Page 6

“Through?”

“Yeah, now don’t get upset. She’s cool with it and so am I. We’re mostly just really good friends at this point, and she’s always traveling, and she’s not a bit surprised by this, so don’t worry about her.”

Artie glanced at Evie, who was watching their son. Rob’s face had a glow that for the first time Artie thought was not unlike Evie’s glow, meaning that Rob’s skin was good and there was a light coming from it today.

Rob said, “And I’ve met someone else.”

After a moment, Artie said, “Someone? You mean a girl?”

“A woman.” Rob smiled, showing his perfect teeth. “They’re called women these days, Dad. And I’ve met one.”

—

A loud knocking on the front door interrupted them, and when Artie went to the door, he found a man standing there. “Plumber” was all the man said. He was tall and wore a dark blue shirt that had “Tom” stitched on it; he looked middle-aged and very fit. “I thought I’d fix that faucet now. You were good not to bother me about it and I have a few minutes, so let’s take a look.” Artie almost said “My son is visiting,” but the plumber looked so hopeful that Artie said, “Okay then, let me show it to you.” Adding, “Thanks for coming on a Saturday.”

Tom followed Artie into the spacious downstairs bathroom; he was holding the handle of a large box that presumably had his plumbing stuff in it, and he set it down on the floor and looked at Artie with what Artie thought was suddenly a mournful expression. Artie held his hand toward the dribbling faucet. “There you go,” he said, and Tom sighed and said, “Okay.” He rolled up the sleeves on his blue shirt, and Artie left him to it.

—

Back in the kitchen, Artie said to Rob, “So who is this new woman?,” sitting down once again across from his wife and son.

The new woman was named Rachel, and she was Rob’s age. She worked as a social worker at a hospital in Boston, helping people get their needs cared for when they left the hospital. (She wanted to have children; Francesca did not.) Rob had met her at a choral concert he had gone to with a friend. Rachel was standing in line at intermission for a glass of wine and Rob was standing behind her, and he began to speak to her. “It was like I just knew she was the one for me,” he said now to his father.

“Well.” Artie nodded. “Well, well, well. You brought a lot of news with you.”

“Good news,” Rob said.

“Very nice news,” Evie said. “I’m dying to meet this Rachel woman.” She turned to Artie. “I know you loved Francesca, but it never really made sense.”

“I never loved Francesca.” Artie said this without thinking.

“You didn’t?” His son and wife spoke this together.

—

“Excuse me?” called a voice from the bathroom, and Artie held up a finger toward his son. “Hold on to that,” he said, adding as he stepped out, “It’s not that I didn’t like her, there was just something about her that was sort of—I don’t know—standoffish or something. You two never quite made sense, like your mother just said.”

When Artie returned to the bathroom, the plumber, Tom, was sitting on the edge of the bathtub—he was just sitting there, and when he turned to Artie, Artie saw that the man had a look of anguish in his eyes.

“You okay?” Artie said with hesitancy. “Everything okay in here?”

The man wiped his arm across his eyes and said, “Yeah, yeah. I think I fixed it.”

Artie looked at the faucet; the leak had stopped.

“You just needed a tightening on the bottom,” Tom explained. He moved over, as though to make room for Artie on the edge of the bathtub. But Artie continued standing. He looked under the sink for a moment and said, “I thought I had tried that.”

The man did not speak. But Artie heard him make a sound and turned back toward him. “What’s wrong?” Artie asked this quietly.

“My wife.” The man’s chest began to shake—he was a large man—and he once again wiped at his face with his sleeve. “Christ, she’s having an affair.”

“Oh no,” Artie said, more quietly than before.

“I just found out a few days ago, and, man, I can’t believe it. She’s working today, and I was going crazy alone in the house. But, see, I thought everything was okay. What the fuck is wrong with me that I thought everything in my marriage was okay?”

Artie sat down next to the man.

“This ever happen to you?” Tom asked, looking at Artie with intense pain on his face.