I might be the first cockled in the history of screwed up matrimony to actually send his wife's lover a thank you card honestly I really did I'm almost never sick but there was a particularly nasty strain of flu going around the office where I was working one Thursday morning and I was showing the symptoms rather vocally so rather than infect the whole room my boss sent me home it was around Noon and I figured my wife Beth could nurse me properly get me the chicken soup I needed take my temperature and generally fuss over me
before putting me to bed when I pulled onto the street where I lived and approached my house I noticed a green pickup truck parked in the driveway I really didn't think anything of it at that particular moment I couldn't think of anything except how awful I felt the vehicle wasn't familiar And since it was taking up space where my beat up SUV normally sat I parked by the curb I went and through the garage which opened into the kitchen there was no sign of Beth in the kitchen or the front Den at that point a
queasy feeling unrelated to the flu began to build in my gut especially when I approached the back of the house where our bedroom was located and began to hear The Telltale sounds of sex I tiptoed toward the door which was cracked ever so slightly and Peaked in well of course I saw Beth on her hands and knees with some slim guy I'd never seen before kneeling behind her screwing her for all he was worth and was she ever loving it oh God screw me she wailed come on give it to me the man grunted incoherently
I was looking at them from behind and they were so wrapped up in what they were doing that they didn't see the door crack open my reaction was strange part of me obviously wanted to Go in there and break up their party but another part of me was just numb I should say here and now that I was not aroused when you love someone for as long as I loved Beth the sight of that person cheating on you is not a turn on if you're wired normally and I was and always had been a person
who took Fidelity seriously in the space of a heartbeat the time it took Beth and her boyfriend to come violently I had an epiphany a Moment of clarity when my future suddenly spread out before my eyes I made a decision in that moment that my life was changing for the better I took out my cell phone pushed the door open raised the phone with the camera mode on and took about four really good pictures of the startled lovers having gotten Visual Evidence of my wife's adultery and that of her lover I turned on my heel
and walked briskly out of the house the same way I had entered I stopped and grabbed a screwdriver on my way out of the garage then casually used it to poke large holes in two of the tires on the [ __ ] truck I know it was childish but it was the least I could do then I got in my SUV and drove off though not before jotting down the license plate number of the pickup it was the first day of the rest of my life as I drove more or less aimlessly I thought about
what I'd just seen and realized that it had been brewing for a Long time I had no idea how long Beth had been cheating on me whether this guy was the first or just another in a string it didn't matter because truthfully I didn't care I guess at this point a little background is in order my name is Peter Thornhill and at the time of this story I was 48 years old and had been married to Beth for exactly half that time at one point we were passionately in love indeed it was almost love at
first sight we met not Long after I graduated from college and started with a major manufacturing company located in a midsized Midwestern City I had been raised in western Nebraska and I had hoped to find something closer to the mountains where I had camped just about every year as a kid Beth was from the city where we had lived the entirety of our married life I honestly can't pin down when my marriage turned it was a very long very slow decline that wouldn't have been Noticeable to The Outsider but it was there and I could
sense it toward the end we all have dreams and mine was to live in the mountains and write the Great American novel I think Beth's big dream was simply to land a husband and raise a family there in her hometown you know how dreams usually go they fall apart on the rocky shores of reality the reality for me was that I ended up stuck in this nondescript Midwestern bird writing computer programs for the same Company i' had started with after college I got to a certain point on the corporate ladder and then got lost as
more ambitious men and women passed me by part of my problem was that I wouldn't cut Corners I was a perfectionist where my work was concerned and I didn't suffer fools who took the easy way out another part of my problem was that I became so good at my particular job that I was indispensable in that position as a result I got Passed over for promotions although I did receive regular raises and occasional bonus es but the other part of my problem was that I had a fairly passive personality I was content to go along
to get along and that extended to my marriage don't get me wrong Beth was a NIC looking woman with dark brown hair and an ample figure and I had always loved her she never quite lost all of the weight she gained having her two Children but I still thought she was sexy apparently so did someone else we bought a house not long after we were married it was in a decent neighborhood but certainly not the high rent district the house was built in the 1960s and some of the things in it hadn't been replaced in
all that time so we gradually replaced one Appliance after another with no particular Rhyme or Reason we were always fixing this and patching that we always talked about Buying something better but after refinancing the mortgage is collateral for loans a couple of times we found we had priced ourselves out of any chance of selling it in other words what it would have taken to pay off the loan and get something better was more than the house was really worth we could have sold it for Less to someone as a fixer upper but that still wouldn't
have solved the problem of finding someplace better to live that we could afford then There was the problem with our children 3 years into our marriage we had a son Jason for years later came a girl Laura these kids were the poster children for why adults in the animal kingdom sometimes eat their young I tried to a disciplinarian as much as I could but BET's idea of discipline was to give them whatever they wanted and she refused to let me spank them for any infraction whatsoever the consequences were pretty Drastic Jason was lazy disrespectful and
slovenly Laura was a neurotic nymphomaniac they learned at an early age how to play Beth and me against each other to get what they wanted and as a result we lost control of them by the time they became teenagers Jason was about to lose his sixth minimum wage job since he barely graduated from high school seems employers like for their workers to show up on time and in reasonably presentable attire they're Funny that way he was living in a dumpy old house in town with three of his slacker buddies and I was pretty sure he
