Betrayed

"Yeah, I've got some jobs today I should get to. I'll see you tomorrow."

I stood up, quickly giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you for coming to see me. It meant a lot to me."

We were both smiling wide as I walked away.

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HENRY

Two nights later I again picked up Kelly at Denny's, but this time we went to a country western bar and grill on the outside of town. We danced several times and Kelly was frequently asked to dance while we took a break. To my everlasting delight she turned all of the offers down, making it clear in no uncertain terms that she was here with someone and I had every spot on her dance card reserved. It reminded me that when Jennie and I had gone out dancing she thought nothing of dancing with other guys, nor had I objected. But Kelly said no all on her own; it wasn't even a question, and I found myself really appreciating that.

As the night wore on we began dancing closer and closer and I was getting aroused; noticeably, if you know what I mean. I began making efforts to keep her from becoming aware of it, but during one slow dance she made it clear my efforts had been unsuccessful.

She purposely bumped by bulge with her leg and whispered into my ear, "Did I do that?" I assured her she had, though was quite certain I had turned several shades of red. "Hey, don't be embarrassed," she continued. "It's been a long time since I had that effect on a man. I'm kind of flattered, actually."

"Kelly, you may not have been aware of it, but I doubt it's been very long at all since you affected a man like that," I said. "You're so beautiful."

Those last 3 words, I think, are what earned me the very passionate kiss she laid on me just a second later. We made out right there on the dance floor for a several minutes before she finally whispered in my ear, "I think it's time we went back to your place."

I violated several traffic laws on the way back to the boarding house, but as the saying goes, 'it's not illegal if you don't get caught'. We were sweaty from dancing but neither of us cared. We stood next to the bed kissing as I worked on getting her out of her clothes, followed by her returning the favor. Her breasts were small (probably a b-cup) but perky and firm, with great nipples. Her pussy was unshaved but kept neat. I lifted her onto the bed then lay next to her.

"Please take it slow, okay. I haven't done this since my husband left 5 years ago."

"That, my lovely lady, is both a shame and my blessing: A shame that such a beautiful woman has been idle for so long, but a blessing to me that I am finally the one to be with you."

She smiled at me. "You talk good," she said.

"It's been awhile for me as well, so we'll re-learn together."

We made love until she had to leave in order to be home by midnight as she had promised her sitter. I refused to drop her at Denny's that late. Either I took her home or she stayed with me. Her daughter would be in bed by now anyway, and I wasn't willing to risk Kelly's safety. She allowed me to take her back to her apartment. We kissed again for several minutes at her door before I reluctantly let her go.

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KELLY

We had been together for about 2 months and Henry was being so patient. He came to see me at work most every day and we went out about every 3-4 days. Ms. Pritchett assured me she was happy to watch Megan anytime but I still didn't want to do it too often. We also managed to get together here and there when I was off work and Megan still had school, but that wasn't often since I tried to schedule as much of my work as I could when Megan was in school.

We were both aware that Gail had pushed us together, and we both noticed the looks she gave us that said 'told you so'.

I had really fallen for him and I had decided it was time to take the next step in our relationship.

"How would you feel," I said, "about having dinner at my place tomorrow?"

"That would be wonderful," he answered. "Will it be....just the two of us?"

I paused just a moment, to build a little tension, and then smiled as said, "No. Megan will be there, if you're okay with that."

"Kelly, honey, I'm not just okay with that. I'm thrilled. But are you sure you're ready."

"I am. It's time, I think. She likes stuffed animals."

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HENRY

I arrived right on time, carrying a small green teddy bear. I was nervous as I knocked on her door. Megan herself answered the door, with Kelly standing just a couple feet behind her.

"Well, good evening. You must be Megan, the lady of the house."

Megan was dressed in a pastel pink dress with pigtails in her hair secured by pink ribbons of the same color. Kelly was wearing yoga pants and a light sweater. She had her hair straightened (her hair had a natural wave).

"Yes sir, I am. Please come in." I was very impressed with her manners.

"Thank you, Miss Megan. Say, maybe you can help me with a problem." I held up the bear. "I have this friend of mine here that needs a place to live and someone to love him. He can't stay at my house; there is a very strict no-bears policy. I wonder if you might be willing to take care of him for me."

