Keeping a Good Man Down

By Chuck Dozier

This book is a dramatic look at marriage disappointments from a males perspective. Most men are fundamentally good, and they can resist the temptations of infidelity when given a choice. The challenges of dealing with a wife that constantly pushes them to the margins of his life can often be too much for some men to bear.

Norman found himself the object of desire for a beautiful young flight attendant. He had several encounters with her in different places. He even had lunch with her in his own hometown, but he didnt know the woman. His last encounter with her was in his hotel room late one night on a road trip to Phoenix. His wife found out that he had invited the woman into his hotel room. She accused him of cheating and threw him out of the house, but he insisted he was innocent. With divorce looming, the only way he could prove his innocence was to find her and have her confront his wife with the facts. He had no idea who she was, where she was from, or how to find her. He was desperate to find the mystery woman named Pricilla, who was the only person who could save his marriage.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984515896

Chuck Dozier

Authors Bio Chuck Dozier has been writing for nearly two decades with numerous published articles and his life changing manuscripts to his credit. His knowledge of the world and life comes from having traveled extensively. His travels have taken him to every state in the US and across much of four continents. He grew up in northeastern South Carolina where he was the seventh child in a family with ten children. He shares a very close relationship with his six brothers and three sisters, most of who still lives in the area. After graduation from Chestnut High School, an all black school in North Myrtle Beach, SC, he attended college at Marshall University in Huntington, WV. He was a member of Marshalls foot team in 1968 and 1969. His life suffered a tragic jolt in 1970 when he lost several close friends and school mates in the plane crash that took the lives of nearly the entire Marshall University football team. Years later he met and married his wife, Regina, in California where they lived for more than twenty-five years. They have a son together and now live in The Triangle area of North Carolina. Chuck enjoys hiking, fishing, golfing, traveling and writing. His biggest pleasure comes from spending quality time with his family and working in his garden.

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 by Chuck Dozier.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2018903435

ISBN:                  Hardcover                        978-1-9845-1591-9

                            Softcover                          978-1-9845-1590-2

                            eBook                               978-1-9845-1589-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 03/20/2018

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

775477

Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Chapter 1     Hurt and Disappointment

Why Me?

True Love at Last

Chapter 2     The Big Day for the Happy Couple

What a Time

Moving on to Freedom

Chapter 3     The Honeymooners

Off to Their First Paradise

A Lovers’ Paradise

Soul-Searching

The Island Explorers

Chapter 4     Norman’s Phone Call to Gail

Phone Call to Janice

Sunshine for the Soul

Home Sweet Home

Chapter 5     Norman Tries to Recover from Nancy’s Rebuke

Lunch with Barker

Nancy’s Call to Her Mom

Down to Down Under

Dreams of Long Ago

Chapter 6     Fun in the Outback

Not Again

Cruising down Under

Let’s Go Home

Saying a Last Goodbye

Chapter 7     Looking for Solutions

Megan Had Lunch with Nancy

Why Is Daddy Not Home?

Chapter 8     Girl Talk

Off to Paradise

Sister and Sister

Chapter 9     Norman Tries to Find Pricilla

The Switch

The Search Begins

The Investigator

Together Again

There’s a Party over There

Chapter 10   Frustrated and Lonely

I Miss My Husband

The Search Takes Off

Together Again II

Digging for Evidence

Should I Change My Mind?

Chapter 11   Back to Life

A Tough Day at Work

The Sisters’ Mini Vacation

The Sales Trip

Mada’s Phone Call

Norman’s Phone Call to Janice

Chapter 12   Surprise, Surprise

Back to Work at the Top

Chapter 13   Searching the Archives

Headed Home

Reunited or Not?

