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He sat back in his chair. “That’s a big question.”
I tilted my head. “I told you what happened between Richard and me. I think it’s only fair that I get to hear why you’re divorced.”
“Alright. It’s not pretty, but I would imagine most divorce stories aren’t. Married a woman I met while I was in grad school. She was from Nevada and didn’t have much family on the East Coast, except for an uncle who was a professor where we went to school. A few months after we started dating, a friend of mine told me he saw Carrie making out with Professor Burton. Carrie and I actually had a good laugh over it, because Professor Burton was her uncle. A few months after I graduated, Carrie got pregnant. I wasn’t ready to be a dad, if I’m being honest, but it was coming whether I liked it or not, so I figured I might as well go all in. Six months after Maddie was born, I came home early from work and found Carrie in bed with Professor Burton.”
My eyes went wide. “She was sleeping with her uncle?”
“That’s of course what I thought, too. Turned out the guy wasn’t her uncle. He wasn’t related to Carrie at all. But they’d been caught a few times together, him driving her around and stuff. So they’d told people he was her uncle so it wouldn’t raise suspicion. He’s thirty-one years older, so it made sense. She’d been sleeping with him since freshman year, and he’d been promising he was going to leave his wife for her. When he didn’t, she broke things off. Once we got married, the guy changed his tune and finally left his wife. Then Carrie was torn between the cushy life I was giving her and the guy she’d always wanted but could never have. When he started coming around again, she thought maybe she could have both. Ironically, I filed for divorce on our one-year wedding anniversary.”
“Holy crap. What happened between her and the professor?”
“They’re married now. He just turned sixty, and she’s twenty-nine.”
“Wow. That’s a crazy story. Makes Richard tracking me seem normal.”
He chuckled. “I’m glad my life can make you feel normal by comparison.”
The waiter came with our second course, and after we finished that, the plates kept coming every five or ten minutes for the next hour.
Each portion was so small—just a taste—yet I was stuffed by the end. I leaned back and patted my stomach.
“I’m so full. But everything was delicious.”
“It was. And I enjoyed the company. We seemed to have managed to keep to our pact.”
“We did.” I smiled. “Who knew you could be pleasant for that long?”
“Wiseass.”
When the waiter came back the next time, Beck asked for the check, but apparently Louise had pre-paid the bill. We walked back through the restaurant and down the hall toward the elevator banks. As we passed the lobby bar, I heard a familiar, robust laugh.
Beck and I looked at each other before turning toward the far end of the bar where the sound had come from. A woman and two older gentlemen were sitting together, all three of them and the bartender laughing loudly.
“Apparently Louise is feeling better,” I said.
Beck shook his head. “Why am I not the least bit surprised?”
We walked over together. When Louise saw us, her already-big smile widened. “There you are. How was dinner?”
Beck narrowed his eyes. “You would know if you hadn’t been too exhausted to show up. Speaking of which, you seem to have gotten a miraculous second wind.”
Louise didn’t seem to give two shits whether we knew what she’d done. “I did. Come join us. Meet my new friends.”
I took a seat, but Beck looked at his watch. “I actually have to run. I have a call with a business partner in China in a few minutes.”
“Oh, okay.” I forced a smile, but I was disappointed. As much as I didn’t want to, I’d enjoyed Beck’s company. He also wasn’t bad to look at across the table. “Have a good night.”
“You too.”
After he left, Louise and I had a glass of wine with the two men she’d met at the bar. It turned out they were a couple on their honeymoon. They’d both been married to women for most of their lives and had only come out in recent years. After we finished, they said goodnight and headed out to take a walk on the beach.
“Make sure you keep your clothes on down there,” Louise said. “We got ourselves in a bit of a pickle taking an evening skinny dip. Apparently that’s illegal here.”
The men chuckled. “Good to know.”
I watched them walk off. “God, imagine spending your life not living your truth like that. I’m glad they found a way to be who they are before it was too late.”
“So am I. Life is too short for regrets. Speaking of which, did you enjoy your dinner?”