Megan took the little bear from my hand. "I have lots of friends he can meet. He'll be happy here." She ran off to deliver her new friend to her bedroom.

"That was sweet," Kelly said, giving me a quick kiss. "She loves stuffed animals. Her room is full of them and they all have names. I don't know how she keeps them all straight."

I took her in my arms and gave her a longer kiss, that broke rather abruptly when Megan came charging into the room. "These are my best friends," she announced. I was introduced to Isabel the Raccoon, Susie the Tiger, and Conrad the Zebra. I shook each of their hands (paws? hooves?) as introductions were made, then Kelly asked her to please put her friends away.

"Conrad?" I asked.

"She heard the name on a commercial and liked it, for some reason," Kelly explained. "The next friend to enter the family was named Conrad."

We sat down to dinner and the conversation was mostly dominated by an 8-year old girl that really liked the sound of her own voice. But it was a delight to hear her, and once again Juliana's face came to my mind. This time it was the 8-year old version of her. I felt my eyes start to mist up and I quickly took control of myself, hoping Kelly hadn't noticed. After dinner Kelly and I were sitting on the couch talking and holding hands while watching Megan play with a number of her friends, including Bobby, the newest member of her family. Rather abruptly, Megan stopped and looked at me. "Are you going to be my new daddy?"

Kelly started to interject but I stopped her. "I got this, hon." I had Megan come stand in front of me. "Megan, honey, I like your mom a whole lot, but I won't lie to you, okay? Your mommy and I are still getting to know each other, and we're still a ways from deciding anything like that. And not only that, but I have another pretty girl that I need to convince, because if I do someday marry your mommy, in a way I'll be marrying you too, right? So you, your mommy, and I will be spending a lot of time together while we decide what we want to do. And there will also be times when it's just mommy and me. It's not that we won't want you with us those times, but sometimes the grownups need to spend time alone. But as soon as mommy and I make any decisions, you'll be the first to know, I promise. Does that sound okay?"

"I guess that's okay," Megan said. "Promise I'm the first?" I nodded. "Okay. Can I have my ice cream now?"

Kelly got up and served us each a bowl of ice cream, which we ate at the table. This was all bringing back so many really hard memories, ones I had tried hard to avoid for years. My eyes got wet again, and this time I was certain Kelly noticed, but neither of us said anything. Finally it was time for Megan to go to bed. My heart grew 3 sizes when she asked me to read her bedtime story. After a rousing version of Sleeping Beauty I kissed her forehead and said good night.

When Kelly and I made it back to the couch she asked about the little speech I gave Megan about being her daddy.

"That was a great answer," she said. "It was like you had practiced it."

"I did, kind of," I said. "I did some research online about dating a single mom and how to handle questions like that. I took their suggestions and thought about what I wanted to say when it came up. I'm glad I was able to do it okay."

"You did great. I think she really likes you." She put her hand on mine. "So...will you stay?"

"I was hoping to, but it's your house and it's your little girl down the hall so I wasn't going to push it."

"I really want you to, but I'd have to ask you to leave before she wakes up. We'll just have to be careful. Is that okay?"

I answered by taking her hand and going down the hall to her bedroom, being careful to lock the door. I paused as the memories came back again, this time of having acted similarly when Juliana was little and Jennie and I needed time to ourselves. I was living it all again. Part of me was grateful for the second chance and that I could maybe get it right this time, and part of me was terrified that the result would be the same. I couldn't handle that again.

All went according to plan. Kelly and I again spent about 3 hours being intimate. There're really no words to describe making love to Kelly. Her skin is perfect and so soft. When I slid inside her for the first time tonight her moans made clear the pleasure she felt. She particularly enjoyed doing it missionary, as she liked when we looked into each other's eyes and kissed as I slid in and out of her. And when she climaxes it's a whole body experience, causing her walls to clench down on my shaft. It's nearly impossible for her to climax without her bringing me along for the ride.

When we were done she peeked in on Megan and found her fast asleep and cuddling with her new bear friend, Bobby. I got dressed and took my leave, thankful it had gone so well and looking forward to even more time with Kelly.