Back to the East

The Board Report

Chapter 14   One More Try

All Good Things Must End

All Tuckered Out

Chapter 15   Old Friends Together Again

Dinner at the Lodge

Lunch in the Hills

Chapter 16   The Face-Off

Sarah

Nancy

Mada

Kate

Chapter 17   Norman

Pricilla

Face-to-Face

Chapter 18   Back in Love Again

Happiness at Last

Back to the Nest

The Turning Point

Alarm at CLC

Help Is on the Way

Dinner at the Top

Love Joins the Stars

On the Mend

Moving On

Epilogue

Author’s Bio

Book Description

Quotes from Readers

Acknowledgments

I   would like to thank those in my circle for encouraging me to create my work in the way it’s being presented to you. Everything, from the idea to create this book to the construction of the pages, is the work of a great number of people around me.

I am forever grateful to Patti Smith. The decision to create this story originated with her. Patti has been a lifelong friend, and her encouragement has been the wind beneath my wings. Twelve years ago, I never dreamed her suggestion to me during a phone conversation to write a book would result in a trilogy of novels. She planted the seed in my mind and helped me direct the story in the right path. Patti, your help and your lifelong friendship will always be cherished. Thank you.

There were a number of others who helped me stay on track. Thanks to Loraine Mitchell, my sister, for your hours of constructive criticism. You have helped me in ways you may never know. Your ideas and critiques helped me present this work in a way the public can see it for what it is. I am eternally grateful to you for your input. Now enjoy the fruits of your help with this work.

My thanks to Annetta Monroe for her help with this manuscript. You will never know how much your words of encouragement and criticism helped me make the changes necessary to finish this work. As a lifelong friend, I cherish your opinion and your ability to see my words through the work. Thank you for all your help.

Shernika Sheppard, your comments made a difference for me, both in my thinking and in my work. Your out-of-the-box thinking helped me look at my work from a totally different perspective. That’s what I wanted from a critic. You gave me that. Look carefully and you will see your thoughts sprinkled throughout this book. Thank you.

Thanks to my son, CJ Dozier, who allowed me to use his image to grace the cover of this book. This image taken in the summer of 2012, while he and I were on vacation in Michigan, is perfect in many ways. This picture is one of his and my favorites. Of the thousands of images I have taken over the years, this one spoke to me most about the events of this book. It is hard to imagine what is on his mind at the time of this photograph, but it depicts the very essence of what I was trying to convey in the pages of this book. It is the image of a man who has reached the end of his complicated world with nowhere else to go. The next step would be to turn around and face life head-on.

I will always cherish the times you and I spent roaming the country together, exploring God’s creation, and bonding with each other. Our road trips to every corner of this country and abroad stand out as the single most important thing that I have ever done in this life. Thank you for making me feel like a real dad all these years.

I have many others to thank, too numerous to mention with such limited space. You know who you are, and I thank you for your encouragement and continued support. I look forward to hearing from each of you with feedback on the results of this story. Enjoy this work, and may God continue to bless you in life.

Prologue

N orman was a modest man with a zest for life and a head for business. He never did anything that would be considered over the top . In every aspect of his life, he tried to keep things in perspective. When he was younger, he didn’t have a great deal of opportunities to date. His life was more about preparation. He went to college, even though it was a struggle for him. At that age, he seemed to have figured out that education is the key to a successful life. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he didn’t waste a lot of time on the small stuff. He was not terribly interested in girls. Through four years of college, he had only dated a couple of times. Even in those cases, he had been approached by girls who were interested in him. As soon as they realized he was not going to cater to them, they moved on. He was more concerned about his studies. His grades were of the utmost importance.

Norman’s grades were above average but not enough to claim honors upon graduation. He was very pleased with himself and what he had accomplished during his stay at Pitt. He made friends easily, but he was very choosy about the people he hung out with. He didn’t have a large circle of close acquaintances. One of the first people he met when he arrived on campus was a young man named Thomas. They had roomed together his first semester and got along very well.

