around Gina. Her body is stiff for the first few seconds, but then he feels her loosening. Her arms reach over his shoulder blades. Bobby’s heart does a somersault.
“I love you,” he whispers in her ear.
A breeze moves through them. Bobby can hear the rustling of the leaves on their tree-lined street. He holds her tighter.
Gina doesn’t say anything—but she doesn’t pull away, either.
He feels her lift her head. They are now looking into each other’s eyes. He is still holding her. She is still holding him.
“I shouldn’t have come.” Her voice is slightly muffled.
“Of course you should have,” he says.
“I was driving myself crazy at home,” she says. “This amazing thing happened to our son, and you weren’t there.” She pauses and releases a deep breath. “You weren’t there to celebrate it with me, Bobby.” The sadness in her voice is like a hand squeezing his heart.
“I’ve missed you so much, Jib.” He has said the same words too many times already, but it sums up all that he feels. He wants his wife back. “I want to go home.”
“I… I miss you too,” she says. And then she brushes her fingers on his temple. “Why did you start wearing contacts?”
“Nick said it made me look younger.” Bobby shrugs, feeling embarrassed. “Do you like it?”
She shrugs. “It’s… different.” He can feel her second-guessing her decision to come here. Gone is the enthusiastic urgency to her voice.
“Can I come home?” he asks quickly.
She shakes her head. “I’m still too confused.”
“About what?” he asks. “Loving me?”
“Of course not,” she answers. “I just want to be careful. Calan’s been having a hard time with you out of the house. If you come back and then you leave again—”
“I won’t leave again,” he says. He hadn’t wanted to leave in the first place. Or ever.
“But if…” She lets her voice trail off.
“There’s no if,” he adds. “There’s only us. You and me, remember?”
She shakes her head. “It’s been so hard.”
An understatement. Bobby has felt it, too. His life has been taken over by this scandal. By a woman looking for… what? Bobby doesn’t even know what Eva Stone wants. He doesn’t understand why she’s doing this. All he knows is that, for the rest of his life, when people google him, this is what they’ll see. All his achievements, all the good he’s done—turning around a struggling company, saving American jobs, donating to charities—all of it will take a backseat to an unfounded accusation. Bobby’s name will be forever attached to the names of horrible, despicable men. Men who hurt women.
“Can we sit?” she asks.
Bobby feels hope spread its wings inside his chest. “Come on,” he says, leading her to the couch on Nick’s porch.
“I’m about to tell you something and I need you to believe me,” she says.
Bobby nods.
“If you did it,” she begins, her voice low but steady, “if you had an affair with her, then you can tell me, and I promise to forgive you. Even if it was a long affair, I’m giving you my word that I’ll forgive you and you can come back home, as long as you promise never to do it again.” He is about to say something when she holds up her hand. “It’s been hell, Bobby. Hell. I’ve never cried as much as I have these past weeks. Our home feels so empty, my heart feels empty. I just… I need to know. Not knowing is worse than anything else. Just tell me the truth and we can both walk home right now.”
“I didn’t do it.” He keeps his voice steady. “I never had
