Sending up a prayer of thanks to the heavens that his mum had told him before about what she told his wife, Thomas turned to Reyona "Well, we just knew about them recently also. Cousin never told us that he had children outside, you know. This woman just showed up last week with those kids. None of us had any idea how she knew about mom's relationship with Rafe. Well, she just showed up that morning with those kids and told her how she and Rafe had been together for a long time, even before he married his divorced wife, Meg. Mum said she was still reeling from that as she invited them in when the woman told her that she was actually on her way to Vegas to get married to the love of her life, someone who would be proud of her as a wife and not just keep her aside as a mistress. And that was it. She walked out on those children like they did not exist. How could a mother be like that?"
He shook his head with feigned outrage on his face like he couldn't believe what had happened.
Reyona almost laughed out loud at the precision of his words. It was as if his mother had recorded the speech and placed the recording in him.
There had been no difference between what his mother had said and what he was saying at the moment.
The only difference was that he was more composed in his recital than his mother had been. There had been a lot of pauses and hand-wringing involved in Ruby's recital. Thomas sure had a lot of time to rehearse his speech, unlike his mother, who had not been expecting her.
Well, she was not done with him.
"That is quite callous of the woman. How can anyone walk out on their children like that?" She turned to the sink to wash the vegetables after placing the yam on the burner.
"I know, right?"
"They sure looked like you," she said quietly with her tongue tucked in her cheek as she saw the way his eyes widened at her statement.
"What? Well, yeah. You know how much Cousin Rafe and I looked alike. People had once mistaken us for each other."
"Yes, if those people had been blind in both eyes and stupid too," Reyona thought as she knew that it would be absolutely rare for anyone to mistake the cousins for each other as nothing about them looked alike. Well, maybe the Lanoth nose that the three cousins shared, but apart from that, nothing else.
Today was not the day for calling anybody out, though.
Reyona nodded her head as she tilted her head, as she could truly remember how much they looked alike.
"You are right. It is a good thing that the kids are such a lively bunch. It seems she did a good job of bringing them up. They are so friendly, and they seemed to have taken to your mom so fast. They call her grandmother, you know."
"Yeah, yeah. Mum insisted they call her that, and they are fast learners."
He heaved a little sigh of relief as he realised that all the anguish in his mind on his way home had been for nothing after all. She truly believed what his mom had told her.
It was his mother who was just paranoid.
Now that that had been dealt with, he could focus on how to access the funds they have in their joint account without making her suspicious. He had been able to hide the building sales from her so far, but he knew that she would discover them soon.
He needed to get Susan out as soon as possible, get their passports back, and leave before the whole bubble burst on his head, leaving nowhere for him to retreat. He had to.
"You still haven't answered my question, though," he heard her say quietly again.
What is she talking about? Thomas looked blankly at her. "What?"
"Why am I just hearing about them?" She tilted her head and raised a finger as she said, "No, I saw them before anyone decided to tell me about them. Why, sweetheart, do I have to discover that on my own?" she said in a more serious tone.
Thomas gave her an awkward smile and said, "Discover? Why are you using that word like they were a kind of secret that you unravelled? They were right there at my mom's place, and..."
"And I wouldn't have known if I did not go over to your mom's place. Would I? Whereas my husband had learned about it for more than a week now."
"No, it's not... It's not like that. It is just that mom was still thinking about what to do about them. You know, whether she could keep them or something. Assuming uncle and aunt were still alive now, or even cousin Rafe himself, things would have been easier, but as things are. They only have Mom now. So we have not told anyone yet.
Reyona raised her brow "Am I anyone?"
"Oh, come on," Thomas said with a touch of annoyance in his voice. "Why have you been like that? Even Fiona had not been informed yet."
Fiona. Her eyes-opener.
Thank God for the only conscientious member of the Lanoth family. Reyona wondered what would have been her lot now.
"Are you keeping things from me, Tommy?" Reyona asked with more directness than she had ever done since Fiona had told her about his affair and plans.
"What? Why would you say that? What could I possibly hide from you? This was different and I would have told you about it anyway if you had not gone over there without telling me.
Reyona's eyebrows disappeared into the bangs of her chestnut-coloured hair, as she said sweetly. Too sweetly "Oh, do I need to get permission from you now before visiting your mom? Is that so, sweetheart? Forgive me; nobody informed me of that, you know."
"I did not say... You know what?" He raised his hands up as if in defeat. "You know what? Forget about it. I will be in the living room," he said as he dashed out of the kitchen.
Reyona stood looking at the door through which he had passed as she wondered what made her think she could see this through.
She must have been crazy to think that she could play the cool, calm, and unbothered wife while he lied to her face and practically called her a fool over and over again with his deception.
"What am I doing?" she asked herself softly "What are you doing to yourself, Reyona? The right thing would have been to sue the sorry excuse of a man. You have always been known for doing the right thing and not torturing yourself like this. What…"
She scraped her hand through her hair as she looked back at the boiling yams and other things she had on the counter.
Not tonight. She thought as she sighed wearily. She didn't have the strength to be the dutiful wife tonight. No, she couldn't drum up the energy to sit with him at the table like nothing was wrong and watch him eat up the food she made with effort as he gave compliments like the good husband he had always pretended to be.
No. not tonight. She put the burner off and left everything there on the counter.
Pizza, it would have to be. For him.
As for Reyona, she did what she couldn't remember the last time she had done before.
She put on her jacket and picked up her car keys. With only one intention in mind.
Going out to find whatever could distract her mind from the hopeless situation that was about to drive her crazy. Anything that could make her forget about the liar on whom she had bestowed all her love and hopes.
"Rey, where are you?"
His voice was drowned out by the slamming sound of the screen door. Reyona felt a slight sense of satisfaction. She couldn't remember ever slamming the door on him or walking out on him.
It seemed to be a night for firsts. She thought as she saw him illuminated in the headlights of her car.
With a surprised look on his face.
Well, she was not about to explain her behaviour to him.
Not now, anyway.