Thomas was a bubbling mess. He loved to laugh, and more importantly, he loved to make other people laugh. After they graduated and went in their own directions, they still remained close. Norman was the first person he told when he met Janice. He declared to Norman in private that he thought he’d met his soul mate. The couple couldn’t be more different from each other. Janice was very quiet and shy to a great degree, but Thomas was a character. He could take anything and make it humorous. Janice loved that about him and fell hopelessly in love with the comedian. Shortly after college, they married, with Norman as his best man. Their friendship continued to grow, and they stayed close.

When Norman graduated, he was recruited by a number of companies looking for an energetic person capable of being groomed for a management position with the firm. He decided on a company that was national in scope and not overly well known. That seemed to be important to him. His theory was the larger companies would be overrun by people like himself looking for fame and fortune on a larger stage. That was not his desire. Norman wanted to work his way to the top. He knew his capabilities and had a great deal of confidence in himself. He was not afraid to work hard. He was not afraid of working in obscurity as long as he felt he was making progress. He felt if he ever reached the level of top management, he would have earned it. That would give him the satisfaction of knowing his abilities were strong enough to take him to any place he decided to go, but on his own merits.

Moving to the small town of Pineville was a great decision for him. It would give him just what he wanted, a place to work, and hone his skills without being in a fishbowl. His level of maturity was such that he would make these kinds of grand decisions that would not be noticed by anyone except the people who counted. He also knew at the early stages of his career that everything he did or didn’t do would be monitored by the important management people of the company.

He was not surprised when he received the offer to advance his career after about five or six years in the small town. The unfortunate part of the scenario was that he had met a woman who would be the love of his life, yet she was someone who threatened to hold him back from his original goals. His decision to follow his dream meant he would forever be star-crossed with her. Their lives took on a number of twists and turns, but their friendship endured. Destiny caused them to bang into each other from time to time, but a life together eluded them.

Chapter 1

Hurt and Disappointment

N orman had never seen Nancy so angry. In the twenty-two years they were married, they always got through difficult times without outright anger. He knew she was capable of more than he had ever seen, but he loved her and always wanted to please her. He thought he’d done a pretty good job of living up to her expectations. Anytime he thought he was doing something she wouldn’t approve of, he turned the other way. Whenever they had a disagreement, he would usually be the one to back off or back down. He wouldn’t allow a confrontation to escalate to the point where she would become truly angry. Their motto was always to not let the sun go down on anything that would cause them not to hold each other in love during the coming night. The last couple of years had put that motto on shaky ground; however, the last few months got them back on the right track, and their relationship was thriving again.

From the moment she entered the door, he could see something in her he hadn’t seen before. His first thought was She’d had a confrontation with some stranger who tried to accost her. He quickly learned that the fire he saw in her eyes was meant for him. The anger came spewing out of her mouth like the vomit it represented. It was accompanied by a complete unwillingness to compromise. She did a great deal of homework to find what she thought was the truth before confronting him. When she did, she was not taking any excuses that did not immediately explain the situation in his favor. He found himself in the unenviable position of trying to explain the actions of another woman, one he didn’t even know, yet she was a woman who was in his company a number of times and left the impression he was deeply involved with her. It didn’t take long for the situation to spiral out of control and place him in the position of trying to win back the love of his wife. It was only a few months earlier when she was trying to win him back.

He should have known better after all these years of being married to Nancy that even kissing another woman was enough to destroy the bond they shared. Yet he allowed himself to be compromised to that degree. To him, it was no big thing, but to her, it was complete betrayal, and she was not going to put up with it.

The other woman was absolutely beautiful, alluring, and young. She locked her beams on him and made the job of becoming his woman her greatest mission and was not about to let go. She did everything she could think of to get into his arms. She proved to be a very resourceful woman and spared no expense of time or money to achieve her goal. When she finally maneuvered her way into his embrace, it felt great, but he was another woman’s man.

___________________

N orman had spent the last few years feeling sorry for himself. His wife, Nancy, who worked at a large accounting firm in Seattle, spent much of her time focusing on her career. As a result, she ignored the need for intimacy in her marriage, not just physical intimacy but emotional intimacy as well. She’d basically removed herself from most of the family activities, which should have included her, and isolated herself in her own little emotional world, focused on feeling sorry for herself because her career didn’t advance at the pace she thought it should have. The result was a serious deterioration in her relationship with her husband.

