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“David! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Where were you?” Sarah ran into his arms. “I was so scared to find you missing!”
“Nope. Not ghosts. Not swingers. An affair,” Alice said as she stared at the group then looked back to us with a knowing smile.
“What? What do you mean?” I asked, confused.
Sylvie caught on first and clasped a hand over her mouth. “Oh my God! An affair! Not ghosts!”
“What?” Marge furrowed her brow. “Ghosts. We saw ghosts. Kissing. By the fountain. You all saw them too! That hundred bucks is mine!”
Sylvie shook her head, a huge grin splitting her face. “It wasn’t ghosts. It was Mary and David sneaking off to have an affair. They were just dressed in their historical garb, and we thought they were ghosts. It wasn’t ghosts. It was an affair. It’s why they denied being in the gardens the last two nights. They couldn’t admit it in front of their spouses without busting themselves out.”
“What? Yer bum’s oot the windae! We saw them plain as day! Ghosts! Or ...” Marge paused, furrowing her brow, then her eyes widened. “No,” she breathed.
“Yes.” Sylvie grinned back. “Not ghosts. An affair. Mary and David having an affair is the answer to the riddle. I win! I win the bet! Ha! Take that, Marge!” Sylvie lifted a triumphant fist.
Her excitement in beating Marge made her forget volume control, and when she realized she’d announced the affair to everyone around us, Sylvie spun around to face the two shocked couples, and cringed. “Oh dear. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to announce that.”
“You ... you’re having an affair?” Chris spun to Mary.
She grabbed his shirt, pleading eyes meeting his. “No. I’m not. I swear. We were only talking by the fountain. That’s all.”
“You are kidding me,” Sarah turned to David, her eyes burning with rage. “You snuck out to meetherby the fountain? Is that why you’re all dressed up like this? Because you wanted to meet Sarah. Of course. Of course!” She tossed her arms in the air.
David shook his head, but his attempt at lying was so horrible no one needed a lie detector to catch on. “Uh, no. We just bumped into each other is all.”
“Bumped into each other’s tongues is more like it,” Alice whispered under her breath.
“Bullshit!” Sarah shouted. “I knew it! I knew something was going on ever since the train! You liar! I hope you’re happy with her, because we’re over!”
When she took off running, David raced off after her.
Chris looked to Mary and shook his head. “I knew it too. I didn’t want to believe it, but I knew it. We’re done, Mary. It’s over.”
“Chris! Wait!” she cried as she hurried after him. “It’s just a fling! It’s nothing! I love you!”
“Oops,” Sylvie whispered under her breath as we watched the two devastated couples hurrying away.
Alice wafted a hand. “Don’t feel bad. They did it to themselves. It’s better the poor spouses know so they can leave those treacherous cheaters behind. They made their bed, and now they can lay in it. Probably together.”
Sylvie nodded. “I suppose. I do feel bad though. We ruined two marriages tonight.”
Alice shook her head. “No, we didn’t.Theyruined their marriages when they decided to cheat. Weak people cheat, remember? They were weak and not worthy of their real partners. Not our fault we accidentally caught them. Probably did them all a favor. Now, quit feeling bad over there.”
“Thanks, Alice,” Sylvie said with a soft smile.
Marge twisted her lips. “So, are we sure it wasn’t ghosts we saw? Maybe we saw both. Maybe Mary and David were in a different part of the garden, and we actually saw ghosts. Maybe it was a coincidence!”
We all looked at Marge and shook our heads.
“Sorry, Marge. Not ghosts. An affair,” Alice answered. “I knew I smelled naughty sex on those couples. I misread it as swingers. Seems only half of them knew about the swinging.” She chuckled.
“Well, damn.” Marge blew out a breath. “I thought for sure I had won.”
“Sorry, Marge.” Sylvie pressed a hand to her shoulder. “I’ll take that money in singles so I can rain it all over your head.”
Marge chuckled and slumped her shoulders in defeat.
“Well, that was exciting,” Fiona said. “Why doesn’t everyone head back to bed, and we’ll talk more about this in the morning.”
