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over the top of it. She closed the cupboard quietly before grabbing
her jacket, hoping her face wasn’t flushed, praying he hadn’t seen
her. With a long breath to steel herself, she looped it over her arm,
carrying it through the living room toward the foyer closet. The
room seemed to stretch as she moved through it, like a room
viewed through a fun-house mirror at a carnival, but she tried to
ignore the sensation. She knew he’d be able to see through her, to
read her mind and know what she’d done, but he never turned
away from the television. Only when she was back in the kitchen
did her breathing begin to slow.
She began to unpack the groceries, still feeling dazed but knowing
she had to act normal. Kevin liked a tidy house, especially the
kitchen and bathrooms. She put away the cheese and eggs in their
separate compartments in the refrigerator. She pulled the old
vegetables from the drawer and wiped it down before putting the
new vegetables on the bottom. She kept out some green beans and
found a dozen red potatoes in a basket on the pantry floor. She left
a cucumber on the counter, along with iceberg lettuce and a
tomato for a salad. The main course was marinated strip steaks.
She’d put the steaks in the marinade the day before: red wine,
orange juice, grapefruit juice, salt, and pepper. The acidity of the
juices made the meat tender and gave it extra flavor. It was in a
casserole dish on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
She put the rest of the groceries away, rotating the older items to
the front, then folded the bags and put them under the sink. From
a drawer, she removed a knife; the cutting board was beneath the
toaster and she set that near the burner. She cut the potatoes in
half, only enough for the two of them. She oiled a baking pan,
turned the oven on, and seasoned the potatoes with parsley, salt,
pepper, and garlic. They would go in before the steaks and she
would have to reheat them. The steaks needed to be broiled.
Kevin liked his salads finely diced, with blue cheese crumbles and
croutons and Italian dressing. She cut the tomato in half and cut a