Sherry paused again and then continued, “I won’t go into the details of what happened. You saw for yourself that I crossed the line many times over of what is expected of a married woman. Hell…from the beginning my fantasies totally took over my warped mind to the point that I was no longer playing the game that I so wanted to be on. Before I knew it, I was in too deep.”
Lynn shot back, “Jesus mother, one guy was bad enough, but what about the night with that other asshole, Harley?”
Sherry shook her head and began, “Not that this is going to make it sound any better, but I thought it was Jake. By the time I found out it wasn’t…well…I was too far gone if you know what I mean. I’m sorry to have to admit this to you, but I couldn’t stop at that point.”
Sherry sighed, “But the thing that hurt most of all was the night of the live broadcast from our house. I was absolutely crushed when the cameras were turned on and I saw the empty room and couch. They explained it that they were having technical difficulties, but I knew then they were just covering up for the fact that my family abandoned me. Those were my first thoughts. Can you believe that? I thought my family abandoned me, not the other way around.”
Lynn just looked at her mother as a single tear ran down Sherry’s cheek.
“It wasn’t until nearly a week later that I began looking at things quite differently. Maybe you could call it an epiphany, I don’t really know, but I began to look at the situation for what it was. Believe me I was horrified by my actions when I did.”
Sherry then broke down and cried harder than she thought she ever could. Lynn wasn’t sure how to react. She still harbored many ill feelings towards her, but this woman was after all her mother and her breaking down certainly wasn’t some kind of an act.
Once she regained her composure enough to speak she continued, “The night I started to come to my senses, I went back to my bedroom on the show and realized just how foolish I acted. I should have come home then to try to salvage what was left of my marriage, but there probably wasn’t much left of it, was there?”
Lynn answered honestly, “Uh…no”.
“Didn’t think so. So I stayed hoping to win the money. I figured your father would divorce me and I would need some money to start my life over. Then when I was voted off I figured I would go to the “Peer House” to collect my pittance. Hell, I knew my life was over and $5,000 was better than nothing.”
Lynn was livid.
“Damn it mother, you still had the nerve to sleep with that asshole when you left the house.”
Sherry shook her head and said, “I know that’s the way it looked on TV, but that’s not what actually happened. I watched the tape in the doctor’s office and know what you mean. Jake told the entire nation that we had spent the night together at the “Peer House”, but that was a lie.”
“Why didn’t you deny it then?”
“I was too ashamed of myself to offer any kind of an argument. So I just hung my head and said nothing. I just wanted to get out of there and go home, but home was not going to be anything like it was before I left.”