Warren Butterfield Pt. 03

I really didn't feel like working but I didn't feel up to spending an evening with Megan while pretending everything was all right.

"No. We are buried with these school RFPs. I need to stay and work tonight, I said.

"How much longer will this go on?" Megan said.

Given the circumstances, her question struck me as being ironic.

"Not much longer," I said. "It will all be over soon."

"Okay, I'll see you at home then. I love you." Megan said.

I felt my anger build at those words but I held it in.

"Love you too," I said.

I spent the rest of the evening distracting myself with work. It was a little after nine o'clock that I clicked on the link to Mace's computer and checked to see if Megan was at home. The map that appeared on the screen showed that Megan was once again at the Southacres address. For the next few minutes I had difficulty breathing. My stomach was burning and I could hear my pulse throbbing. I had to go to the men's room and splash cold water on my face and do a deep breathing exercise until I calmed down.

When I got back to my desk I tried to get back to work but I couldn't concentrate. Why would Megan hint that she wanted to make love to me and then sneak off to meet her lover? How cold blooded had she become? I thought briefly about not going home at all that night but I ended up going home. The ticking and pinging of Megan's car as I walked through the garage was just a confirmation of what I already knew.

Chapter 23 - The House on Southacres Drive

At work, Thursday was a do nothing day. I just wasn't motivated to work. I did get back most of the information I needed for the J&S proposal and I put it in the file for that account and sat at my computer pretending to be busy.

At three o'clock Thad called me.

"How's the J&S proposal coming," he asked.

"No problem. I'll have it done in plenty of time."

"You will you be working late tonight, won't you?" he said

"No."

"No? What do you mean by no?" Thad said. "Everyone in this department is working long hours to clear out the backlog of school RFPs. What makes you special?"

"I haven't been feeling well lately and I am trying to make sure I get enough rest so that I don't come down with something serious. I need to be ready to put the rest of the J&S proposal together."

I could tell this upset Thad but he let it go. "Just make sure you have the J&S proposal on my desk next Wednesday before the end of the day."

"No problem," I said.

At five o'clock I shut down my computer, slipped the J&S file into my briefcase and headed for the door. I noticed that several people looked at me as if I was abandoning the ship but I didn't let that bother me. I knew that I had already submitted twice as many proposals as anyone else in the department so I wasn't about to feel guilty about leaving early. Besides, these people all seemed to know that Thad was screwing me over and no one had bothered to tell me.

Buck was waiting for me at the front door in his squad car. I climbed into the front seat and noticed the serious look on Buck's face.

"Gees, am I under arrest?" I asked, trying to get Buck to smile.

"No, but this is serious business," he said.

Buck pulled out of the parking lot and headed for I-71.

"Where we going?"

"That depends on you," Buck said.

I didn't like the sound of that.

"What's going on Buck? All I want is the name of the person that lives in the house on Southacres," I said.

"Before I tell you what I found out I want to know what you are going to do with this information," he said.

"I don't know," I said. "I haven't thought that far ahead."

"Well, start thinking ahead then."

"Jesus, why are you so pissed at me? What did I do to you?" I said.

"Nothing. You're my best friend and I am just looking out for you. I have to know that you won't do something stupid with the information I give you," Buck said.

"Do something stupid? Like what?"

"Like trying to hurt or kill someone."

I felt as though Buck had punched me in the stomach.

"God damn it, Buck. How long have you known me? Do you really believe I would do something like that?"

"Butter, I know you to be a fair minded and even tempered guy but I have seen a lot of these domestic disputes get way out of hand. People in emotional distress do all sorts of things no one would ever expect them to do. I don't want you to end up dead or in jail because of this."

I was beginning to understand what he was telling me.

"Buck, I promise you that I won't do anything stupid. I already have enough problems without destroying the rest of my life. I just need to find out the truth about what is going on so that I can move on with my life, with or without Megan."

We drove south on I-71 and then went west on 562 to I-75 South. From I-75 we merged onto I-74. We must have driven twenty miles, Buck lecturing me the whole time about keeping my cool no matter what I found out. When we finally stopped I had no idea where we were.