was at the very least smoking pot and drinking a lot Laura was about to flunk out of high school altogether because she couldn't keep the MP3 player out of her ears long enough to pay attention to anything in class she was also also dating some scuzzy college guy with tattoos all up and down both arms Beth was a nurse who eventually decided she Preferred working the night shift on the day she worked I would get home around 5:30 and sometimes we have dinner together before she left for work around 615 due to our conflicting schedules
we began spending less time together and our intimacy dwindled we would connect physically once or twice a month typically on a weekend afternoon when she was off it was all always okay there's no such thing as bad intimacy but it was fairly routine we'd go Through the motions with me taking the lead and it would usually end quickly occasionally Beth would be in the mood and take the initiative but those moments became increasingly rare things were relatively stable until about 18 months before this particular incident when Beth's mood began to shift she had always been
a bit temperamental but menopause seemed to hit her hard she started finding reason to avoid intimacy at least with me siding headaches Tiredness or going to bed much earlier than I was ready for along with this she began to criticize more often finding fault in things I did or didn't do looking back on it the signs were there I just didn't see them I'd sometimes call the house during the days when I knew Beth should have been up and around and I'd get no answer sometimes she'd stop in for drinks with some co-workers at an
allight bar that catered to night shift Workers a few times she'd come home on weekends when she'd worked and immediately start a load of laundry like she had something she wanted to wash before I could see it everything pointed to Beth's adultery but like I said it really didn't matter so let's review I was stuck in a dead end job in a nowhere town I was living in a rundown house that was overpriced my sex life was in the toilet my witchy wife was cheating on me and my Children were budding delinquents what would you
do probably what I did actually the very first thing I did was go to the walk-in clinic to see about my flu I got a steroid shot and a prescription for an antibiotic feeling a little better I went to Walmart to have my prescription filled and to buy some things I needed toiletries a hot plate a small pot some soup and sodas then I drove all the way across Town and got a motel room I had stopped at the bank on my way to Walmart and withdrawn some cash to pay for a place to stay
for a couple of days once I got settled in I sat down and wrote out a game plan for the next few days while I heated a can of soup I ate as much as I could put the rest in the mini refrigerator crawled into bed and crashed it was dark when I awoke and I was a little disoriented until I remembered where I was and why I was There I was still weak from the flu and really I was too dazed by my illness and the shock of seeing Beth like that to fully absorb
what had happened I heated up what was left of the soup drank a Sprite and watched a football game on TV before going back to bed I did check my cell phone and saw a dozen calls from Beth I smiled grimly at that let her sweat I thought I woke up the next morning feeling quite a bit better the first thing I did was call the Office to tell them I wasn't going to be into work my boss's secretary answered the phone and after I explained why I was calling she told me that Beth had
called all afternoon looking for me she did did she I said if she calls today and I imagine she will just tell her I've called in sick and won't be in today that'll at least get her off your back Pete where are you she asked let me put it this way and see if you can figure it out I said I'm not at my house Okay then she said and I hung up I had made it very plain that I no longer had a home I had thought a lot about my course of action and
the more I thought about it the better I liked it I really couldn't be mad at Beth it was pretty obvious that she didn't want to be married to me any longer for some reason she wanted something I couldn't give her whatever that was and I wasn't going to hold her back from whatever it was that she Wanted she wanted to screw other men fine I'd give her the freedom to do so and free myself in the process but I still had some work to do there were going to be consequences for both Beth and
her lover nothing terribly drastic but consequences nonetheless the first thing I did was call the motor vehicle department to inquire about buying a pickup truck I've lost the owner's phone number but I had the license plate number as well as the Make model and color of the truck the friendly woman on the other end of the line cheerfully gave me the man's name and address my next move was to call a friend of mine who was a lawyer and get the name of the best divorce attorney in town I called that worthy a lady as
it happened and scheduled an appointment for 1:00 that afternoon I showered then went down to the lobby for a very light breakfast before heading to the bank I had two Certificates of deposit that I had bought a number of years earlier I cashed those in withdrew half of the money from our joint savings account and half of what little there was in the checking account I put most of the money into a new checking account that I opened in my name only along with a bank debit card I walked out with a little over $4,000
in Travelers checks I spent the next few minutes calling credit card companies to cancel all but One of my cards and have the accounts put in my name only I also paid off the balances on each of those cards the one I generously left for Beth I didn't bother paying off let her worry about that one next I went to a branch of the public library where I bought some computer time I took the the four Images I'd taken on my cell phone downloaded them onto an email address I had and printed out two copies
of each one I have to admit they were very clear and Explicit then I looked up information on the fellow who'd been with my wife the previous afternoon one Clark Slater I found out he was married so I joted down his wife's name I then put a copy of the pictures with a note attached letting her know where I could be reached for more information into an envelope with her name and address on it I went to the post office bought some stamps and mailed it to her then it was time for my appointment with
gray Shaw the attorney I told her what I'd done and what my plans were and she just nodded her head when I showed her the pictures her first question however was one of caution divorce seems like a pretty drastic step on such short notice she said are you sure you don't want to try to work it out what's there to work out I said my my wife as a lover and I don't want to stand in the way of true love I have some places I want to go and some things I want to do
