My Wife’s Secret Mortgage

Summary

Three thousand, eight hundred dollars.

My checking account was short exactly $3,800.

I stared at the glowing screen of my phone, my thumb swiping down to refresh the banking app.

It was still there. The fifteenth of the month. Auto-draft.

I didn’t recognize the payee.

I scrolled to the previous month. The 15th. There it was again.

I scrolled to the month before that. Again.

I didn’t keep scrolling. My fingertips felt numb, hovering over the glass.

From the kitchen, the rhythmic clack-clack of Simona’s spatula hitting the rim of the frying pan drifted out to the living room.