"Where are we?"

"We are on Southacres Drive and that house is the one you are looking for," Buck said as he pointed at a large brick ranch style house on the other side of the street.

"The house belongs to a guy named Preston Matthews. Does that ring a bell?" Buck said.

"No. Never heard the name before. Is that who lives here?"

"Not sure yet. It seems that there is also a Preston Matthews that has a home fifty miles north of Cincinnati. That home is listed in the names of Preston and Karen Matthews. If this is the same Preston Matthews this might be a rental property. Let me go up and see if anyone is in the house. You stay here."

"Okay."

Buck got out of the car and put his hat on. I had seen Buck in uniform several times but this was the first time I had seen him in his cop persona. I watched from the car as Buck rang the doorbell and then knocked on the door. No one answered. Buck peeked in the window and then walked around behind the house before returning to the car.

I got out of the car and waited for Buck on the sidewalk.

"Someone is living there. Today's newspaper was on the porch and the house is furnished. There's patio furniture in the back yard and the lawn was mowed recently. There's a large two-car garage on the side of the house. I looked in through a window. No cars in the garage."

As I stood waiting to hear what Buck suggested we do next a man came out of the house behind us and walked over to where we were standing.

"Looking for Preston?" the man asked.

'Yes, I was hoping to speak with him," Buck said.

"Well, Preston doesn't live here. He has a place up in Springboro. He usually spends a couple of nights a week here, the rest of the time he stays up in Springboro," The man said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," Buck said.

"Henry. Henry Midland."

"Well, Mr. Midland, do you know Mr. Matthews?" Buck asked.

"Not very well. He keeps to himself when he's down here. Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"No. I am just following up on an accident report. Mr. Matthews was a witness and this was the only address I had for him," Buck said. "So, you say he comes here a couple of times a week. That's kind of strange isn't it? I mean keeping two houses."

"Preston bought this house about five years ago," Henry said. "When he first moved in I went over and introduced myself. He wasn't real friendly but he told me that he and his wife lived up in Springboro and that he bought this place so he would have a place to stay when he had to work late or when he had an early meeting in the morning."

"I would think a condo in the city would make more sense," Buck said.

"Preston is loaded. I don't know what his house in Springboro is like but he paid 750K for this house. He has a cleaning service and a lawn service that come in every week."

"What kind of job does he have that he can throw money around like that?" Buck said.

"I don't know. I think he is the CEO of some corporation in Cincinnati. Between you and me, I think he bought this house so he would have some place to bring his girlfriends," Henry said.

Buck gave me a quick look and then turned back to Henry.

"Really? What makes you think that?"

"Well, Just about every time he spends the night here he has company," Henry said.

"Does he have a lot of girl friends?"

"I don't know how many girl friends he has. I have only noticed one lately," Henry said.

"Oh, so you have seen his girlfriend?"

"No, only her car. She drives a Lexus but the windows are tinted so I have never seen her face. When she comes she pulls right into the garage," Henry said.

Buck gave me another look.

"Does she spend the night?"

"I don't think so, at least not very often. I usually see her arrive between 7:30 and 8:00 and leave between ten and eleven."

"Maybe it isn't his girlfriend. Maybe it's his accountant," Buck said.

"Yeah, she's his accountant and I am President Bush," Henry said.

"I kind of wish you were President Bush," I said.

Henry looked at me, not understanding what I meant.

"Well, we have to leave. It was nice meeting you, Henry," Buck said.

Buck and I got back in the car and left. As we pulled away from the curb Buck said, "Talkative little guy, wasn't he?"

"You managed to get him to say a lot without acting like you were interested," I said.

"That's easy with a guy like Henry. He wanted to talk."

Buck and I were both silent for most of the ride back to my office. As we drove I became more aware of how far it was from my house to the Southacres house.

"How the hell does she expect to keep me from finding out?" I said.

"What?"