with my life and staying Here with a cheating wife isn't part of those plans in the end I agreed to a legal separation for 90 days the divorce papers were drawn up and if after 3 months I was still determined to end my marriage then the papers would be filed and Beth would be served now if you go forward with the divorce what sort of settlement do you want Grace asked what sort of settlement do you want I've already taken half of the liquid cash in our bank I said she's Got a 403b that she's
paying into from her work she can keep that but she also doesn't get any of my 401k either she can keep the house the mortgage is in her name anyway and I don't want it if she does sell it though I want half of all proceeds from the sale okay Mr Thornhill I guess that about covers it Grace said I'll look forward to hearing from you in about 3 months my last stop was to the office but not to work I walked into the human Resources department and asked about what would be involved in taking
early retirement I had 26 years with the company so I had a good bit of retirement built up I was told I could begin drawing on my retirement pension when I turned 60 which was 12 years away I front at that but Brighton when I asked about cashing in my 401k of course the lady at are strongly discouraged that because of the Hefty tax penalty I'd have to pay nevertheless If I wanted I could get an immediate cash out of approximately $65,000 I thanked the lady and headed back to my motel I was tired and
after fixing another pot of chicken soup I went to bed and slept for nearly 7 hours it was after midnight when I awoke and I knew I now face the hardest part of my day going back to the house and collecting my things Beth was supposed to be at work but I wasn't sure if she'd actually Gone in as it turned out she hadn't Beth was asleep when I slipped in quietly and the house was silent apparently Laura was so concerned about my whereabouts that she'd gone out like she always did on Friday nights I
wondered if the kids would even miss me when I was gone probably not the first thing I did was get what I needed out of the garage tools camping gear and other assorted useful items I went into the little office area and Got my laptop I plugged it in and downloaded some files from my home PC onto the laptop then carried it to my vehicle I had a couple of boxes with me that I loaded with CDs a portable player a lot of books and some momentos that meant something to me including a few pictures
though none of Beth after I loaded that stuff into my vehicle I got some suitcases out and walked softly into my former bedroom I was about halfway finished with pack when I heard A small gasp behind me and then Beth's voice Peter Where Have You Been she said I've been worried sick about you have you now I said trying to keep the anger out of my voice what are you doing Beth she said what's it look like I'm doing packing I answered sarcastically packing Beth said in a trembling voice give that girl a gold star
for Brilliance I said Peter I'm so sorry she began when I stopped her I said Beth I don't want to hear your Excuses or your apologies it really doesn't matter why or how or even who although I do know that much you want to love someone else fine I'm letting you but I don't love him I don't want him she began I love you I don't want him I want you could have fooled me I said in in acidic tone it sounded to me like you wanted him pretty badly yesterday afternoon let me see if
I can recall the exact words oh God screw me isn't that about it Beth Just buried her face in her hands sobbing uncontrollably I looked at her evenly whatever brief flash of anger I'd had was gone replaced by I'm not sure pity no not that disdain maybe a little disgust yeah a bit but mainly I realized that the biggest thing I was feeling was emptiness I realized in that moment that I didn't have any feelings for her whatsoever I just didn't care anymore I Finished packing and let her SOB into her pillow it wasn't until
I started up the bedroom door with the suitcases that she jumped off the bed and tried to stop me wait Beth cried don't leave me Pete please can't we work this out please I'm sorry it wasn't anything it was just sex I just stared at her silently as I carefully extricated myself from her clinging arms and walked to the front of the house Beth followed me sobbing hysterically I pointed out the notice of Legal separation sitting on the kitchen table among the dirty remnants of that night's Pizza dinner I'll be back in 3 months mid
December I said if I'm still thinking then like I am now I'm following through on a divorce I will let you know generally where I am but I'm leaving and I'm not sure yet where I'm going to be goodbye Beth I'll see you around Pete no Beth cried as I walked up the front door with my suitcases I didn't look back as I Climbed into my vehicle and headed back across town to my motel room the next day was Saturday so I slept in when I got going I packed up what I had in the
motel room and checked out at $85 a night the motel was a little steep and there was a place near my office that catered to visiting business people they had long-term rates that were considerably cheaper than the average motel for approximately $45 a night I rented a clean room for 2 weeks that had A nice little kitchenet internet cable access and a large television with pay-per-view porn movies if I was so inclined I did sample the sexy worst being offered on the TV but most mostly I kicked back and indulged in football all weekend doing
absolutely nothing else then I went to work the next Monday morning the first thing I did was walk into my boss's office and hand him my letter of resignation effective in two weeks needless to say everyone at the Office was stunned I'd been there so long and in the same job that I guess I'd become part of the landscape my boss for one was in a panic he spent the whole two weeks trying to talk me out of retiring but I was adamant on Tuesday of the first week I got a call from my daughter
it was a rather enlightening conversation daddy why are you leaving us Laura asked you'll have to ask your mother that I replied she said to ask You Laura said okay I said Thursday afternoon I caught her in bed with some other man I was sick with the flu took off work early and there she was I got the pictures to prove it wow Laura said I didn't think she had it in her well that explains why she's been so weepy daddy she's a basket case she just sits around crying and cursing herself you know she
called in sick all three days this weekend look tell your mother to get a grip on herself I said through Clench teeth if she thinks she can Guilt Trip me into coming back to her she's very mistaken I've already put in for my retirement and a week from Saturday I'm out of here after that what she does what you do and what your derck brother does are none of my concern well I love you too Dad Laura cried hey you never gave a Flying Fig about me before now why should you start now I said
you're just afraid the gravy Trains fixing to roll out of the station that's not true Laura said a little pensively I need you you're the only one in this house with any sense and I don't know what's going to happen without you oh I'm sure you'll manage I said look Laura I'm sorry about what I said that was mean of me I'll be in touch and I'll Be Home for Christmas okay I love you really she said I know Daddy she said with a Sniffle I love you too Jason never did call I had a
