She said she would tell you herself. I thought if I could buy them a little time, we might not lose everything." "Who's we?" He folded the rag in half. All of us. I told him I'd seen the messages. Lenora loves having everyone together.
He said she's finally happy here. You know what her first marriage was like. You think she'd be happier not knowing what her husband has been doing. I asked. I didn't do what they did.
No, you helped them hide it. He looked at the floor. I told them to stop. You also gave her a story about sorting files. She didn't even have to come up with that one herself.
He didn't deny it. He said Belle had been frantic and he'd thought the next lie would be the last. I asked how many times he had told himself that. He sat on a paint bucket because there wasn't a chair nearby. I had never seen him look so old.
He said he'd been afraid Lenora would blame him for his daughter's behavior, even though Saurin was her son, too. He said Lenora had made it clear early in their marriage that she would never tolerate dishonesty about family matters after what she'd gone through before. I asked whether the affair had actually ended. as far as I know. Do you know or did they tell you? They told me.
I stood up. Gideon followed me toward the driveway and asked me not to speak to Lenora until after Thanksgiving. That was still more than a week away. I haven't decided when I'm telling her, I said. But you don't get to decide whether she knows.
At home, Belle asked where I'd been. I told her I'd spoken to her father. She sat down heavily on the couch. You didn't need to do that. He lied to me.
He was trying to help. Who? She didn't answer. I asked whether she could stay with a friend for a few nights. She resisted.
I said I wasn't ordering her out and offered to use the guest room instead. After a long argument that went nowhere, she called a coworker and packed a small bag. Before she left, she said, "I know you hate me right now. I don't know what I feel right now." I told her, "But I don't believe you." Over the next few days, I copied bank statements, checked the mortgage, and scheduled a consultation with a family law attorney. I left our accounts alone.
My attorney, Meredith Klene, explained that Belle's affair didn't automatically entitle me to the house. We still had to deal with property and debts. She advised me not to move out impulsively. I left with a folder and a headache. At work, I sent a driver to the wrong loading bay.
My supervisor told me to take Friday off. Tamson came by with soup and talked about her leaking roof. I was grateful for the change of subject. Saurin called me twice that weekend. I ignored the first call.
On the second, I answered. He said he wanted to apologize in person. I asked why he hadn't wanted to apologize before I found out. He said because I was a coward. It was a decent answer as far as answers went.
I agreed to meet him at a diner near his workshop on Monday morning. I chose a public place because I didn't trust myself not to get angry if he showed up at my house. He told me he was sorry. He said they started messaging after family dinners, then meeting for coffee. It became physical in July.
I asked whether he'd been in my house when I was away. He nodded. Did you look at the kitchen cabinets while you were there? I asked. He blinked.
What? You fixed the pantry door for me. I thank you. I bought you lunch the next week. He looked down.
I know. I waited. He said he had felt terrible afterward. I asked whether he had felt terrible enough to stop. No, Saurin said.
I appreciated that he didn't try to explain it away. I still wanted to leave. Belle says it's over. I said when was the last time you saw her alone? 3 weeks ago.
Are you sure? Yes. I knew from Belle's own admission that she'd gone to his workshop the previous Friday. She had told me they'd talked about ending things again. I hadn't decided whether to believe her description of that meeting, but it was enough to know Saurin's answer was false.
Belle told me she was at your shop last Friday. He rubbed his forehead. She came by. Nothing happened. Then why did you say 3 weeks?
Because I thought you meant alone. I said alone. He stopped trying. I asked whether Gideon knew about that visit. Saurin said he hadn't told him.
I told him I couldn't take either of their words that the affair was over. He stared at his cup. Gideon had been lying to give them time to stop and Saurin was still lying. I couldn't prove what happened at the shop and I told him that. I also told him I wasn't going to spend the rest of my marriage investigating every Friday.
I paid for my coffee and left. I didn't want another apology. The following Wednesday, Lenora called about Thanksgiving. She wanted to know whether I preferred sweet potatoes or mashed potatoes because she was making both, but wanted to know which to put closer to my end of the table. I nearly told her everything right then.
I told her I wasn't sure I would make it to dinner. I said Belle and I were having a hard time, but I couldn't talk about it yet. She was quiet for a moment. I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me about it, but I'm here.
I said, "Thank you." I called Tamson and told her what I was considering. She asked whether I wanted Lenora to know because she deserved the truth or because I wanted Gideon to suffer. "Both, probably," I admitted. "You should tell her," Tamson said, "Just don't make me drive over there afterward to clean up a fist fight." I told her there wouldn't be one. "Good," she said.
"I'm busy Thursday. I didn't love hearing that. It was useful anyway. I wrote down what I could prove: the admissions, the photograph, and Gideon's messages. Lenora didn't need a record of every meeting to know her husband had lied.
I decided to speak to her before Thanksgiving. I hadn't told Gideon when. On Monday, 3 days before the holiday, I went to a hardware store after work. The pantry door had started catching again. I stood in the hinge aisle for 10 minutes before buying a replacement pack.
I don't know why I bought them. Maybe I needed one problem I could solve with a screwdriver. Gideon called while I was in the parking lot. He said Belle had told him I might talk to Lenora. He asked me to wait until after Thursday.
He said Lenora had already ordered the turkey and invited her sister. He said she didn't deserve to have the holiday ruined. That's the call I told you about at the beginning. When I asked whether she deserved almost two months of lies, he said, "Please, I'm asking you as a father. You've been asking me to protect you as a husband." I said, he breathed out hard.
You don't understand what this could do. I understand what you did. He said he would come over and explain everything. I told him we'd already had that conversation in his garage. I wasn't going to have it again.