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KELLY

I was relaxing in Henry's bed. Megan had slept over at a friend's house last night and I had today off, but Henry had gone off to work. It's been 8 months now since Henry and I met and we are crazy in love; well, I am for sure, and I'm pretty sure he is. I had spent the night in Henry's room with him and we had made love most of the night, and once more before he left for work. Frankly, I'm a little worried about his customer's smelling my pussy on him.

We've been together pretty much every day in that time, and I was expecting him to propose any day now, and he'll get an enthusiastic 'YES' when he finally does.

I rolled out of bed to climb in the shower. I had slept naked next to my man so I didn't even need to take any clothes off. I'll be hanging out here until Henry comes to pick me up for lunch, and then he'll take me home so I can be there when Abby's mom brings Megan home this afternoon.

It was just boredom that set me to looking around Henry's room. He didn't really have much stuff, and we didn't spend a lot of time here. We were usually at my place because of Megan. In fact this was only the 2nd time I'd been here alone, and the first time had lasted all of 20 minutes while he ran to the store for some milk.

I could see most everything just by standing in the center of the room. There was his 'home office' (the small desk and filing cabinet), his 'full kitchen' (microwave and hot plate on the counter next to the sink), the closet where he kept his clothes, and of course the queen-size bed we made good use of last night.

I flipped through the clothes hanging in the closet. I had worn several of his shirts as nightgowns, after he had taken them off at my house. They always had his smell on them and I really liked inhaling that as I slept.

I happened to notice a file box tucked into the corner of his closet. It was missing the lid and I could see it wasn't very full, and I wondered why that stuff wasn't with the rest of his files. I confess that my curiosity got the better of me.

I took a quick glance and noticed that the dates were all from years ago, back before he moved to Texas. It was from that time in his life that he all but refused to talk about. I knew a few things but he really didn't like to talk about it; it seemed to really upset him, so I didn't push.

But this was the man I wanted to marry, and I felt like I knew so little about him, so I was torn over whether to take advantage of this opportunity to learn some things about his past. I don't even have to let on that I know; it would just be for my own peace of mind. And so, with a small prayer that Henry will forgive me if her ever finds out, I pulled out the first folder.

I found his marriage certificate, which was not a surprise, and I also found his divorce decree, which I was surprisingly relieved to see. I think part of me was worried that he wouldn't talk about his past because he was still married. I glanced through the terms of the divorce and was stunned to see that he had a daughter. Hadn't he said he didn't have any kids? Other than that, the only surprise was that he had gotten all of the cash in their accounts. Custody, child support, visitation, all seemed pretty normal.

I looked closer at the information about his daughter. Her name was Juliana and she'd be about 22 now, which would have made her just 14 when they divorced. Maybe when he said no kids he meant no young kids, like Megan. Of course I couldn't ask him about it or he'd know I'd been snooping, but I was sure there was more to this than meets the eye. On another page I found one piece of contact information: a phone number for his ex-wife, Jennifer.

I quickly boxed everything back up and put it back the way I found it. Maybe Gail knew something. She had known Henry for years. I'd start there.

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HENRY

I picked up Kelly for lunch and she seemed...off somehow. Distracted is probably the best description.

"You okay, honey? You seem like you have something on your mind."

"No, baby, I'm fine. Just a little tired. You kind of wore me out last night." She smiled at me.

I dropped it at that but I wasn't entirely convinced.

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KELLY

I got to work early the next morning so I could talk to Gail.

"Gail, what do you know about Henry's life before he moved here?"

She turned to me quickly and had a glint in her eye. The concern in her voice when she spoke was evident.

"Why're you askin', girl?"

"I accidentally found some stuff in his apartment last night. Did you know he has a daughter? He told me he didn't have any kids. And he won't tell me much about his past. There has to be some reason why he's created all this separation from his old life."

"Kelly, baby, you need to let this go. I've known Henry a long time. He's a good man and he'll take care of you. But if you dig into this you may not like what happens. Trust me. Let it go."

"So you do know something. Please, Gail. I love him so much. Help me."

She just shook her head and said, "Let it go, honey. Let it go."