pretty busy two weeks Beth tried to call any number of times but after I hung up on her a few times she got the message that I didn't want to talk to her her friends from work tried to get me to at least see her but I refused and I said so in pretty harsh terms it turns out Clark Slater was a nurse up in the unit where Beth worked and they'd been seeing each other for about 6 months Most everyone I talked to said they thought he was the only one she'd stepped out on
me with but they didn't know for sure I very pointedly told all of them how much I appreciated them telling me what my wife was doing behind my back they didn't have much to say after that I got a call in the middle of the first week from Clark Slater's wife apparently Beth wasn't the first nurse married or otherwise he'd been able to tap but Beth was going to be the last at Least while he was her husband I had finally given her the solid proof she needed to show him the door funny but I
never heard from Clark either about Beth or his ruined tires I had an awful lot to do before I left my work behind I had to train someone who could handle my job until they hired a full-time replacement I had to get my 12-year-old vehicle serviced I had to scout around for a broker who could set up my 401k in a private account and I had to get with HR about my severance pay and cashing in my remaining sick time I spent most of my downtime watching TV fooling around on my laptop or shopping for
things I would need when I left town I also visited a few of my friends all of whom expressed their disbelief that Beth really would cheat on me all too soon the second Friday arrived my last day of work and with it came a little sense of regret I'd put in 26 years at that company and I'd made a lot of Friends there at lunch that day my boss called our department together and we had a little retirement party that's when I finally lost my composure I was trying to give a thank you speech when
I suddenly broke down and cried the first time i' cried over anything in years I wept both because I was leaving and because of the circumstances that had driven me to my decision to retire I had kept myself so busy over The previous two weeks that I hadn't given myself a chance to let out the emotions over Beth's cheating and seeing my colleagues gathered in my honor was just too much for me to overcome but I got over it pretty quickly especially when Marcy Glover came over to me and invited me to an afterwork gathering
with a few of them at Chile of course I said yes even though I made it clear that I don't drink Marcy was a fellow computer geek but she was a damn Good-looking geek she was in her early 30s a tall blonde divor with a 10-year-old daughter who was spending the weekend with her father as she told me that she gave me a very Smokey look I'll admit that kind of confused me I mean I'm Not badl Looking In fact I look considerably younger than my years but a stud muffin I'm not or at least
I didn't think I was I'm a little shorter than average about 5' 9 in I wear glasses I have a little bit of a belly and while I'm no weakling I'm no Fitness freak either but I was about to find out that I had more sex appeal than I'd ever imagined there was a group of seven three women and two men besides Marcy and myself and for once in my life I was the man of the hour we sat for several hours drinking beer well I had tea and told stories about the plant the town
and each other in the midst of the festivities we also took time to have dinner as the night wore on I was Sitting next to Marcy and it became rather obvious that she was coming onto me she was sitting real close putting her hand on my thigh or on my arm I couldn't decide whether she was just doing that because she was drunk or whether she was serious finally about 9:00 we started drifting our separate ways I wanted to get an early start the next day and got up to leave then I looked over at
Marcy and saw that she really Shouldn't drive home so I offered her a ride after getting hugs and handshakes wishing me well I walked Marcy out to my car when we got in she moved in real close to me put her hand on my thigh and gave me a penetrating look I'm really not all that drunk Marcy said I just wanted you to give me a ride and not home either so where do you want me to take you I said deliberately playing dumb Take Me to Your Motel she said and she pulled my face
around and kissed me Hard and deep Marcy you don't have to do this I said when we broke apart I mean yeah I'm lonely but I don't want any sympathy sympathy's got nothing to do with it she said Pete I've had the hots for you ever since I started working there and I've finally got a chance I'm not passing it up you you've had the hots for me I said come on Marcy look at me I'm a fat gray-haired old man in the first place you're not fat she said in the second place your hair
makes you Look sexy in the third place you're very good-looking and in the fourth place you're one of the nicest men I know you're one of the few men in that building who's never made a pass at me or any of the other gals for that matter trust me we've noticed you've always been a gentleman I've always been a married gentleman I said with just a trace of bitterness look you're going off tomorrow and you deserve some TLC before you go Marcy said now are you Going to take me back to Your Motel and screw
me or not I laughed then and started up my vehicle the truth is I'd had many fantasies about Marc Glover but I always figured she was out of my leak besides I was a married man who believed in Fidelity technically I guess I was still married but I was already legally separated and in my heart I knew my marriage was over Marcy Glover was offering me her body and I'd be damned If I was going to pass it up as soon as the door to my room closed we were instantly drawn to each other kissing
passionately our hands exploring one another it wasn't long before I found myself admiring Marcy's slender figure as she sat back on the bed her presence was Capt cating I was ready for the moment it had been over a week since I had any real release so I was eager for what was to come this experience felt different though Marcy was much more Engaged than I had been used to at least in my previous experiences we held each other close moving together in harmony each of us focused on the other's pleasure I could see the anticipation
building on Marcy's face as she approached another peak of satisfaction I leaned back on the bed watching as Marcy sat up and carefully adjusted herself for what was to come next thanks I said Beth would never let me do that she thought it was Demeaning I can see where some women might think that Marcy said personally I love it we lay back on the bed and rested then I made love to her again this time a little more leisurely after that we fell asleep together we made love one final time with the light of dawn
