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.But she was finally tired of ignoring andpretending, the absence of her wedding bandinsisting upon it.She opened a drawer andgrabbed a knife to cut it open.She pulled outthe folded papers and smoothed them open.She never understood why he didn't have thestatements sent to his office, when he knew thatshe opened most of the mail.Of course, had sheever questioned some of the charges, he couldeasily say he was entertaining a client.And itwas true; most of the charges were at restau-rants and places where he might actually take aclient.And before, Erin hadn't cared.But nowthings had changed.She felt fiercely independ-ent and ready to move on, alone. She read through the charges and turned thepage to continue.This month's statement waslonger than the others, Mark having chargedquite a bit.The majority of the charges werefrom Austin and that didn't surprise her sincethey almost always were.But then she cameacross some charges that completely threw her.They were from baby boutiques and some werefrom a baby furniture outlet.She stoppedbreathing and tried to make sense of what shewas seeing.Maybe a client of his was having ababy and he wanted to buy them a nice gift.Erin mentally scanned the charges and addedthem up.It was well over a thousand dollars.That was one hell of a shower gift.She shookher head and set down the statement.It wasn'tproof positive, but it was pretty damn close.Mark and his mistress were having a baby.Erin covered her mouth and walked like azombie over to the couch.She sat down andstared straight ahead.She wanted to cry but she couldn't.She wanted to scream but she could-n't.All she could do was sit and stare.Timepassed but she didn't know how much.Thedoorbell rang but she didn't move.It rang againafter a few minutes and she finally rose to an-swer it.She pulled the door open and the sun piercedher eyes."Hi." Henderson said with a smile.Erin stepped aside to allow her to enter."Youok?" Henderson asked walking into the house."Huh? Oh, fine." Erin managed to say."You look like you just saw a ghost." Hender-son eyed the pale woman, her concern growing.Erin laughed a little at the statement, wishing aghost was all that she had seen."Let's get the hell out of here." She picked upher bag and walked outside, not bothering tolock the door. Henderson walked out behind her and pulledthe door closed, not knowing what to make ofMac's odd behavior."Ok." She said as theyheaded off to her blazer.They rode in silence with Henderson lookingover at Mac every once in awhile to make sureshe was ok.She didn't know what was bother-ing her but she guessed it probably had some-thing to do with Mark.She thought about ask-ing, but what went on between Mac and Markwas none of her business and she didn't want topry.But eventually, she decided that if shewere any friend at all to Mac, she should atleast offer an ear."Listen, Mac.If there's anything you ever needto talk about,." She glanced over at her and sawthat she was still staring out the window."I'mhere for you." Henderson finished softly.Henderson focused back on the road and con-tinued to drive along in silence.After awhile the silence became too much for her, it hung tooheavy in the air.She decided to turn on the ra-dio and reached down to do so."He got her pregnant." Erin stated bluntly andsoftly, not looking away from the window."What? Who?" Henderson was completely con-fused by the revelation and she quickly re-moved her hand from the radio, glad Mac wasfinally talking."Mark." Erin said flatly.Henderson jerked her head around and lookedat her."He got someone pregnant?" She could-n't believe what she was hearing."It seems so." Erin said with no emotion."Who?" Henderson asked, noticing how de-tached Erin seemed."His mistress in Austin." Henderson refocused on the road ahead andsearched her brain for a "how to" manual onhelping a friend get through infidelity."Howdid you find out?" It was the best she couldcome up with."His credit card statement." This time Erinmanaged to pry her eyes away from the win-dow and she looked at Henderson."Usually, hespends money on fancy restaurants and flowersand expensive gifts for her.But this time hespent close to two thousand dollars on babyfurniture and accessories." She paused andlooked back out the window."So you tell me,what would you think?"Henderson gripped the steering wheel andclenched her jaw."Son of a bitch." She seethedas she shook her head in disgust.She had dis-liked Mark when she first met him, but now shehated him.How could he do that to Mac? "I'msorry." She said, meaning it on so many differ-ent levels. Erin turned her head and continued to look outthe window.She didn't want to think anymore,she just wanted to exist.Sometimes it was eas-ier to just zone out and focus on other things.Little things even.She had briefly studied Bud-dhism and it had encouraged her to focus onthe tiniest of details and that's what she neededto do now.Looking out the window, she began to take inher surroundings.They had been driving forawhile and had turned into an upper-classneighborhood in the center of the city.Thehomes were older but very well kept with mostof the homeowners coming from old money.Erin focused on the homes, their well mani-cured lawns, and she tried to imagine the peo-ple that lived in each house.Who were they?How long had they lived there? And what didthey enjoy doing from day to day? Perhaps itwas an older couple.Retired.Yes, they were still in love and they led a peaceful, loving lifetogether in their well to do home.Henderson pulled up in front of one of thesmaller homes and put the truck in park, bring-ing Erin back from the deep recesses of hermind.Climbing down out of the truck, she ex-amined the house before her.It was painted anoff white, contrasting nicely with red tiled roof [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.But she was finally tired of ignoring andpretending, the absence of her wedding bandinsisting upon it.She opened a drawer andgrabbed a knife to cut it open.She pulled outthe folded papers and smoothed them open.She never understood why he didn't have thestatements sent to his office, when he knew thatshe opened most of the mail.Of course, had sheever questioned some of the charges, he couldeasily say he was entertaining a client.And itwas true; most of the charges were at restau-rants and places where he might actually take aclient.And before, Erin hadn't cared.But nowthings had changed.She felt fiercely independ-ent and ready to move on, alone. She read through the charges and turned thepage to continue.This month's statement waslonger than the others, Mark having chargedquite a bit.The majority of the charges werefrom Austin and that didn't surprise her sincethey almost always were.But then she cameacross some charges that completely threw her.They were from baby boutiques and some werefrom a baby furniture outlet.She stoppedbreathing and tried to make sense of what shewas seeing.Maybe a client of his was having ababy and he wanted to buy them a nice gift.Erin mentally scanned the charges and addedthem up.It was well over a thousand dollars.That was one hell of a shower gift.She shookher head and set down the statement.It wasn'tproof positive, but it was pretty damn close.Mark and his mistress were having a baby.Erin covered her mouth and walked like azombie over to the couch.She sat down andstared straight ahead.She wanted to cry but she couldn't.She wanted to scream but she could-n't.All she could do was sit and stare.Timepassed but she didn't know how much.Thedoorbell rang but she didn't move.It rang againafter a few minutes and she finally rose to an-swer it.She pulled the door open and the sun piercedher eyes."Hi." Henderson said with a smile.Erin stepped aside to allow her to enter."Youok?" Henderson asked walking into the house."Huh? Oh, fine." Erin managed to say."You look like you just saw a ghost." Hender-son eyed the pale woman, her concern growing.Erin laughed a little at the statement, wishing aghost was all that she had seen."Let's get the hell out of here." She picked upher bag and walked outside, not bothering tolock the door. Henderson walked out behind her and pulledthe door closed, not knowing what to make ofMac's odd behavior."Ok." She said as theyheaded off to her blazer.They rode in silence with Henderson lookingover at Mac every once in awhile to make sureshe was ok.She didn't know what was bother-ing her but she guessed it probably had some-thing to do with Mark.She thought about ask-ing, but what went on between Mac and Markwas none of her business and she didn't want topry.But eventually, she decided that if shewere any friend at all to Mac, she should atleast offer an ear."Listen, Mac.If there's anything you ever needto talk about,." She glanced over at her and sawthat she was still staring out the window."I'mhere for you." Henderson finished softly.Henderson focused back on the road and con-tinued to drive along in silence.After awhile the silence became too much for her, it hung tooheavy in the air.She decided to turn on the ra-dio and reached down to do so."He got her pregnant." Erin stated bluntly andsoftly, not looking away from the window."What? Who?" Henderson was completely con-fused by the revelation and she quickly re-moved her hand from the radio, glad Mac wasfinally talking."Mark." Erin said flatly.Henderson jerked her head around and lookedat her."He got someone pregnant?" She could-n't believe what she was hearing."It seems so." Erin said with no emotion."Who?" Henderson asked, noticing how de-tached Erin seemed."His mistress in Austin." Henderson refocused on the road ahead andsearched her brain for a "how to" manual onhelping a friend get through infidelity."Howdid you find out?" It was the best she couldcome up with."His credit card statement." This time Erinmanaged to pry her eyes away from the win-dow and she looked at Henderson."Usually, hespends money on fancy restaurants and flowersand expensive gifts for her.But this time hespent close to two thousand dollars on babyfurniture and accessories." She paused andlooked back out the window."So you tell me,what would you think?"Henderson gripped the steering wheel andclenched her jaw."Son of a bitch." She seethedas she shook her head in disgust.She had dis-liked Mark when she first met him, but now shehated him.How could he do that to Mac? "I'msorry." She said, meaning it on so many differ-ent levels. Erin turned her head and continued to look outthe window.She didn't want to think anymore,she just wanted to exist.Sometimes it was eas-ier to just zone out and focus on other things.Little things even.She had briefly studied Bud-dhism and it had encouraged her to focus onthe tiniest of details and that's what she neededto do now.Looking out the window, she began to take inher surroundings.They had been driving forawhile and had turned into an upper-classneighborhood in the center of the city.Thehomes were older but very well kept with mostof the homeowners coming from old money.Erin focused on the homes, their well mani-cured lawns, and she tried to imagine the peo-ple that lived in each house.Who were they?How long had they lived there? And what didthey enjoy doing from day to day? Perhaps itwas an older couple.Retired.Yes, they were still in love and they led a peaceful, loving lifetogether in their well to do home.Henderson pulled up in front of one of thesmaller homes and put the truck in park, bring-ing Erin back from the deep recesses of hermind.Climbing down out of the truck, she ex-amined the house before her.It was painted anoff white, contrasting nicely with red tiled roof [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]