What seemed to come easily to him was much more difficult for her. She was an ambitious woman, and trying to juggle home and work made her road to the top very difficult. However, she finally made it to her goal. She was promoted to junior partner and a top-level position with Campanna, Lopes, and Craycraft (CLC). It was nearly ten years after the time frame she had set for herself, but life was looking up for her professionally.

There was never a question of whether she still loved her husband; it became unclear if she wanted to be with him anymore. He tried everything he knew to get her to talk to him about whatever was bothering her. At every juncture, she rebuffed him. She wouldn’t talk about the things that were bothering her, not even with the people who were closest to her over the years. Her sister tried several times to reach out to her but was unsuccessful. Her friends tried to reach out to her but to no avail. Her mother was her constant rock-solid go-to person, and she shut her out. Nothing worked. Nancy just chose to cocoon herself and deal with whatever was bothering her on her own. Norman was left with no choice but to assume he was the problem, and he didn’t want to be a problem. He filed for divorce and began the process of moving himself to freedom.

Even Nancy herself didn’t know what it was affecting her so negatively. She seemed to be in a state of depression and couldn’t find the means to reverse the feeling. Unfortunately, her husband could not recognize the symptoms and became frustrated beyond reason. He thought she had lost her zest for a relationship with him and therefore was not happy herself. After three or four years (he couldn’t remember when it started) of being treated like a stranger in the bedroom and a visitor to their home, he felt that his route to happiness again was to get out of the relationship and try to find it someplace else. His judgment was clouded by the fact he had made contact with an old girlfriend from far in his past, one whom he’d loved very much in his youth.

Norman went through college with his mind squarely on his education. He dated a few girls during his four years at Pitt but nothing serious. He hadn’t been involved with anyone he would consider a steady girlfriend at all. Gail Jarrett was the love of his life when they were both much younger. She was the first woman he met after college, and they fell in love. Her extremely attractive features caught his attention, and he began the process of reeling her into his world. She was ten years older than him when they met and seemed much more mature than other women he had been used to dating around his own age. He liked that about her, and it drew him even closer to her. Norman was a very young man with a very old soul. The similarities in philosophy were their greatest assets, that is, until Norman received an opportunity to relocate to take advantage of a promotion with his company. Gail began to second-guess the wisdom of hitching her life in a more permanent way to a man who was so much younger than she was. That proved to be a mistake on her part, and she lived most of her life regretting the fact that she did not throw caution to the wind and do everything she could to hold on to the love she and Norman shared.

When Norman moved away from the small town of Pineville, which was located in Southern Pennsylvania, he would have taken Gail with him. In fact, he would have asked her to marry him if he thought she was open to it. The signals she gave him told him if he asked her to marry him and move away from Pineville, she would refuse, or at the very least, she would be very unhappy. He would not expose himself to that kind of rejection. She decided to stay in Pineville for fear the age difference between them was too much. The gap wouldn’t allow their love to flourish long term.

Although Norman was disappointed, he moved on with his life. He was ambitious and could not pass up the opportunity that his company had given him. It meant he could move up and become a middle manager with the firm and possibly a top manager someday. When he accepted the promotion and moved away, it proved to be a very good move on his part. He excelled with his company, eventually moving to California to accept another promotion. He and Gail remained friends but drifted apart and found lives with other people and eventually lost contact completely. After nearly two decades, they came together again and discovered the feelings, which existed between them all those years earlier, were still there, just below the surface.

Norman should have known better than to get too close to his old girlfriend. He still cared too much for her; besides, she was still single and available. All those years had passed and she had never married again or became serious enough about anyone she could spend the rest of her life with. He ignored all that and made the mistake anyway. By allowing himself the vision of intimacy with Gail again, it drove Norman to give up on his marriage and file for divorce from Nancy. That was unexpected but not surprising, especially after the way Nancy had treated him over the past few years. At her company, she had been mistreated by her immediate superiors and was pushed aside or otherwise overlooked for advancement year after year. The result was a bout with depression, and it took its toll on her. Her depression spilled over into her marriage and caused a rift between her and her family.

