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“Higher Grounds, may I help you?”
    Micah jotted down his social security number.
    “What’s wrong, Nat?”
    He looked up, and Hanna placed her hand over the mouthpiece and whispered, “Just leave them on my desk when you’re done.” Then she slipped out the door.

    Hanna entered the empty kitchen, letting the louvered doors swing shut behind her. By the sound of her sister’s voice, she could tell Natalie was fighting tears. Nat had been rambling about tidying up after lunch, but hadn’t yet gotten to the point.
    “And it fell out of his pants, right there on the floor. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it, Hanna. Why would he do it?” She sounded hysterical.
    Hanna’s mind spun as she tried to decipher some kind of meaning from her sister’s meandering words. “Now, wait, Nat. What fell out of his pants? I’m not following.”
    “A condom!” The word brought on a flood of tears and sniffles.
    Hanna paused in the taut silence.
    “I’m on the pill, Hanna!”
    Hanna wilted and squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, Nat.”
    “We haven’t been very close lately. He’s been so busy at the bank, and I’ve been busy with the kids and church, but … an affair? How could he?”
    She heard the torment in her sister’s voice, wished she could take it away. What could she say? “Maybe it hasn’t gotten that far yet. The package wasn’t empty, was it?”
    “No.” She sniffled again, and Hanna heard the baby squealing unhappily in the background, then a muffled, “Alex, get off him!”
    Nat just didn’t deserve this. She would never dream of having an affair. Hanna could hardly believe Keith would either.
    “Do you really think he hasn’t done anything yet?” Nat asked. “Who could it be? He’s never home, and I thought he was working. But what if he wasn’t working at all? What if he was spending all that time with
her?”
    Hanna smiled stiffly when Mrs. Eddlestein entered the kitchen, then lowered her voice, ensuring that the hard-of-hearing woman wouldn’t hear. “I don’t know, sweetie. Could it be someone at the bank?” Hanna tried to recall if she’d seen anyone at the bank when she’d gone to sign papers. No particular woman stood out in her mind.
    “There are plenty of women there, but most of them are married or overweight. And you know how Keith feels about extra pounds. At least, on me.” She sighed into the phone. “He’s lost weight lately himself, and he’s been wearing cologne every day!” she said, as if she’d just put two and two together. “Why didn’t I see this coming?”
    “You had no way of knowing. Your mind doesn’t work that way. What about at church? Is there anyone there you can think of?”
    “Church? Keith hasn’t been to church in weeks.” A fresh wave of tears started. “Oh, Hanna, he went out of town two weeks ago! What if he was really with
her?”
    How could You let this happen to Nat, God? And to the boys?
“Are you going to ask him?”
    “What if he’s in love with her? What if he wants to leave us?”
    Hanna didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t married, had never even come close. Who was she to give advice? “Have you thought of calling Mom and Dad? Or Paula?”
    “I can’t do that. Mom and Dad would never forgive Keith, and he’d never be able to face them again if they knew. And Paula’s not exactly the most sympathetic ear in the world. I need advice; that’s why I called you.”
    “I don’t know what to say, Nat.” Silence crackled between them. She watched Mrs. Eddlestein taking a fresh batch of crescent rolls to the dining room. “You’re going to have to ask him what’s going on. Maybe there’s some other explanation.” She could hardly fathom that the man who had risked a sizable loan for her would betray his own wife.
    “Do I tell him what I found, or should I just ask if something going on?”
    She rubbed her temple with her free hand. “If you started a discussion about your relationship, do you think he’d open