No, the reluctance to talk with her about the mistake wasn’t because Peggy was a bad person exactly. It’s just that she was never inclined to give a man, particularly Kyle, much of a break. They put off telling her as long as they could.
********
“Peggy,” Kyle said as gently as he could, “Ann and I need to talk to you about something that happened at the Valentine’s Day party.” Kyle was sitting beside Peggy on the couch while Ann sat on the Lazy Boy recliner. Kyle had tried to take her hand but Peggy wouldn’t let him. She seldom did. She wasn’t a bubblegum popping schoolgirl she usually remarked when he wanted to.
“What is it, honey?” Peggy asked in a sweet voice. “It’s not about the party for Paul, is it?” Kyle shook his head and bit his cheek to keep from saying something out of irritation when Peggy turned away.
He’d already told her it was about something to do with the February party and she’d ignored it. His jaw muscles clinched tight. He was trying to be gentle about this but a number of old frustrations had been weighing on his mind over the past few weeks as he tried to find a way to tell his wife what had happened. A mistake shouldn’t be this difficult to tell her about. He should be able to trust she would have enough faith in him to believe what he needed to say. Instead…
“Would you like me to freshen your coffee?” Peggy asked Ann solicitously. Ann put her hand over her nearly full cup.
“No…thanks, but this is plenty for me,” Ann replied. She looked at me with a question in her eyes. “Do you want to go first, Kyle?” she asked. “You went first with Paul,” she added. Peggy looked at me, then back at Ann. Suspicion began to wrinkle her forehead.
“What’s this all about?” she asked warily. “Kyle, what did you do?” she asked. The assumption and the accusation were plain to hear in her voice. Kyle shook his head at Ann’s suggestion and faced Peggy directly.
“I…Ann and I…we made a bad mistake at the Valentine’s Day party,” he said hoarsely. He took a deep breath, wet his lips with a nervous tongue, and began again.
Peggy’s eyes narrowed as he launched into a hurried explanation of how he’d strolled out on the back deck at Ann and Paul’s house while Peggy was out getting her sweater from their car, how he’d bumped into the railing, and about the gases from the chili at lunch had initiated an accidental indiscretion.
********
Peggy conveyed Ann to the front door courteously, thanking her for coming to talk about the problem. She was all smiles. They were reserved for Ann though. She refused to look at Kyle. When the door closed behind Ann, Peggy turned around and swung an open palm at the side of his face. Startled, Kyle blocked her hand with his forearm and backed up a step to watch her apprehensively. His block had hurt her hand and she rubbed at it with her other one.
“YOU SORRY BASTARD,” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “YOU THINK YOU CAN LET THAT HUSSY SUCK YOUR PRICK AND YOU BOTH JUST GET AWAY WITH IT? YOU GOT ANOTHER THINK COMING, DAMN YOU! YOU JUST WAIT!”