filtering through the drapes then we got up showered and dressed Marcy helped me pack then I checked out and drove her back to where her car was parked before she left she Gave me a very soft kiss and then stared into my eyes Pete all I can say is your wife's an idiot she said she doesn't know what she's thrown away well I guess sometimes you get used to someone and get in a rut I said I probably let things slide too much from my side you know how it goes yeah I guess I do
Marcy said Pete I hope you find what you're looking for but if you ever decide to come back here for any length of time look me up I Guarantee I'll treat you a hell of a lot better than Beth did thanks Marcy I said I'll stay in touch you never know what's going to happen you take care okay you too she said you be careful with that I was off I put my vehicle on the Interstate headed west and didn't look back I was off alone to travel the country with no plans no itinerary No
Agenda I had some places out west I wanted to see some things I wanted to do but I had no particular Schedule I would go wherever my nose led me it was something I'd wanted to do for years but had never been able to do either I couldn't afford it I had family concerns or work concerns now I had none of those things holding me back my first destination however was my old Hometown I wanted to spend a few days with my folks who were starting to get on in years and I also wanted to
see some old friends I ended up seeing one I Hadn't counted on and it was a delightful experience my parents were disappointed to hear that bath and I were splitting up but my mom also said she wasn't surprised she just hasn't seemed very happy the last few times you've been here Mom said the following Monday I was in the supermarket picking up some supplies for my trip when I heard my name being called I looked around and a big smile creased my face as I saw a Blast from my past it was Dolores Valdez a
curvy woman I went to school with she was actually a year behind me but we always seem to have a class or two together every year and we got to be friendly at the time Dolores was a hot number who was a little too fast for me but time had slowed her down a bit she had learned the hard way that the fast life wasn't always the good life but time had still been generous to her because she was still a stone Beauty if Anything age had made her better looking than when she was in
high school softening her features and adding a little padding in strategic places she was a little shorter than average with thick dark hair and expressive Brown Eyes Of course her figure was still sexy she had moved back to town after divorcing her second husband and was an assistant manager at the store she lived alone in a small house in a quiet neighborhood not far from her daughter's Family we chatted for a few minutes catching up on our lives when I told her I was divorcing my wife her eyes lit up I'm off tomorrow she said
in an inviting tone how would you like to have dinner with me I'd love to I said any place in particular how about my place she said it's been a while since I fixed dinner for a man especially an old friend like you I arrived at dolores's place about 7 the next night to find her dressed in a tight red dress with spaghetti straps And her face quite Tastefully made up my younger brother who lives nearby had given me a Viagra pill when I told him who I was seeing he said I was going to
need it and it looked like he was right I entered her small but tidy little house and was greeted by the aroma of enchiladas Cooking in the oven and other assorted Mexican treats being prepared for dinner I was about to discover that Dolores was a terrific cook but I also learned that she was a skilled Conversationalist while waiting for dinner to finish cooking we sat in her living room real close and got caught up with each other's lives she was very understanding about what had happened to me and also about what had happened to Beth
Dolores had wrecked her first marriage by cheating but her second marriage had fallen apart because her husband was cheating so she was able to give me insights from both sides of the fence it didn't make me feel any better About it but it did help dinner was something special enchiladas tostadas rice and the best FL I'd ever tasted in my life how do you stay as Slim as you do when you cook like this I asked as I pushed my bloated belly away from the table oh I only cook like this on special occasions Dolores
said with a laugh if I ate like this every day I'd be as white as I am tall we we retired to the front room then and sat real close on the couch again we talked for a Bit getting around to why she'd invited me over that night because I wanted to do something I never got a chance to do when we were in high school she said you were always so nice so cute so sexy but I knew I could never have you then mama and papa wouldn't have approved of me dating a white
boy you know it's very ironic very sad they had no problem with me being with all these cholos and gang bangers as long as they were Mexican but a nice white boy forget it but you don't Have that problem now do you I said as I brought my face real close to hers we kissed then and I lost myself in her full lips and active tongue Dolores was acting like a hungry woman a woman who hadn't had any in a while which amused me she got a little tear when I asked her how long it
had been since she had a man too long she said when I came back here I made a vow that I wasn't going to let my past trip me into stupid relationships but memories die hard in a Small town if I had $5 for every time I've been propositioned in the past year by somebody I went to school with I wouldn't have to work that's why this is so special for me you never look down on me back in the old days and you'd have never made an improper Advance if I hadn't invited you here
I know you wouldn doesn't mean I wouldn't have thought it I said with a chuckle believe me Dolores I had a lot of fantasies in high school imagining myself with you For some reason that just melted her she whispered something in Spanish and then was all over me kissing me deeply and working her hands over my body she quickly got my sweater off in the T-shirt I had under it then attacked my pants in no time at all I found myself on her sofa and Dolores was standing in front of me unzipping her dress as
it slipped to the floor I couldn't help but admire her the contrast between her dark hair and her pale skin was striking Especially with the garter belt hosery and heels she still wore I reached up gently touching her as she leaned in to kiss me with urgency I want you she said with desire and I certainly wasn't going to disagree I wanted her too hearing such words from a woman like Dolores especially after my experience with Marcy gave me a significant boost in confidence reaffirming that I still had plenty to offer Dolores kissed me passionately
