When John began telling her about prison and about what he had discovered afterwards, carefully leaving out Clara's name, she slipped out of the conversation and left them to catch up on their own. Half an hour later Alex returned home and he seemed very confused.
“Why is my mother talking to our neighbour?” he asked with his eyebrows raised.
“Oh, they know each other. From Glasgow. Small world, isn't it?” Clara laughed nervously.
“Very small,” he said, the suspicion all too audible in his voice.
Alex peeked through the crack in the door, looking at them joking and laughing over old times and a short while later he turned his attention back to Clara.
“When will you be moving in with him?” Alex asked all of a sudden. There was no anger in his voice, no jealousy. It was a simple question and the tone caught her off guard as much as the statement itself.
“What? What makes you think-”
“I'm not stupid,” he replied with a slight shrug, “I know the two of you are only waiting for me to leave. It's okay, I think. I'll find a way to handle it. We've been separated for a month now, I've known you have feelings for him. I'm not asking because I'm jealous or angry or resentful. I'm asking out of practical reasons.”
“Uhm,” Clara spluttered, surprised by his statement and the fact that he knew and had never mentioned it before, “We wanted to move my things next weekend.”
“Good,” he said matter-of-factly, “I just wanted to know when I can put this house on the market and I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to handle that. You know, showing people around and all of that. It would be a bit complicated from Seattle.”
“Of course,” Clara agreed, “I'll do that. Don't worry about it.”
Alex took a deep breath. “I mean what I said, Clara. I'll find a to handle it but I think it's very considerate of you not to show it so openly as long as I'm still here.”
“I thought that was the least we could do.”
“I wish you the best of luck,” he said sincerely, “As much as I would have loved for us to stay together, I want you to be happy.”
Clara swallowed, her throat suddenly feeling very dry. “I hope you will be happy, too.”