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“Peggy?” he said, watching his wife swallow the last of her coffee.
“Yeah, hon?” she asked as she took the cup to the sink and rinsed it out. Peggy was unfailingly tidy. The cup took its place on the top shelf of the dishwasher beside the others.
“You remember the time right after I caught your mother and you on the phone and she was talking about the men at the Hidden Hills club?” Peggy tensed. This was not where she wanted Kyle’s mind to be this morning.
“I remember, Kyle…but that’s ancient history now, honey…Mom apologized and everything. It’s over and done with.” She hoped this conversation would be also, and quickly.
“No, that’s not what I meant,” Kyle said quietly. “When that happened, I told you I’d never try again to prevent you from carrying out your…revenge.”
Peggy turned around to face him, wondering what was coming. Her conscience was clear. She’d been careful to do nothing to arouse Kyle’s suspicions over the months since that incident. Her jaws tightened. This time she hadn’t done anything wrong. She waited for her husband to go on.
“Well…I lied,” Kyle said softly. Peggy blinked. That was among the last things in the world she’d thought to hear.
“What?” she said in a confused voice.
“I lied. I am going to try one last time, Peggy,” he told her. “I know what you are planning, honey. I know what you’re going to do in Orlando,” he said gently.
Peggy put the countertop at her back and leaned heavily against it. She quickly reviewed everything she’d told anyone, every conversation she’d had on a phone, every letter or email she’d sent or received about the Orlando trip. The truth was, there was nothing she’d said or done that even hinted at an intent to do anything unfaithful. Abruptly she was indignant.
“Dammit, Kyle,” she said hotly, “I am not planning anything. I gave up on that…I told you so months ago.”
“I didn’t believe you when you said it, Peggy, and I don’t believe it now,” Kyle said bluntly. “You don’t have it in you to forgive me and let things go…I know you too well,” he added. Peggy’s lips thinned to a straight line.
“Peggy, I’m begging you, please don’t do this thing, baby,” Kyle said. “Just don’t do it. That’s all you have to do. I’ll live without sex. I’ll get along without the loving. You don’t have to even be nice to me…just don’t break up the family…please, Peggy! For Mandy and Todd?”
Peggy looked at him for a long moment. There was a faint expression of indecision on her face. Her lips parted.
Whatever she might have wanted to say went unsaid when a stentorian blast sounded from the street outside. Her taxi was here. She never replied to Kyle’s distressed plea and he didn’t repeat it.
She kissed him at the door, patting his chest in affection and followed the driver out to the big yellow sedan. She waved through the side window as the cabby pulled away from the curb. Kyle watched the vehicle make a left turn at the corner and drive slowly out of sight. Closing the door, he sighed heavily to himself. He pulled his cell phone from the leather case on his belt.