Unter

"I did not say anything to my boss," Laurel went on, "and I was not about to say anything to you until my emotions had settled down. So I did what I had always done when faced with highly stressful emotional situations ... I talked with my sister."

Here, Laurel sighed before continuing. "Marilee took pity on my situation and my concerns, I guess. I could tell that she was quite embarrassed, but she finally confided in me that SHE was the user identified as PackLover721; she had tried to use my email name as some sort of camouflage."

"Not very good camouflage, if you ask me," I interjected. "I mean, she had to know that I would recognize that 'handle' as being so similar to your email address. What was she thinking?"

Laurel took a deep breath and said, "She was thinking that you were not the type of man who would subscribe to that type of web service; she had no fear you would ever see that user name."

"Well; she was wrong; wasn't she?" I responded, "She was wrong on so many levels."

Everyone was silent for about thirty seconds before Laurel said, "And I was wrong as well. I realize, in hindsight, that I should not have covered for her in the way that I did. I mean," Laurel looked miserable as she continued to get all of this off her chest, "You are my family now, Grady. I married you and promised my loyalty to you on our wedding day, and I should not have lost sight of that."

God, I loved her! But I was still pissed and hurting because my brother was absolutely torn up over Marilee's betrayal. Also, I was still somewhat enraged that Laurel had kept the truth from me and, by way of that connection, Mike as well.

"Well," I said at last, turning to my brother. "Mike, I love you, Brother. Let me know what else I can do to help." Mike just nodded into space to let me know that he had heard me without turning around.

Turning to the right, I said, "Mom; Miles. Y'All drive carefully going back to Fayetteville. It seems that there is always construction between here and there these days."

"We will, Sugar." Mom reached out and hugged me first, and then hugged Mike, who let out one stifled sob before letting her go and turning completely away to cover his shame at this unmanly display of emotion.

Then, as Miles shook my hand, Mom reached out and enfolded Laurel in her arms. She and Laurel both cut loose with loud sobs that lasted for a couple of minutes before Mom held Laurel away at arm's length in order to look into her face.

"Now, you and Grady be sure to take those counseling sessions to heart so that you two can get past what your sister has caused. After all, I DO want to be able to count on grandchildren from you two somewhere down the line here; and soon, I hope."

****

Yes, we were in couples counseling because of Laurel's holding back critical information about her sister's sexual activities outside of her marriage for weeks before all the exposure activities had transpired at the Marriott. Even though we had only attended two sessions together, I had already learned to forgive Laurel by beginning to understand that the depth of her relationship to her sister had mirrored the one I had always enjoyed with my brother, Mike.

I had also quizzed her about her lengthy time spent with the visiting development teams; specifically, that team from Texas and its charismatic leader, Cam Whittington. Laurel had assured me that the time was actually spent on legitimate work and not on any inappropriate social activities. As for any possible sexual shenanigans between Cam and Laurel, she assured me that Cam was more than likely to want to put the moves on ME rather than her. It seems that Cam Whittington had become somewhat of an expert at diverting suspicions about his actual sexual preferences by perfecting his flirting talent with the women with whom he worked.

We were scheduled for our third session in another four days.

****

"And learn something from all of this. Remember," Mom continued, "it is not just the couple directly involved with infidelity that gets hurt in these things. It also affects other family members who they love and who love them."

"I will, Margaret," Laurel said with a sniff.

Then my wife turned to me and reached for my hand.

"Can we go home now, Honey?" my wife asked me softly. "I have gotten just so tensed up with all of this divorce court business that I feel the need to swim some laps to work the kinks out."

Now, my normally geeky wife would not deliberately try to give off any indication of trying to be kinky or seductive in a situation such as this. But, with all that had transpired over the past few weeks, I was well aware that she and I had not made love since the big showdown at the Marriott.

I looked at her face and saw, within her look of regret, what might be a twinkle in her eye. As that aspect of her appearance struck me right then, my mind drifted back to the last time that I had come home to find Laurel working naked at her work station following a swim.

I said simply, "Let's go home."

THE END