and Whispered in my ear expressing her desire for me to be close to her never let it be said that I don't give a hot woman what she wants when I was satisfied I lifted myself up then collapsed onto her back and laughed in utter contentment that moment was the first time I thought about thanking Clark Slater for setting the events in motion that had led me to that point thanks to Clark in his todrey affair with my wife I was free from my comfortable but Bor boring life in a nowhere Town an increasingly Loveless
marriage a chaotic family life in a decaying house and a job that had long ceased to challenge me in a large corporation where I was lost in the shuffle I was free to go anywhere do anything and be with anyone I wanted I couldn't have done that with a clear conscience had I not caught my wife and her lover in the act of Adultery after catching our breath Dolores and I retired to her oversized bathtub one of the few extravagances she'd indulged in since returning to town where we spent a long time bathing each other
and kissing we ended up making love again right there in the bathtub then moved to her bed and made love once more before we finally passed out from well sated exhaustion the next day I spent time with my family then I set out in Earnest The following day as I drove I reflected that it had been exactly 3 weeks since I'd caught Beth and Clark three weeks that had completely changed my life this trip was the first step in living my new life over the next 3 months I wandered the Western half of the country
seeing places I had only read about my first stop was Mount Rushmore followed by a couple of days exploring the sight of the Battle of Little Big Horn I walked the grounds and commune with the ghosts Of kuster and the seventh Cavalry as well as Crazy Horse and his Warriors after that I drove to Jackson Hole and camped out for a week and a half while Turing Yellowstone in the Grand Tetons I had to laugh when I got my first look at the Tetons thinking that the French who named them must have been awfully hard
up to see women's breasts in those Jagged Peaks from there I drove up to spend some time in northern Idaho Camping on the banks of Lake pen o I had been there once before as a teenager at a Boy Scout Jamboree in 1969 in fact my fellow Scouts and I were among the few Americans who didn't see the first moon landing because we were camped well away from televisions while there I fished the lake and the trails enjoying the cool mountains of the northern Rockies when I woke one morning in late October to 3 in
of snow on the ground I knew it was time To move onto more temperate climates I went to Seattle then down the Pacific coast through Oregon to spend some time in an Napa Valley yes I did sample some of the excellent wine the area produces before heading to yuse for several days after that I visited an aging aunt and uncle in the Los Angeles area and achieved a long-held desire to see southern I'll play UCLA in the Rose Bowl one of the truly big rivalries in college football at one of the most Historic stadiums in
the country I also spent a day at the beach in Venice getting an eye full of all the California hard bodies that hang out there wearing very little while in a gift shop across the street from the beach I saw a postcard and got the wicked idea of sending one to my wife and her lover it showed four very nuble scandy clad women with the heading that read greetings from Venice Beach I wrote a note on each one thanking them for Screwing around on me so I could take this trip then sent one to the
house for Beth and one to the hospital for Clark that was the weekend before Thanksgiving and it was time for me to get to where I really wanted to go my best friend from high school lived in Durango Colorado a beautiful mountain town not far from the Four Corners he and his wife had started a small business and needed someone to help with computer marketing and other cyber related tasks it was perfect for Me he owned a small house that he'd been using as a rental property where I could stay and he offered a flexible
work schedule that would allow me the freedom to go wherever I wanted whenever I wanted I had spent a lot of spare time on the road doing a lot of writing and had the makings of a pretty good book I simply wrote about myself my trip and why I was doing it along with other pertinent Reflections once I completed my business with Beth and settled in Colorado I'd have time to polish my work it was all about the changes in a middle-aged Life as a result of one disastrous event I didn't know it that Monday
when I headed East toward Colorado but my life was about to change again in a completely unexpected way I had been in Durango a couple of days when Chris my friend Kyle's wife announced that she had invited a friend of hers over to share Thanksgiving dinner with us this woman lived alone Chris said and didn't socialize much but Chris hated the thought of someone being alone on Thanksgiving so she had extended the invitation and it had been accepted funny how life pivots on little decisions like that maybe I would have met more in mcdermit anyway
once I moved to Durango but who knows what might have happened in the interim perhaps she'd have decided to move on or maybe someone Else would have swooped in and swept her off her feet I don't know all I do know is that when Moren walked through the door of Kyle and Chris's house my stomach did a shimmy and before the day was out I was determined to make her mine Moren was a woman in her mid-30s quite tall at nearly 6 feet slender but not bony she had a pale complexion peppered with freckles flaming
red hair cut very short and soft green eyes that were an enchanting blend of mischief and Sadness when she spoke it sounded like a symphony of leprechauns yes she was a full-blooded native of Ireland who had come to the states with an Irish dance troop one of those River dance groups and had settled in Denver she had moved to Durango about a year earlier after breaking off an engagement 2 days before the wedding it seemed she had caught her groom to be at his bachelor party in the act of screwing a stripper who had been
hired For the night she hadn't intended to crash his party but she and a couple of her girlfriends had been on their way to breakfast after their own party when she happened to pass a strip club and saw her fiance and his group coming out one of the girls from the club was wrapped around her betrothed and she decided to follow them to see what happened it had been an emotionally scarring event and one more blow in a life that had seen plenty of them her father had been an Alcoholic who beat her mother until
they fled him when Moren was 15 after he started beating on her she said her father stalked them relentlessly until the police finally stepped in and he was charged and convicted of spousal abuse she had subsequently been assaulted while on holiday in London when she was 22 and had her heartbroken several times after that culminating in her fiance's cheating I think the reason we hit it off so well was because we both Understood what cheating was all about over the previous weeks of traveling I had thought a lot about Beth and what she done and
