Slices Of Small Town Life Ch. 02

This went on for several days, until he agreed to meet face to face, after she answered the question.

It was the hardest thing she had ever had to do in her life. She must have rewritten it a dozen times, even went to a counselor for advice, and had a college boy, working on a Masters in English, to help her polish it until she felt it set the perfect tone. He was cute, tall, a killer smile, and he seemed to enjoy flirting with her.

She was sizing him up, she had never been with a man that young, when it hit her what she was doing. She stopped immediately, but gave him double his fee, and made sure she kept his card, with his email and number. Satisfied, she sent it off.

"Dearest Charley,

You have no idea how hard this is to write. How do you justify hurting the man you've shared life with for the last thirty years, the man who gave you a child, the man who loved you? You can't. I have no explanation. I've seen an expert a couple of times for insight. I didn't like her opinions.

She alluded to possible hormone imbalances, a midlife crisis, empty nest syndrome all being factors, but in the end, I did it because I could. I never flaunted it, and until my recent stupidity, kept it far away from you. I knew you were a proud man, and it would wound you deeply. You have reacted so far just as I thought you would. I know, with just a phone call or two, you could easily destroy me, make me a social pariah in our community, maybe even turn our daughter against me. But I also know you're too good a man to do anything like that. If you decide to divorce me, you'll do it quietly and with dignity. I know you too well, Charley."

"But know this, Charley. I never once stopped loving you. Even during my 'playdates', I couldn't stop thinking about getting home to you, snuggling into your arms on the patio, watching the sunset. I'd rewrite history today if I could, erase all this ugliness and go back to our quiet, happy life, but I doubt seriously God is going to give me a do-over."

"Please Charley, don't ask me for times or details, I don't want to inflict any more pain than I already have. The end would be the same if it were just one or a hundred. But know this. I will do anything, absolutely anything, to reconcile. Want to whip my naked ass on main street? I'll show up at high noon on Saturday, ready to bend over. Want me to give up my business and be a housewife for the rest of my life? I'll put the businesses up for sale tomorrow, and get rid of them even if I have to take a loss. I'll do anything Charley, anything, to be in your arms one more time. Now, send me the time and where you want to meet.

I love you Charley, I always will.

Rose"

She signed, hit send, and shut her laptop. It was up to Charley and God now.

...

Charley read through the email four times, getting angrier every time. Just because she could? They didn't mean anything? She still loved him? Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. And the line, whether it was "one or a hundred', told him right away there was more than one. It was all he needed to know. He took a quiet trip, out of state, to the biggest town his wife had an office in. He had his lawyer reach out, and he had the names of the three most respected private investigation firms in the city. He met with all, and hired two of them, on the off chance one group would discover more than another. He did the same thing at all her locations. He paid top dollar, and gave bonuses for speedy work. He had one directive.

"Dig up every square inch of dirt in your area. If you need help, hire them. If you find someone you suspect had an affair with my wife, find out everything you can, as far back as you have to go, and give it to me."

The two firm owners had a dinner meeting. They knew and respected each other, and were admittedly a little concerned about what they were doing.

"What do you think he's trying to gain here, Jack?"

"I don't think he's trying to gain anything. I think he's a man in deep pain. I think maybe he's trying to understand why she cheated on him.," He stopped, sipping his tea. "I'm sure you did what I did, Chuck, and checked him out. No history of violence, a well respected member of the community, you have to dig pretty deep to find anyone who has a bad word about him, and the ones that do almost universally lost something from tangling with him. I'm sure most deserved it. And his random acts of kindness are almost legendary, even though he tries to keep them quiet."

They sat silently for a minute or two. He may be exactly like he looks on paper, but they had been in their field for a long time, and had learned that people were almost never what they seemed. Plus, as they both knew, random acts of kindness was one of the biggest tells for sociopaths. Chuck finally broke the silence.

"Well, we know he's worth about thirty million, at least twenty of that is in liquid assets. So let's just keep an eye out, and do what he's paying us for. If he goes off the rails, we'll try to deal with it, and if it gets out of hand, well, then we call the cops. Agreed?"

"Absolutely," responded Jack. But they both had reservations. Neither had seen such coldness in anyone's eyes as Charley had when he talked about his wife's possible lovers.