“Yes. Those vows were made for a reason,” Leanne said.
“Sometimes vows, like rules, need to be broken. Answer a question. Why did you marry Luke in the first place?”
“I loved him,” Leanne whispered. “Or, at least, I thought I did. I don’t feel that way about him anymore. I admit it. I haven’t felt any real, romantic love for Luke in years, not since he gave up on monogamy. I felt him slipping away years ago and I tried to hold on tighter. The tighter I tried to hold on, the more he slipped away. My parents were against the marriage.”
Leanne looked at me, her face a mask of cold determination. “He’s half-black, he had a child, and my parents tried everything to put a stop to the marriage. If this ends, then I’ll have to admit that they were right. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret marrying your father. Not at all. He’s given me a wonderful life, a beautiful daughter, and I got to have a hand in raising a wonderful man like yourself. It tore me up, babe. A few years ago, when that bitch broke your heart and you sank into that depression, it tore me up knowing that there was nothing I could do.”
Her words pushed me over the edge. Leanne was not my real mother. What she was was a friend, a caretaker, and she deserved better than to be cast away like trash. I loved my father, and I understood why he had acted like such a cold monster.
“Lee, nothing that happened is your fault. Dad was never going to be a one woman kinda guy, but you sure didn’t make it easy.”
“I know. I knew that I was being too much of a hag, but,” The dam finally broke. Leanne began to cry. “Marriage is so fucking hard, Roy. I thought that Luke and I could be the perfect couple, but I couldn’t keep up with him in bed, and I noticed him looking at other women and-and-and things just fell apart.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, pulling her in for a tight hug.
“I want you to be happy. You know that you and Luke can have a relationship again, right? Maybe not as the perfectly traditional husband and wife, but as something different.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve lived a good life. You have a great job, your kids are all grown up, it’s time for you to have fun. Someday, you and Luke may even be able to be lovers again. Think about it, Lee. Threesomes, orgies, the freedom to have sex with anyone you want. Tell me if it doesn’t sound enticing.”
“It does, Roy, believe me, it does. But I’m not as physical as you and your father are. I like to make love, not have sex. The wildest thing I’ve ever done is reverse cowgirl. And, above it all, I just, I don’t know, I just-”
“Don’t want to be alone,” I said, finishing her sentence.
Leanne nodded. She placed a soft kiss on my lips. “Exactly. Sex is fine. What I really want is to have someone there for me when the nights get cold, someone to take me out.”
“Those things don’t have to be mutually exclusive,” I said.
Leanne placed her palms against my chest, feeling my heartbeat. “Can’t we be together? You’re such a wonderful guy, Roy. Your dad is already barely home. Him and I can stay married, but you would be my husband. Can’t we make that work?”