I couldn't get past the inconsistency of her protestations of love for me with the image of her in bed with another man she had cheated on me in our marriage and I didn't have a clue as to why I had been telling myself all along that I didn't care but that wasn't entirely true I did care I wanted to know what had happened to the love we'd Once shared and Why Beth felt she was entitled to take a lover on the side knowing how I felt about Fidelity I did keep up with what was going
on back home mostly through emails to him from Laura who seemed to have decided at this late date to repair a relationship she was plainly worried about Jason who had indeed lost his job and was begging Beth to let him move back in I spoke to Beth a couple of times briefly but whenever she started To get weepy or tried to apologize I cut her off I did promise her that I would sit down and listened to her when I got back it wasn't going to change anything but I wanted to hear what she had
to say nothing was going to change my mind by then I had made my decision on what I wanted and I wanted to live in Durango as a result I spent three weeks getting settled in my new home and helping Kyle and Chris with their business I was also spending a lot of Time with Moren we talked long and deep on Thanksgiving night about everything to Chris's amazement and Delight when I walked with her out to her car we looked at each other and kissed there wasn't a lot of passion in it but there was
a lot of Promise over the 3 weeks I was there before returning home or rather my sun toe former home we dated probably a dozen times and grew more intimate I knew I had to be careful because of moren's past she had been Hurt badly by men and was wary of being hurt again but the more I got to know her the more I realized that despite her history she was a woman with the Hot Blooded nature she was a dynamite kisser with lips that were just full enough to enjoy and a tongue that knew
what it was doing waiting was excruciating because the more time I spent with Moren the more I wanted her she was so sexy so sensual and yes so needy but I understood her need to be cautious and Respected her desire to take it slow my patience was rewarded the weekend before I was scheduled to head back to finish my business with Beth Kyle and Chris wanted me to get get a real Taste of Colorado so they plan a 4-day ski trip there's a nice ski resort right outside Durango and Purgatory is really close but they
wanted me to enjoy the whole ski experience they pulled some strings with a friend of theirs in the real estate Business who helped us get a nice two-bedroom condo and toride about 70 M away I was having dinner with more in one night a few days before we were to leave when the subject of the trip came up and she asked what she should bring I just kind of stared at her and she gave me a moan a Lisa smile you knew I was going didn't you she said I was hoping but I didn't know
if it was my place to invite you or not I said you know the condo only has two bedrooms and that's a Problem how she said smiling a little wider are you sure I said taking her hands and looking deep into her eyes very sure she said I knew you were the one I'd been looking for all my life life the first time I met you I knew you know your heart you're a good man Pete and you deserve to be happy I think I can make you happy did she ever we drove up to
toride on a cold clear Thursday morning the early winter snows had been heavy in the High Country so we figured The ski would be good and it was I had been skiing once before a long time ago when a group of us from college spent a week at Vil Moren had been skiing once before as well the previous season with Kyle and Chris despite that limited experience Moren and I took the one-day ski school that was recommended before we tackled the slopes on our own once we'd been taught the basics she and I had a
blast going up and down the mountain we Prudently stayed away from the black slopes the expert Trails but we did try a few of the blue Trails the intermediate slopes and found we could handle them with a fair bit of skill it was bracing to spend time on the mountain with a woman I had come to care about quite intensely I wasn't sure yet if I was in love or if she was in love with me but we liked each other a lot and were comfortable in each other's company we Ended that first day sore
and tired but it was the good kind of soreness and the pleasant tiredness that comes from having a lot of fun the four of us ended up at a nice modestly priced restaurant for our post ski dinner and we toasted our rapidly cementing partnership in every sense of the word when we got back to the condo I showered and then sat back on the large water bed with a book I'd been reading while Moren took a long bath I was toying with the idea of Joining her but decided not to be pushy I wanted her
to make the first move I'm glad I did she came into the bedroom smelling like Peach blossoms clad in a long moderately heavy robe she stood just inside the door and smiled at me slowly she undid the sash of the robe and let the sides fall open see anything you like she said her soft Irish brog sounding ever so sexy I just nodded as I feasted my eyes on moren's tall trim body I rolled off the bed and approached Her my hands gently caressing her as we came together sharing a slow smoldering kiss that grew
in intensity it felt like we were in a dream as I softly ran my hands over her body while she removed my t-shirt and lowered my pants we moved to the bed and lay down our bodies naturally coming together our hands found each other and unlike my previous encounters there was no urgency just a sense that we had all the Time in the World to explore and Cherish each other we kissed again and this time when we pulled apart more and gently pushed me onto my back and began a slow sensual Journey down my neck
to my chest her touch was so deliberate so intimate that it drove me to the edge I wanted to love this woman completely we kissed again this time with more passion I gently rolled her onto her back the sight of Moren mcdermid waiting expectantly is something I'll never forget she lay back On the bed her eyes filled with desire as I began to make love to her I took my time wanting us to reach that moment together we clung to each other kissing wildly and it felt like we would never stop but eventually we did
and we slumped together in contended exhaustion letting out Collective sigh Moren and I laughed softly contentedly as we slowly drifted down from the orgasmic clouds we held each other and slowly drifted off to sleep spending the first of what I Hoped would be thousands of nights together the whole trip went like that we tried just about every non-black slope on the mountain explored the shops and cafes of downtown toride and made love every night after we got back to the condo by the time we returned to Durango we knew it was love on the Tuesday
before Christmas I packed my SUV with a few suitcases and presents for everyone then headed back East for a few weeks I went by way of my folks house But didn't linger I did visit Dolores to give her a present but I didn't sleep with her I told her I'd found someone in Colorado that I wanted to commit to and she smiled as she said she understood I'd have expected nothing less from you she said Marcy Glover was much the same way when I got back to town and called her up for dinner I knew