"Megan. It's more than a forty mile round trip from our house to Southacres and back. How can she be so sure she will be able to get home before me every time she goes over there?" I said. "And what is she going to do when this work load bubble from the schools ends in the next couple of weeks? Is she going to break things off with him or try and find some other way to carry on her affair."

"Are you going to be able to keep your anger under control?" Buck asked.

"It's under control. I am more depressed than anything else."

"What are you going to do now?" Buck said. "I think you should take some time and decide how you want this to turn out. If you want to have any chance of saving your marriage you need to stay calm when you talk to Megan about all of this."

"I think I'll call in sick tomorrow and drive down to Lexington and spend some time with Kate. I haven't been down to see her in a few weeks. I'll stay at Grandma Jean's house and come back on Sunday. That should be enough time to make some decisions about what I want to do," I said.

"Good idea. Call me when you get back. Let me know if I can do anything to help."

"What does Paula say about this mess?" I asked.

"I haven't told her anything yet. I am still hoping that you and Megan can work things out."

Buck dropped me off at my car and I thanked him for his help.

***** Chapter 24 - Kate Butterfield

Friday morning I left the house before Megan was up. Thursday night I had avoided Megan by going into my office and working on the J&S Proposal. I was able to stay busy doing that until after eleven o'clock. Megan was asleep by the time I went to bed.

By 6:15 AM I was already crossing the Ohio River on I-75 headed for Lexington. I made the eighty miles in just about an hour and fifteen minutes. I went directly to my Grandma Jean's house and set up my computer so I could work from there. The house was mine but I still called it Grandma Jean's because it made me feel like she was still with me. It was comforting. I had kept the house furnished and used it as a rental property but I hadn't had a tenant in the house for the last two months. It was good to know that I would have a place to live if or when my marriage ended.

I remotely logged onto the network at my office and pulled up my e-mail. I was pleased to find that all of the cost information I needed for the J&S proposal was in my reader. I worked on the proposal until nearly three o'clock that afternoon. The proposal was nearly complete when I filed the document and closed my computer. Just as I was shutting down my cell phone rang.

"Butterman! Where the hell are you?" It was Thad.

"It's Butterfield," I said and then hung up on him.

Less than a minute later my phone rang again.

"Warren, why aren't you in the office today?"

"I have the flu so I stayed home."

"The flu? It's June, for Christ's sake. How the hell can you get the flu in June?"

"I really don't know but I do have the flu."

"What about the J&S proposal?"

"I'll get to it. I'll do my best to have it for you by Wednesday," I said.

"That proposal had better be on my desk by noon on Wednesday or else," Thad said.

I could hear the panic in his voice, which gave me a small amount of satisfaction.

"Or else what?" I asked.

"I'll fire your ass."

"Okay then, I will definitely try to have it ready for you by end of day Wednesday."

"I just told you I wanted it on my desk by noon."

"I know but you originally told me I had till the end of day Wednesday to turn it in and that's the schedule I am working to."

Thad was quiet for a few moments and then he said, "Okay, I did say end of day so you have until end of day Wednesday."

"Good. Gotta go," I said and disconnected.

I enjoyed getting Thad all twisted up in his shorts. I expected that by end of day Wednesday Thad would find that his underwear was a lot tighter because I planned to give him a virtual weggie.

After I put my computer away I shaved and took a quick shower. Then I drove over to the home and went to see Kate.

"I missed you so much," Kate said as I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm sorry it has been so long since my last visit. How about I take you out to dinner to make it up to you?"

"Really, go out to dinner? That would be great."

I checked Kate out at the nurse's station and we went over to the new Bone Fish restaurant at Hamburg Place. Kate always got excited about going to eat in a nice restaurant but she knew how to behave like an adult in public.

Kate was forty-seven years old but her head injury left her to view the world through the eyes of a ten year old. Kate was not retarded in any other way. She could read and write and understand what she was told. It was just that she would react to things as a typical ten year old would and like most ten year old girls, she would try to act much older when she was in a situation that called for mature behavior. At dinner I allowed Kate to have a glass of wine because it made her feel like an adult.

