“And you, ma’am?”

“I will be there as well,” I said. “You can find him at table twelve.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Ralston. We will handle it quietly.”

I hung up the phone and stood in the quiet kitchen.

The brass clock on the wall ticked toward five o’clock.

I walked upstairs to the girls’ playroom.

Hazel was sitting on the carpet, building a tower of green and blue wooden blocks.

Ruby was next to her, coloring a picture of a horse with a red crayon.

“Mommy has to go out tonight,” I said, kneeling beside them.

Hazel looked up, her dark eyes serious. “Are you going with Daddy?”

“We are going to the same place,” I said. “But I will be coming home alone.”

Ruby stopped coloring and reached out to touch my sleeve. “Will you tuck us in?”

“Maria will tuck you in tonight,” I said, kissing her forehead. “I will see you first thing in the morning. I promise.”

I found Maria in the hallway and handed her the spare key to the back door.