it wouldn't take long for someone to find you she said you're too good a man to stay single very long I'm glad you're Happy I did not stay at the house when I went back it wasn't home anymore and I didn't want to give Beth any Illusions I did visit quite a bit and it was cordial enough but she and I avoided the elephant in the room until after Christmas it actually wasn't a bad Christmas Jason had convinced Beth to let him move back home but she finally grew a backbone where he was concerned he
could stay but he had to pull his weight around the house he'd come Dangerously close to some serious drug trouble when he was living with his buddies and apparently it had scared some sense into him because he was talking seriously about entering a rehab program Laura had really taken my departure as a warning shot she ditched the scuzzy boyfriend and was taking more interest in school figuring out as I had told her repeatedly in our email exchanges that without it at leased a high school diploma her odds of getting Anywhere in life were about nil
she had gotten a part-time job at a youth oriented novelty shop in the mall where her quirky dress and hipster attitude were put to good use the day after Christmas Laura was at work and I gave Jason $50 and told him to go have fun at the mall Beth and I had serious business to discuss and needed to be alone I brought the divorce petition that I'd gotten from Grace Shaw and set it on the coffee table in the front room be just Stared at it with sad eyes brimming with tears I guess you've made
your decision she said I have I replied but I think I deserve some answers first why did you cheat on me Beth I know we had problems in our marriage but if you'd been open about it we might have worked through those problems I don't know she said I guess I expected you to fight for me fight for our marriage if there was a competitor for my affections I thought you'd do What you had to do it just went too far I was drinking a lot during that time but that's no excuse I let it
happen thinking that I could I don't know have this little fling and get that itch out of my system I really didn't think you'd give up on us that easily what was there to fight for I said softly you were bitching all the time Jason was one step away from jail Laura was a teenage mother waiting to Happen the house was a wreck work was boring and then you started cheating on me honestly what was there to fight for and that still doesn't answer the question of why you decided to screw another man behind my
back and then kept unscrewing him for 6 months that's something I just can't get my mind around a new experience Beth said it was a jolt of excitement and a boring life I guess I just needed something more but Pete you have to believe me I've never Stopped loving you you were always the number one man in my life and you always will be I don't doubt that I said although I'm having some trouble believing you loveed me when you were entertaining Clark especially when you were finding excuses not to have sex with me I
may have been the number one man in your life like you say but you were still paying a lot of attention to number two I'm so sorry about all of that she said in a very small voice I Guess I lost track of what was really important important so do you hate me then no of course not I said we had 24 years together and a lot of them were good years you're the mother of my children bless their hearts and I think in the main you're a decent person who got confused and made a
costly mistake no I don't hate you Beth but I don't love you anymore that died the day I walked in on you and your lover maybe we just drifted apart and Clark saw opening Actually I owe you my thanks what you did provided the spark that allowed me to have a new life doing things I always wanted to do in places I always wanted to be well it certainly agrees with you she said you look great you do deserve to be happy I guess and I guess I deserve to be miserable don't I I said
as I watched Beth finally lose her composure I didn't want to but I went to her then and held her one last time letting her cry after she calmed down She signed the divorce agreement since we were in a no fa State and we were divorcing on the nebulous grounds of irreconcilable differences the divorce would be final after 60 days I stayed a couple more days to pack up the rest of my things and to visit with the kids I was still worried about Jason but it looked like Laura was going to be all right
she had found her niche in retail sales and seemed to have gained a new found respect for me on the next to last Day of the year I said my final goodbyes and headed off to settle in Durango for good that was 3 years ago Kyle's business started to take off in that time and I found a variety of tasks I was asked to perform quite stimulating I spent a lot of time polishing up my book and when I had what I believed was a finished product I started shopping it around to Publishers I had
to endure a half dozen rejections before I found one that liked It the book received some nice reviews and managed to make the lower end of some bestseller lists it's on its third Printing and still sells modestly I'm working on a second book a novel about kuster and I have a computer full of odds and ends essays and ramblings that I may or may not ever get published it doesn't matter I'm expressing my creative side in a way I never did before more and I fell deeper in love and 8 months after we met we
Were married in a small ceremony in Durango Lord came off for the wedding and she and Moren became friendly Laura was promoted to manager of the store where she'd been working and seems to be doing well a year ago I was blessed with another child when Moren delivered a baby boy you cannot fathom how much I appreciate a second chance at fatherhood Beth hasn't remarried although she does date some she's filled her life with working on seriously fixing up the house Which gives her something to occupy her time when she's not working we stay stay
friends and still talk occasionally mostly about what to do with Jason his commitment to sobriety didn't take and he fell deeper into the spell of drugs he's currently incarcerated after being convicted of manufacturing meth for sale with his old roomies our relationship blows hot and cold but at least we have one there are those who say adultery is a devastating thing that destroys lives And I guess in one sense that may be true it certainly destroyed my old life but out of the bitter ashes of that cheating came a new far better life for me
I'm living the life I always dreamed about when I was growing up in a place where I always wanted to be that would not have happened had I stayed married to Beth she did me a favor when she started cheating on me and as a result I was liberated to follow my own path the best revenge is living well and I'm Living a pretty damn good life because of my ex-wife and her lover thanks guys I needed that