Part of me really wanted to take her advice, but the more I thought about it as the day wore on, the more I found I couldn't do that. He came in for breakfast as usual and I did my best to act normal. We talked about our plans for tonight before he had to get to work. I gave him a kiss and sent him on his way. When my shift ended I went back to my place to think some more.

As I sat in my apartment I realized that I had to know what had led Henry to leave his daughter behind. I had to know because I had a daughter of my own. She loved Henry as if he was her father and he seemed to love her like she was his own. And if he could leave one daughter behind, he could do it again if the circumstances were right. And until I knew what those circumstances were, I didn't think I could put Megan's heart at risk. I was her mother and she was my first priority, even above my own happiness.

Since Gail wouldn't tell me anything, and Henry had made it clear he wouldn't tell me anything either, I only had one course of action.

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JENNIE

The caller ID on the phone simply said 'Private Number'. I had taken to answering calls from strange or blocked numbers, just on the off chance it was Henry. But as I picked up the phone I held no hope that it was anything besides a telemarketer or some other such junk, as it usually was.

"Hello?"

"Yes, hello. Um, I'm trying to reach a Jennifer Weston."

I almost hung up the phone. Someone calling using my old married name was almost certainly trying to sell me something and was using outdated information. But something in the tone of the voice, the uncertainty of it, made me hang on.

"Well, that used to be me, though it's Holloway now. Who's calling, please?"

"Mrs. Holloway, my name is Kelly. We've never met but..." She took a deep breath. "...but I'm dating your ex-husband, Henry."

Had I heard that right? I just stood there, the phone pressed to my ear not believing what I had just heard. I had thought about what I would say if something like this ever happened, but in the moment I couldn't seem to form any coherent thoughts let alone words.

"Mrs. Holloway?"

"I'm sorry. Please, call me Jennie. You've just caught me completely by surprise. Give me one moment please."

I set the phone down and rubbed my face, almost like I was waking from a dream. I wished Tom were here; he'd know what to say, or at least help me figure it out, but he was still at work. I managed to get myself together and picked up the phone.

"Kelly, I'm sorry about making you wait. This is just..."

"I understand, Jennie," Kelly said. "I don't know much but I do know you haven't heard from him in some time."

"Eight years," I responded. "It's been eight years. How is he? Where is he?"

"He's fine; doing well for himself," Kelly answered. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you where he is. I get the impression he wouldn't be too happy about it. I'm already risking my relationship by even calling you. I did a little snooping to even get any information at all. He's never really spoken to me about his past."

That hurt me a little bit, that he had made a new life somewhere, had even found a girlfriend, but he still wouldn't acknowledge our old life.

"Of course, I understand. I'm glad to hear he's doing well. He's a very good man, Kelly. He didn't deserve what I did to him."

"If you don't mind my asking, Jennie, what exactly did you do to him?"

"I guess I'm not really surprised that he didn't tell you. Well, the short version is we were together for over 20 years and married for 16, and I divorced him to marry his best friend, whom he had known since third grade. God, that sounds just awful when I say it out loud."

"Wow. My husband did the same thing to me. He divorced me for my best friend; small world, huh? We hadn't been together as long, though. But that doesn't explain why he did what he did. People get divorced every day, even for reasons like yours, but they don't take off and abandon their kids. There must be more to it."

"Oh, there is." I explained the circumstances that led to Henry's departure. "I don't think he saw it as abandoning his daughter because, in his mind, she had abandoned him first by choosing to live with me and Tom. In fact, right after the divorce hearing he called her 'your daughter' and said he'd be gone in a week, but I didn't realize what he meant."

"Well, I can't say I agree with what he did, but at least I can understand it a little better," said Kelly.

I really didn't want to rock the boat, but I didn't know if this would be my only chance at this.

"Kelly, I know you don't owe me anything, and I'm not asking for me," I said. "Juliana is getting married in a few months. She's tried her best to move on, to deal with not having heard anything from her father since she was 14, not even a birthday card. But with her wedding coming up she is crying all the time that her daddy won't be there to walk her down the aisle. She's dreamt of that since she was a little girl. If you have any influence over him; if there's anything you can do..."