Chapter 11

Lisa was scheduled to come clean today, so naturally Emma found herself scrubbing counters and cleaning up wayward toys as soon as Steve and the boys were gone. She thought about vacuuming, but she happened to glance into Steve's study on her way down the hall and decided she should clean off his desk first. Steve had this habit of leaving mail and personal paperwork scattered across his desk at any given time. She had been nagging him about organizing things practically since they got married. Somehow he was capable of keeping his business office neat as a pin, but when he was home it was a different story.

Emma sorted through the materials, placing everything into piles. There was a file drawer at the bottom of the desk where, each year, she carefully placed folders marked for each of the important, paperwork generating aspects of their lives. Utilities, credit cards, house insurance, car insurance, health insurance. There was a folder for everything, yet the man could not possibly