It was her good friend Megan who recognized what was happening to Nancy and convinced her girlfriend to challenge the company they both worked for to treat her like the smart, dedicated executive she was or risk losing her to another firm. Nancy was somewhat reluctant but followed through on a threat. Her background was of such that she could have easily moved to another company and probably demand a starting salary much higher than her current level with CLC. She began by challenging her immediate supervisor, who had deliberately put up roadblocks for her for fear she would leapfrog him. In the end, she didn’t care if her move failed; she was frustrated enough to accept the loss, if it came to that.

The challenge paid off big time, and Nancy became one of the top executives at CLC. She received the promotion she so desperately wanted and moved up to the executive floor. She was made a partner in the firm. That was her longtime goal at the company, and now she was placed in charge of field operations for the firm, with national responsibility. She moved into a sleek new office right next to Harry Lopes, the cofounder and CEO of the company.

When that part of her life was secure, she immediately turned her attention to her personal life but realized she may have waited too long to act. She was about to lose the best thing that ever happened to her: her family.

When she got busy trying to patch up her relationship with Norman, she discovered it might be too late. Norman was not an unreasonable person and realized his marriage was too important to let go. He saw his wife’s sincerity and trusted her to work with him to rekindle and rebuild their tattered relationship. He refocused his attention on his wife and two kids and began the process of rebuilding their relationship to the level it had been during the early years. Nancy was bursting with excitement. She rediscovered the love she had for her husband. They both found that air of bliss, which existed between them when they first met, and began to build their family.

Both of them were top managers now with their respective firms, and money was not a problem. For years, Norman was making enough money to support his family at a very comfortable level on just half his salary. With Nancy now making comparable money, they could see financial independence in their future.

They decided to start searching for a new home to reflect the new position they found themselves in. They were flush with cash and capable of upgrading their surroundings and their activities to the lifestyle they had once dreamed of. While searching along Magnolia Boulevard, they found the perfect piece of property. It was on the north side of town, and they were proceeding with plans to design and build their dream home on the spot.

They’d hired an architect firm to design their home, and things were proceeding along at an exciting pace. There were meetings and shopping for ideas to include in the plans for their ideal home. The excitement had been building, and even the kids were in on the act.

That was when Nancy found out Norman had apparently been cheating with another woman, even after they reconciled and recommitted their love for each other. Their dreams came crashing down because of the accusation of infidelity. Shards of their life together lay all around them, and now there would be no dream home, there would be no reconciliation, there would be no forgiveness; now there would only be division and separation.

This time it was Nancy who wanted to get out of the relationship. She discovered what she thought was a clear case of infidelity on the part of her husband. She was angrier than she had ever been in her entire life. She would not be married to a man who had to have more than one lover. If he wanted someone else in his bed, then he couldn’t have her. There would be no compromise; the marriage was over.

Why Me?

T hat Saturday evening when Nancy threw him out, Norman went into the garage and deposited himself behind the wheel of his large black Toyota Sequoia. He sat there for a long time, trying to decide what to do next. Nancy was too upset to listen to reason at this moment, and she didn’t want him around her. The mere sight of him repulsed her. When she told him to get out of the house, he knew it meant forever. He reasoned that if he refused to leave, she would leave. If she left, it would be much harder to get her to listen to him long enough to explain why he found himself in a hotel room with the very attractive woman over a thousand miles from home. He knew it was all a big misunderstanding and he could explain it away but now was not the time. He would have to give her time to cool down and listen to him long enough to give her a complete explanation. It was a very complex set of circumstances leading to this, but there was a reasonable explanation for it all.

