At that very moment, while she was staring out the window, Not-Mr.-Smith approached the front door and rang the bell. But this time Mrs. Smith didn’t let him in. Eliza could see her look out from her bedroom window and decide not to answer it. Not-Mr.-Smith went from patiently ringing to incessantly banging, while Mrs. Smith went from calmly ignoring him to pacing back and forth like a prisoner on death row. He finally gave up and left.
Eliza opened up the Hudson Valley Ladies’ Bulletin Board and began typing:
Anonymous: I just moved here from the city with hopes of starting over after an affair that my husband knows nothing about. The man I was having the affair with followed me here and keeps showing up at my door. Today I pretended I wasn’t home. He was banging so hard it scared me. I’ve told him I want to end things, but he won’t have it. I know it’s wrong to cheat. That’s why I want to break it off and start fresh. Please only comment with constructive advice.
She read it over. Pretty scandalous, she thought. She pressed Post and waited. It didn’t take long before the comments began rolling in.
You reap what you sow.
Do you think he can get violent? Call the police.
I empathize with you. I’ve been in that boat. Maybe ask to meet him in a public place where he can’t go crazy and explain that you want to recommit to your husband.
That’s a good idea.
I agree!
You don’t say if he’s married. Is he married too?
That’s a good question. Is Not-Mr.-Smith married? Eliza wondered. The phone rang, startling her again. It was Luke on speaker.
“I got them!
“Hi, Mom!”
“Hi, Momma, see you soon!”
The sound of her children’s voices, along with the excitement of the impending epic thread, put Eliza in the best mood she had felt in ages.
CHAPTER 6
Jackie
The 5:49 train pulled into the station, and Jackie Campbell got on and took his usual seat. Within a few minutes, his two commuter friends, Skip and Lee, arrived. Skip was really just a circumstantial friendship for Jackie. Skip grew up with Lee, which was ironic because the problem with Skip was that he never really grew up. He and Jackie were polar opposites, as Jackie was born grown up. They never would have been friends without the link that was Lee.
Lee was more than just a commuter friend. Jackie and his late wife, Ann, had met Lee and his wife, Charlotte, when they were newlyweds living in Park Slope, Brooklyn—back when they were poorer and happier. It was no surprise that when Lee moved his growing family to the suburbs, Jackie chose to raise Jana in close proximity. They were all heartbroken when Ann died, and Lee was painfully aware of the inequality of their burdens. He did his best to help his old friend when he could.
“How did it go with the crimson tide?”
His best wasn’t always very tactful.
“Do we have to talk about this again?” Skip protested.
Jackie ignored Skip.
“Not well. Very badly, actually.”
They both leaned in as they sensed that Jackie was about to whisper feminine hygiene words. They were right.
“She already had the tampons, so I had to take them away.”
Skip groaned. “I don’t envy you, man.”
The three men sat back in their seats and just breathed.
Soon Lee leaned back in.
“You were around plenty of women at the office today. You should have asked one of them about it.”
“Yes, because talking about a woman’s privates in the workplace is a wonderful idea.”
Skip nodded. “I agree. Not cool. I’m even feeling a little violated right now.”
Lee laughed. Jackie didn’t.
“OK, do you want me to ask Charlotte? I mean, granted we have boys, but she is a woman.”
“Thanks, but I need someone with teenage girls. The other day on the way to school she asked me if her eyebrows looked bushy. I didn’t know what to say. Was she looking for bushy? Is bushy good or bad? I swear, I need a consortium of women to make it through these teenage years!”
Lee put his hand on Jackie’s shoulder in solidarity, but it was Skip who came up with the solution.
“I got it!”
They both looked at him skeptically, waiting for a joke.
“Join that Hudson Valley Ladies’ Bulletin Board.”
“That’s a great idea,” Lee agreed. “Charlotte is on that thing all the time.”
Skip opened up his phone to Facebook and showed Jackie the page, as his face was registering nothing.
“Look. Are you on Facebook?”
“Barely. I have an account, but I never check it.”
Jackie pulled it up on his phone. Skip took it and searched for the group.
“Here. Can I sign you up?”
“To a ladies’ bulletin board? I don’t think I’ll be accepted.”
“Actually, you will. Your profile picture is of Jana as a baby, and your name is Jackie. Finally, a good reason to have a girl’s name.”
Jackie shook his head. Skip laughed. “Don’t go all ‘Jackie Robinson was my dad’s hero’ on me again. It’s a girl’s name and you know it.”
“This coming from a man named Skip. Here, Skip, come on, boy!”
Skip ignored him and typed into his phone. A few seconds later he handed it back.
“Here, done. Just wait for them to accept you, and you can ask thousands of women your lady parts questions.”
Jackie stared out the window while he waited, his thoughts calmed by the marathon of foliage whipping by. The green leaves gradually being taken over by reds and oranges and yellows the farther north they traveled.
By the next stop Jackie’s request to join was approved. By the following he had carefully crafted his question:
My 14-year-old daughter got her first period. Should I let her use tampons?
As they pulled in to their station it posted.
“It’s up!” Jackie announced.
They congratulated themselves on their success and went their separate ways.
CHAPTER 7
Olivia
Olivia lay in bed counting sheep. It was late, and she knew the baby would be up in a few hours, but she was wide-awake. Spencer was sound asleep next to her. His chest rose and fell and rose and fell as if taunting her.
Olivia usually liked to watch Spencer sleep. She liked to see him sedentary, as it was so rarely the case when he was awake. Spencer was always on the move. He would routinely wake up with the sun and run six or seven miles before Olivia had had her first sip of coffee. He was very fit, and it usually turned Olivia on, but she was currently so far from her naturally thin figure that she found herself resenting him. It was hard to picture getting back in shape. She looked down at her swollen breasts and post-pregnancy tummy and sighed. It didn’t seem right that Spencer got to parent Lily equally with zero physical sacrifice.