Diary of a bad housewife

Diary of a bad housewife chapter 14

Chapter 14

I flew into full-blown panic. With shock, I opened the gates and let run the fears I held at bay for hours, perhaps days. They'd conned me. A singing filled my ears- not a singing, no- a keening, a wailing, a surging madness.

I needed to let Colin know immediately. As husband and man of the house, he deserved to know I betrayed him- unintentional treachery, but treachery nonetheless. Sick to my stomach, I vomited. Twice.

Desperate to collect my wits, I debated whether to phone him at the office or wait until he arrived home. Whichever way, I feared the result. Had this been done to me, I would tear the offender apart. Concluding my husband needed to know sooner rather than later, I steeled myself a dozen times. I finally worked up the courage to call when I heard his car in the driveway.

Oh, no. He never arrived home this early.

Colin stumbled through the door. To say he was white was an understatement. He walked with uncoordinated steps, as if his brain failed to control his feet. From his look, something awful happened, something worse than losing money.

"Colin? Colin, what is it? What's wrong?"

He sank into a chair at the kitchen table, staring straight ahead, seeing nothing. Something else happened and I sensed my wrongs could be found at the center.

"Colin." My heart started to break. "Colin, tell me what's wrong."

His eyes came into focus. In disbelief, he said, "They fired me. I lost my job."

"Fired you? Why?"

"They said I stole money. Said I embezzled and I should be grateful if they don't press charges. The said they'll arrest me for certain if I don't return the money."

"Arrest? For what?" I put my hands on his shoulders and leaned my cheek against his hair, pulling him to my breast.

"Fifty thousand. Fifty thousand dollars they claim I stole."

"How?" Real estate brokers handle deposits, earnest money, funds for closing costs, and refunds, but Colin is fastidious about his accounts. "You're the last person on earth to take money not yours. What's their evidence?"

"They say I charged fifty grand on the company's American Express account. They claim I sent the money to some place in Africa."

"American what?"

He frowned, almost waving away my question. "My company American Express card, the one they gave me to wine and dine clients and expense my travel. They insist I charged fifty thousand dollars to an offshore company, Mugu International. I never heard of it."

Oh, dear God. The American Express I thought Colin hid from me belonged to his employer. Oh, no, no. Harry and his friends- What had they done? When I told them to charge twenty thousand, they'd charged fifty- not that the amount mattered anymore.

Scared witless, trying not to burst into tears, I said, "Colin, I have something to tell you."