“Did you have a good weekend?” I asked, eyeing him.
Dave cleared his throat. “Yeah.” He didn’t ask me the same.
We finished the walk to school in silence, shepherding our daughters into their lines and kissing them goodbye. After the kids went in, I usually walked with Dave as far as his minivan, continuing our small talk. But today, as soon as the kids were inside, he started to stride away as though he had somewhere to be.
I walked slowly, watching his back. I was still trying to decide whether I should try to catch up, try to pursue the question of what was bothering him, when he stopped in his tracks and started walking back toward me. As they met, he cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry, Sally. Actually, I need to talk to you,” Dave told me. “Can you go for coffee? Do you have time?”
“Sure,” I said. “Should I go home and get my car?”
“No, I’ll give you a ride,” Dave said. “Come on.”
*** At the coffee shop, after sprinkling a generous portion of cinnamon into my vanilla latte, I looked across the table at Dave. He was looking down into his black coffee, his forehead creased. I felt a little thrill of excitement: was he going to confide something in me?
“So, what’s up?” I asked.
“I don’t really know how to say this,” Dave said, glancing quickly up at me and dropping his eyes. I waited, tilting my head encouragingly.
“Just tell me,” I said softly.
“Okay. Tracy and I went out for dinner the other night. To Lulu’s.”
I nodded. Brian and I liked Lulu’s too, a Cajun restaurant with an enormous wine and beer list. We’d been there with Dave and Tracy once.
“And . . . I can hardly believe this, Sally. But we saw Brian . . . with another woman.” Dave looked up at me, his brown eyes pained. “I’m so sorry.”
“Are you sure?” I asked slowly, my chest tightening. “I mean, she could’ve been a work client or something.”
Dave shook his head. “She got into his car and before they drove away . . . we saw them kissing.”
I nodded and sighed, my mind racing. This was not good news. I’d figured it might happen sooner or later, but one always hopes to avoid trouble, even the inevitable. I reached across the table and patted Dave’s hand, then took a deep breath.
“Don’t worry, Dave. It’s not what you think.”
*** I thought back to the night Dave was describing. Brian and I had arrived at Lulu’s a little earlier than the couple we were meeting and we had waited nervously in the crowded lobby.
“I could use a drink,” I told Brian as I looked longingly at the bar. I was always nervous meeting people for the first time. I willed myself not to pick at my newly polished nails.
“I know,” he said. “Let’s just give them a little more time. It’ll be easier to find them if we wait here.”
“You looked at their pictures again?” I asked him.
“Yeah. I’ll know them.”
Brian took my hand in his, caressing it gently, then raising it to his lips to kiss.
“You’re amazing, Sally,” he said. “And you look gorgeous.”
I glanced down at my sexy but understated outfit: black miniskirt, high-heeled black boots, and a sheer purple lace blouse made slightly more modest by a soft black cashmere cardigan.