It was true; he had a woman in his hotel room while on business in Phoenix. He couldn’t deny that. It was true; the woman he was making out with in his hotel room in Phoenix was the same one whom he had lunch with in a restaurant in Seattle a few weeks earlier. It was also true this was the same woman who sent flowers to his office a few weeks earlier. It turned out that she was a very attractive flight attendant, with the capacity to travel the country at will, and could meet him anyplace they wanted to. None of this could be denied. But there was a reasonable explanation, and he needed to give her time to get over the shock and listen to his explanation. Norman had encountered this woman no less than four times, and each time he found himself in a very compromising position.

Nancy knew everything. She was not out there looking for the infidelity in their marriage, but it came to her anyway. The news came to her unsolicited but from a very credible source. When she confronted him with the allegations, he could only corroborate her findings. That was all she needed to make her decision to get out of this shameful marriage and get away from this man she had trusted with her future, the one she had kids with. Now she only wanted to be someplace else.

After about ten minutes of sitting in the garage, deep in thought, he started up his vehicle, pushed the garage door button, and backed out to the street. Things had transpired so quickly he didn’t have time to think about his next step. He didn’t know which way to go once he reached the street. Norman didn’t even have time to pack a bag or take any personal items with him. Nancy was totally unrelenting in her assault on him and wouldn’t give him time to do anything that made sense for himself.

Finally, he turned to the north and made his way to the Red Lion Inn in Belleview, which was not too far away. He checked in and went to his assigned room. He couldn’t even tell the desk clerk how long he would be there, so he decided to commit to two days. Surely, Nancy would have cooled down enough in a couple of days to listen to reason and try to get this thing straightened out.

Nancy was broken. She could not believe her husband was capable of such deceptive activity. They had spent the last couple of months or so planning their dream future and rebuilding their broken marriage. She felt like she did when they first met. When Carl was born, she had never felt such love for anyone in her whole life as she did for her husband. He was the perfect father and the love of her life. He activated feelings in her she didn’t even know existed. In the last few weeks, those feelings had come back, and she couldn’t be happier. The marathon lovemaking was back in full force, and the passion was intoxicating. Nancy found herself with that semipermanent smile on her face and a new spring in her step. The first few years of their marriage she had come to feel like Norman’s body was her property and she could have it any way and any time she wanted it. She wanted it often. At times, she felt there might be something wrong with her because her appetite for him was insatiable. They would make love every night and sometimes more than once or twice. They had christened every room in the house and even made love under the stars in their backyard. Lately, they had been having the same kind of encounters, and they both loved it. In the last couple of months, it was like they were trying to make up for the time they missed during the last few years. It was bliss.

Then all of a sudden, this thing came up. She was devastated beyond anyone’s imagination. She spent the entire night crying. She was trying to search herself and her findings to see if she was making a mistake. She wanted to believe that in her rage, she was overlooking something. Nothing she heard from him or from her other source showed that she was anything but right on target with her thinking and her actions.

How could I be such a fool? Have I been that blind? I know the things I have seen and felt from him over the last several weeks were real. I know my husband. He’s not that kind of man. I just know it. Yet now he tells me it has all been a lie. I can’t believe it. This is too much. Why is this happening to me? I made some mistakes, but I didn’t do anything to hurt him. Why would he hurt me? Why does he need to have another woman anyway? Why am I not enough for him? I know I treat him well, and I know I meet all his needs in the bedroom. There’s nothing another woman can do for him beyond what I do, so why would he need another woman? Does what a woman look like make that much difference to men? I can understand that in single men, but we’ve been together for nearly two dozen years. We’ve shared so much together, including our kids. Am I that ugly to him now? And even if I am ugly, why would he treat me like? I’m his queen for weeks and then go out and sleep with another woman? I don’t understand. I guess I don’t understand any man. After all I’ve done over the years to make and keep Norman happy, and then he would sneak around and sleep with another woman, I guess I just don’t know what men want. I don’t even know if I ever want to allow him or any man to have my trust again, she thought.