Occasionally Kate would surprise me by acting like a mother. Whenever she did this I would recognize that she was imitating Grandma Jean. On that evening Kate almost blew me away. She had just taken a sip of her wine and set the glass down.

"Warren, I can see that something is troubling you. Now what is it?"

It sounded so motherly and so much like Grandma Jean that I almost laughed but I knew better than to laugh at Kate. I would never hurt her feelings by not taking her seriously.

"I have a few problems to work out but I'll be okay," I said.

"Study the problem, think about the solution and then take action and remember, that which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger," Kate said.

There was nothing original in what Kate said. Grandma Jean had said those exact words to me on a number of occasions and I guess Kate had memorized them. What made the moment so special to me was that she had said those words at the exact right moment. I felt as though Grandma Jean was watching over me and speaking to me through Kate.

"That is good advice, mother. Thank you," I said.

I seldom called Kate mother but whenever she acted the part I acknowledged it. Kate sat there beaming, obviously very proud of herself.

When I dropped Kate off back at the home I told her I would come by on Saturday and take her shopping and then out to lunch. Kate was back to being a ten year old again. The idea of going shopping excited her very much.

As I drove back to Grandma Jean's house I felt bad. I might let two or three weeks go by without visiting Kate but she never got mad at me for not coming more often. It took so little to make Kate happy but I hadn't been making enough of an effort lately. I swore to myself that I would change that.

Chapter 25 - Harold Forester

Saturday morning I worked on the J&S proposal and had it nearly complete. I just needed to proof read it again and double-check the numbers and it would be ready for Thad.

I picked Kate up at noon and we went to lunch at Rafferty's and then over to Fayette Mall. I helped Kate pick out a new dress and some jeans and I let her go by herself to buy some new underwear and then we went into the food court and had a frozen yogurt.

After I took Kate back to the home I went over to the Applebee's I used to work at and had a beer. I was tempted to have several more beers but decided that I should probably just buy some beer and take it back to the house.

I was driving out Richmond Road on my way to Kroger's when I spotted Harold Forester getting out of his car and heading into the Bob Evan's restaurant. It was time for a show down. Harold had ruined my life when he dumped Trish leaving her broke and seemingly full of hate for men, especially me.

By the time I was able to turn around and get back to the restaurant Harold was already seated with a cup of coffee in front of him. He was studying the menu and never saw me approach the booth he was sitting in. When I slid into the seat across from Harold it took a moment for him to recognize me.

"Warren, what are you doing here? It's good to see you," Harold said.

"You won't be so happy that I'm here when I get through with you," I said.

"What are you talking about?"

"You ruined my life and I want an explanation."

"How did I ruin your life?" Harold said.

"When you walked out on your wife and kid, leaving them penniless they moved in with me and my life has been hell ever since."

"I don't understand what you're talking about. What did Trish tell you?"

"Trish said that you walked out on her and Brandon after your business went under. She said that you had borrowed against the equity you had in your house to try and save the business so that when you left there was nothing left for her. Megan and I took Trish and Brandon in with the hope that Trish would recover from the depression you caused when you abandoned her and get back to teaching so she could live on her own, but so far that hasn't happened. Instead of leaving Trish has managed to take control of every aspect of our lives and has managed to destroy our marriage."

"I am sorry about what Trish has done to you but this is not my fault. I didn't just walk out on Trish. She knew our divorce was coming years ago, when Megan was still in high school."

"I don't understand," I said.

"It started when Megan was fifteen. I was working long hours in the store while at the same time I was trying to get my second hand appliance store going. I was working six and seven days a week. After a few months of my working every Saturday, Trish started driving up to Cincinnati to visit her sister Tracy. At first she was going to Cincinnati twice a month but soon it became every Saturday. Then she started staying overnight and coming home Sunday morning. She told me that she and Tracy would go to the movies on Saturday night. I never thought much about it. Frankly I was just too busy.

"Then one Saturday I stopped by the house for lunch and while I was eating Tracy called looking for Trish. I didn't let on that I thought Trish was supposed to be with her. I told Tracy that Trish was out and asked her if there was a message.