I blinked. This was the first time I’d heard about that part of it. I knew her ex had cheated on her, knew we had that in common, but she’d never given me specifics. “Why would he use him cheating as a way to turn them against you?”
She flushed, suddenly looking extremely uncomfortable. “I don’t want to tell you. You’ll think I’m a psycho.”
Of course that had me twice as intrigued. “Well, now you have to tell me.”
“Promise you won’t judge me?” she asked, chewing on her lush lower lip.
“Promise. I told you about my ex-wife deep throating her new fiancé in my entryway story, so it’s only fair.”
She grimaced. “That’s true. But you didn’t go crazy on her when you saw it, right?”
“I didn’t. I left for a few days, then came back, kicked her out of my house, and filed for divorce.”
“That’s a perfectly reasonable response. Mine wasn’t that. Not even close.”
She paused, and I just kept watching her expectantly.
“Well, first I should mention that it was Valentine’s Day when I caught him.”
“What an ass,” I put in.
“Yes. What an ass. He butt dialed me on Valentine’s Day, right as he happened to be screwing my ex-best friend. I heard it all, recognized his voice and hers, calling each other by name, caught all of the noises. Everything. Sadly, it was a very good connection.”
“Wow,” I mouthed.
“Yeah. Wow. So he comes home, a bit later, acting like nothing happened, like he’d done it a hundred times, which I’m sure he had. He came into the house and went straight to the shower, which, after I thought about it, he’d done a lot over the years.”
I grimaced, wondering how many times Tammy must have cheated on me before I had a clue.
“So I grabbed the Fabuloso and sprayed it all over the smooth marble of the bathroom floor.”
I bit my lips to keep from smiling.
She nodded, seeing that I knew where this was going. “Yes. He stepped out of the shower and went flying, cracked his head on the counter, and ended up on his ass on the floor, naked. That’s when I took a belt to him, buckle first.”
She nodded again when she saw my eyes widen. “Yes, I know. Psycho move. I beat the shit out of him, then kicked him out of my house, naked. At least neither of the boys were around, so they didn’t know until he told them.”
I started laughing.
“And then your oldest beat him up.”
“Yeah. Took him to town. Got his ass kicked twice, once by a girl, the other by his own son, and then I divorced him. You think I’m psycho now, don’t you?”
I managed to stop laughing, but couldn’t keep the smile off my face. I didn’t think she was psycho, not even remotely. In fact, I thought it was pretty awesome. “No. I think you’re a hero to women everywhere. Any man that does that to the mother of his children should have much worse done to him. There should be consequences to breaking those kinds of promises.”
“I agree. And so do my sons, apparently. Though they were never close to him. He wasn’t exactly an attentive father. He missed every school function, every one of their games, but managed to never miss a football game on TV. I exhausted myself trying to get him to take in an interest in our boys, but he just wasn’t that kind of a father. I think that makes it easier for them to close him out so completely.”
“Maybe they just need more time.”
“That’s what I’m hoping, though they’re both grown men now, so I have no say in it. That’s something they have to decide for themselves. My ex calls me every few weeks, bitching that I’m putting them up to it. What am I supposed to do? They’re stubborn. They make up their minds and it’s not something I can change.”
“I think it’s good that they’re that appalled by his behavior. I think it means you raised good young men. Principled men. Why should they forgive the man who did that to their mother?”
“Because he’s their father.”
I shrugged. “That’s his fight. You just keep being the mother you need to be, and let them fight their own battles.”
“That’s a good way to look at it. I need to block my ex-husband’s number.”
“I did that with Tammy. Then she started showing up at my house.”
“She still do that?”
“Not for a while, thank God.”
“Well, that’s progress, at least. Gives me some hope for my own situation.”
We really had so much in common. It was a pity I was so obsessed with Iris that I couldn’t see or even think straight.
When we were finished, I walked her to her car. It was a silver Tesla (See what I mean? So much in common!)
She hugged me lightly, one brief press of our bodies, and kissed me on both cheeks. We said a friendly goodbye, and I casually mentioned calling her later.
I watched her drive away.
My brows drew together as I noticed a dark sedan filing in behind her. The windows were darkly tinted (illegally so) but I could swear I made out the shape of a big man with blond hair behind the wheel.