It wasa good thing it was the weekend because Nancy didn’t think she could find the energy to go to work after what had transpired the evening before and how her night went. She was drained. Her eyes were puffy and red while still holding tears. Her face was absent of color and sad. Her hair was unkempt and tossed.

Dutifully, she climbed out of bed at seven forty-five. She refreshed herself and headed down to the kitchen. She prepared breakfast for the kids. It was around eight thirty when they came in to eat. Both Carl and Crystal were distraught. They had witnessed the scene from the night before, and they knew their mommy had asked their father to leave the house. They didn’t understand the whole series of events, but they knew enough to understand what had transpired between their parents was serious.

Carl picked at his oatmeal and took a couple of bites of his scrambled eggs and asked if he could be excused from the table. Crystal ate only a little more than her brother but clearly had no appetite either. She left the table a few minutes after Carl, and instead of going to her own room, she joined Carl in his room. They didn’t say anything to each other but sensed they needed to be close to each other for support. Crystal came in unannounced and sat on the bed next to Carl. They both had their heads lowered but didn’t say a word. After a few minutes, Carl reached out and placed his arm around his sister’s shoulder. She leaned her head against him, and they sat in silence for a long time.

Nancy was too overwhelmed with her own grief to notice what had happened to the kids. When they asked to leave the table, she simply nodded and kept staring at her own plate of uneaten food.

A little after nine, Nancy was still sitting at the kitchen table with her arms folded in front of her and staring at a full plate of food and a lukewarm cup of coffee. At that moment, the phone rang. She stood and strolled over to the wall next to the entrance to answer it. She was certain she knew who it was calling.

Hi.

Hi.

Is everything okay? Are the kids okay?

The kids are fine.

Are you okay?

I don’t know. I’m disappointed. I’m very disappointed, Norman. I really am.

Nancy, if you will only give me a chance to explain everything, you will see there is nothing to worry about here.

Norman, I don’t trust you right now. I don’t think there’s anything you could say that would cause me to see things any different than I see them now. You told me you were in a hotel in Phoenix with that woman. I know you had lunch with her right here in Seattle. I also know she sent you flowers at work. Norman, there’s nothing else to explain. I’m feeling very foolish right now. Her voice was beginning to elevate a little. I’ve been walking around with blinders on for the past few months, and now I’ve been blindsided.

No, Nan— he tried to interrupt.

I don’t hate you, Norman. I feel sorry for you. I don’t know why you need to have another woman, but it makes me feel cheap. It makes me feel like a live-in whore. I don’t want to listen to anything you have to say. I’m afraid it would be just another lie.

Nancy, I wouldn’t lie to you, he said in a smooth, even tone. I have never lied to you. I love you. I’ve always loved you, even through the bad times. This whole thing is a mistake, and I can explain everything, if only you would give me a chance.

Okay, Norman, explain, she said flatly.

Nancy, I don’t even know who that woman is. I know she’s a flight attendant and we saw each other on a flight a few months ago. The next thing I know, she was in this restaurant here in Seattle. She asked me to join her for lunch, and I did.

Who paid for lunch? Nancy asked, just to verify her point.

I did, but that didn’t mean anything. Please let me finish.

Okay, finish!

I didn’t see her anymore after that. Then the next thing I know, she was knocking on my door in Phoenix. I didn’t invite her there. I didn’t even know who she was.

Well, why did you invite her into your room, Norman?

Because I remembered her from lunch. I didn’t want to be rude.

You should have been rude, Norman, she said curtly. What about the flowers at work? If there was nothing between you, why would she send you flowers?

I thought those flowers were from you.

From me? Why would I send you flowers and then not ask you if you liked them? Or say something about them? Why?

But you did. I told you I liked the flowers, and you were all happy and stuff.

How could I be happy and I didn’t even know about them? Never mind. Okay, finish your story … So you invited her in your room, go on.

"Okay. She began telling me all this stuff about me, stuff that nobody should know. So I listened and found out she wanted a