Ted wasn’t fooling me. I could see that he was a little jealous that Cookie’s attentions were diversified.
“I have another escape,” I said. “Why don’t I call your cell at around seven thirty and pretend to be a sick friend who needs you right away? If he’s awesome, tell me to call someone else. If he’s not, just ask me where I am and tell him you have to go.”
“Those are both great ideas,” she said. “To tell you the truth, I am a little nervous. After all, this man is a stranger. I’m sure he’s very nice, but who knows? Anyway, Rue de Jean is close enough to my house. I can walk home if I need to.
The meal ended pretty quickly, as there was no compulsion to stay at the table and eat any more of the long-dead chicken than we had to. I helped Cookie clean up the kitchen while Adam wiped down the counters and Ted took out the trash.
“Well, I’m about to fall on my face,” I said. “It’s been an extremely long day for me. Thanks for dinner, Cookie. Good night, Ted.” I gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“I’ll follow you,” Adam said.
I gave him the smallest smile humanly possible. I mean, I didn’t hate the man.
I drove home with Adam right behind me, so we pulled into the garage at the exact same time. We closed the doors with synchronized thunks. I sat there for a moment, just to think about how I was going to handle the sleeping situation. Well, the boys were going to be arriving soon. Did I really want to let them know something was wrong between their father and me? No, I did not. I thought a minute more until I hatched a plan.
We got out of our cars and went inside.
“I’m glad you’re back,” Adam said.
“Only until Monday, then I’m going back to Greece.”
“I know, but how long will you be away?”
“A week, maybe two. I’m not sure.”
“Eliza! You can’t just leave me like this and expect everything to be the same when you get home, you know.”
“Adam? That’s the point, isn’t it? I don’t want everything to be the same when I return. Got it? You’ve got a whole lot of soul-searching to do before there’s a chance to make things right between us again.”
“I’ve already done that. I want things right between us.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw Eve. And I know now that I’m just not interested in her like that.”
“Really? Where’d you see her?”
“Well, Cookie probably already put it on the front page of the Post and Courier, so I may as well tell you first. Eve called me after Carl left her. She was almost hysterical and she said she needed to see me. I felt bad for her, you know? I told her to make a reservation and I’d meet her somewhere for dinner. So she booked a table at Charleston Grill, and I—”
“Charleston Grill? You’re kidding me, right? You couldn’t meet her at Home Team Barbecue?” He took her to Charleston Grill? Was he insane?
“Anyway, I walked into the bar and there she was. It was very obvious to me that she thought you and I were finished and now was her time. It was like the biggest turnoff ever. Suddenly, I knew she was the last person I’d ever be interested in. Besides, she can’t hold a candle to you, Eliza, and I think we both know that.”
“Telling me the truth is not scoring you any points with me. You know, sometimes you are so incredibly egotistical and stupid at the same time that it simply takes my breath away.”
“What does that mean?”
“First of all, this isn’t a contest between me and Eve. Second, the last time you felt so badly for her you slept with her on her sofa and I went to Greece. I’m glad you’ve come to a decision about Eve and I’m sorry for her, I really am. She sounds like a rudderless boat. But what really galls me is that you say she turns you off.”
“What’s galling about that? I came to realize that I don’t want her.”
“Because it was too messy? Too complicated? Or was it just because the fantasy of her being unattainable died?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“People want what they can’t have. When they can have it they don’t want it anymore.”
“Oh.”
“Adam, until Carl and I caught you two red-handed, I was blissfully unaware that you had a serious history with Eve. And just because you don’t want her anymore doesn’t mean that everything between us is okay. You slept with her, Adam. I don’t care if you say something happened or it didn’t. You slept with her. So I’m going back to Greece on Monday. I’m giving you time to think.”
He looked at me as though he didn’t know what else there was to consider.
I poured myself a glass of water and drank it all at once. He was exasperating. I refilled the glass and turned to him. “I’m going to bed, Adam. Please wait up for the boys and lock up the house.”
“Okay,” he said.
I brushed my teeth and washed my face and fell into bed. If he tried to so much as touch me I’d kick him right into next week.
It must have been around three in the morning when I felt him slip under the covers. Very quietly, he turned out the light, and soon he was snoring lightly. He didn’t even attempt to spoon. I guess he was getting the message. I couldn’t believe he didn’t understand that what he had done had an impact on how I felt about him. The more I learned about his secret longing for Eve, the less I liked him as my husband. He had reframed himself in my mind as a thickheaded man who couldn’t conceive that his words and actions hurt me deeply, benign as he may have thought they were. The consequences were that what he had done changed the way I felt about him. And a halfhearted apology wouldn’t restore my love for him.
The time difference between Greece and Charleston of seven hours was working against me. I felt like it was time to get up. I rolled over and looked at our digital alarm. Four forty-five. Too early to rise. I’d had about six hours of sleep, which was enough to keep me awake. I tried to drift off again, but my mind was racing as though the day had already begun. I’d come home because Adam said the funeral was Friday, but there was to be no funeral. Another lie. Another manipulation. Or Adam was just being sloppy.