“So what?” Cindy echoed. “Are you nuts?”
Mattheus laughed. “I don’t get why you’re so heated about this,” he said. “It’s not like the guy’s a killer, with a slew of bodies left behind.”
“Lynch is getting married in a couple of days, and his bride doesn’t know that he has a child,” Cindy exclaimed.
“So what?” Mattheus looked at Cindy, slightly bewildered.
“So what?” Cindy echoed again. “So, if he can keep a secret like this, who knows what else he’s hiding. The guy can’t be trusted.”
“That’s going too far,” Mattheus eyes narrowed. “Look, he has a kid that his family would obviously frown upon. He’s ashamed of it.”
“That’s not a reason to lie and hide him,” Cindy said.
“It’s human,” said Mattheus, “it’s not a crime. There’s no reason to string him up for it and ruin the rest of his life.”
Cindy felt confused. Was Mattheus implying that the truth about his past would ruin Lynch’s life? Mattheus wasn’t being clear about this, or even rational. Was he saying that it was okay to keep his child secret, not include him in his life? That would be abandonment.
“And what about Tara?” Cindy went on. “What will happen when she finds out down the road that her husband has a secret child?”
“Why does she have to find out?” Mattheus asked gruffly.
Cindy felt amazed. “A secret like this between a husband and wife is okay?”
Mattheus’s face flushed as he grew irritated. “Of course it’s okay. It’s natural. Who does it hurt? Does a guy have to divulge every last thing he’s ever done to the woman he marries?”
Cindy couldn’t even grasp the question. “Of course he does,” said Cindy. “There’s no room for hiding and lies in a marriage.”
“We’re obviously not on the same page about this,” Mattheus grumbled.
“That’s putting it mildly,” said Cindy as the warmth of the day disappeared in an instant, and she
felt a cold chill go up her arms and neck. Where could they go from here? If Mattheus felt it was okay for Lynch to behave this way, who knew what he also felt was fine for himself? “I, for one, would never marry or trust a man who felt this way,” Cindy continued. “If I found out later on, during my marriage about a secret child, it would have a terrible effect.”
“Would you leave?” asked Mattheus gruffly.
“Of course I would,” said Cindy, “in a flash.”
“Then how could you be trusted?” Mattheus countered.
“How could I be trusted?” asked Cindy. “You’re turning this completely around.
Mattheus took a deep breath and sighed loudly. “Men and women,” he muttered, “two different species.”
Was Mattheus back to that now? Seeing women as impossible creatures he could never understand, or trust. Cindy felt her body tighten into a knot.
“I thought we’d come far from that point, Mattheus,” said Cindy quietly, looking directly into his eyes.
“Listen,” Mattheus tried to regroup. “I’m just saying let’s give this guy a chance to have a life and go forward. There’s no reason to ruin his marriage over this.”
“We’ve been hired to see if there was something about Lynch that Aldon didn’t know. We took the assignment. We have to tell him,” Cindy was emphatic. “Otherwise, we’re complicit in the lie.”
“We’re not complicit in anything,” Mattheus grew more heated.
“We have information that you want to hide?” Cindy was open mouthed.
“We have information that doesn’t amount to anything,” Mattheus stood his ground firmly.
“That’s up to Aldon to decide,” said Cindy.
“For all we know Aldon knows about the kid already anyway,” Mattheus jumped over it.
“We’ll tell him and see if he does,” Cindy insisted.
“No, we won’t,” Mattheus half stood up. Then he sat down again, growing more agitated.
“What do you mean we won’t?” Cindy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had no idea why Mattheus was so disturbed about this and so protective of Lynch?
“Listen, Cindy,” Mattheus said suddenly, “how would you feel if you found out that I had a kid from an old girlfriend who I didn’t care a thing about at this time?”
“Didn’t care about who, the girlfriend or child?” asked Cindy appalled.
“The girlfriend, obviously,” Mattheus answered.
Cindy flushed, unable to make sense of the question. “How would I feel now, or how would I feel if we were about to get married?” she asked. Then she stopped a moment and realized that she and Mattheus were on the verge of committing to each other right now. They’d been speaking about marriage day after day.
“How would you feel?” Mattheus repeated.
“If you hadn’t told me in the beginning that you had a child?” Cindy asked.