The Boyfriend
by Freida McFadden
Contents
Chapter 45
Overview
Tom’s mother begins piecing together clues about Tom’s father’s disappearance when a bartender returns the missing man’s phone and confirms he vanished after leaving it at O’Toole’s. Her follow-up questions about the missing rug expose contradictions in Tom’s story, bringing him close to being discovered. Chief Driscoll’s arrival sharply raises the stakes, suggesting Tom’s cover may be collapsing.
Summary
In this earlier timeline, Tom eats dinner with his mother after living on junk food for two days. Tom’s mother talks about Uncle Dave’s medical procedure and then asks how Daisy is handling Alison’s disappearance, but Tom is distracted because Daisy has not returned his calls and Tom is preoccupied with recent events.
The conversation is interrupted when the doorbell rings. Tom expects the police, but the visitor is a bartender from O’Toole’s. After the man leaves, Tom’s mother reveals that Tom’s father left his phone at the bar two nights earlier and has neither returned for it nor shown up at work, which makes her question where he has been.
Tom’s mother then presses Tom about the rug he said he put out by the curb. When Tom says he put it out on Tuesday, Tom’s mother points out that garbage pickup is on Monday, so the rug could not have been taken the way Tom claimed. Her questions expose a flaw in Tom’s story and make clear that she is beginning to suspect something is wrong.
As Tom struggles to respond, he thinks about how he should have killed his father before he could crawl away, showing that Tom did murder or fatally attack him. Tom also fixates on his mother’s neck as she studies him, hinting at how dangerous the moment is becoming. Before Tom can answer, the doorbell rings again, and this time the visitor is Chief Driscoll.
Who Appears
- TomEarlier POV; hides his father’s killing and struggles as his mother questions his story.
- Tom’s motherGrows suspicious after learning her husband vanished and Tom’s rug explanation makes no sense.
- Chief DriscollArrives at the house at the chapter’s end, increasing the threat to Tom.
- Tom’s fatherAbsent but central; his abandoned phone and disappearance trigger his wife’s suspicions.
- Bartender at O’Toole’sReturns Tom’s father’s phone and reports he has not come back for it.