Page 84 of Now That It's You
Meg winced, and Kyle wished like hell he could put his arms around her. She didn’t look terribly surprised, but she did look defeated.
“I’m so sorry,” Meg said, placing a hand on Patti’s knee. “How do you know?”
“I found text messages on his phone from the whore.”
“Hell,” Meg said. “You’re sure she’s not just a friend?”
“Do you send your friends photos of you naked with your ankles behind your head?”
Kyle choked on his wine, but Meg managed to keep a little more dignity.
“Not usually, no,” Meg said.
“Then I’m guessing she’s not a friend.”
Meg swallowed a big slug of wine while Kyle tried to think of something helpful to say. “Did you—uh—confront Greg about this?”
Patti nodded and fiddled with a cheese straw. “He said, and I quote, ‘Patti, I don’t have time for this right now. I’m late for a meeting.’”
“Oh, shit,” Meg said. “So now what?”
“Now I pack up all his things, set them on the front lawn, douse them with lighter fluid, and?—”
“Not again.” Meg sounded resigned. “Remember what happened last time?”
“I learned my lesson from the fire department, dear. I went out and bought one of those portable outdoor fire pit things like the one we used to roast marshmallows on when you were little. Actually, it’s in the back of my car right now, and I could use some help unloading it at the house. Kyle?”
“What?” He blinked, not sure if she was soliciting his help to move the fire pit, light clothes on fire, or help with s’mores. Either way, he suspected his answer should be no.
“Kyle has plans, Mom,” Meg said, swooping to his rescue. “Besides, I’m sure he doesn’t want to risk ending up with an arrest record.
“This is true,” Kyle agreed. “Though those s’mores do sound tempting.”
“Let me ask you something, Kyle.” Patti turned and pointed a finger at him, and Kyle suddenly wished he’d made that escape. “Can you think of any reason for a grown man to look at his faithful, loving, loyal companion and think to himself, ‘It’s totally fine if I go screw someone else behind her back?’”
Kyle glanced at Meg, pretty sure he knew the right answer here, but not certain he should get in the middle of this. Meg gave him a small shrug, which he figured was permission to speak freely. “Definitely not,” he said.
“And can you think of any situation in which it’s acceptable for a man to have another girlfriend on the side while his wife waits at home keeping his dinner warm?”
Kyle gripped his wineglass a little tighter, thinking of that night. How had Matt justified his call to Annabelle, making arrangements to meet her in secret while Meg waited for him back home? What on earth had he been thinking that night?
You know exactly what he was thinking, his conscience told him. And it’s all your fault.
Kyle took a slug of wine, barely tasting it as it burned down his throat.
“No,” Kyle answered again. “I can’t think of any acceptable reason.”
He didn’t meet Meg’s eyes, afraid of what he might see there.
Patti huffed and took a sip of her own wine. “That’s what I thought. But Greg thinks he can just stick his pecker wherever he likes, and all he has to do to get back in my good graces is buy me another charm for my bracelet and all will be right with the world.”
She held up her arm, the charms jangling as she moved. Kyle stared at it, not sure what he was supposed to say. “That’s a lot of charms.”
“Exactly.” Patti shook her head. “So why do I put up with it?”
Meg shook her head sadly. “I have no idea. You should put an end to it, though. Once and for all, just get out.”
Kyle looked at Meg, a little surprised by the bluntness. “Well, it’s true,” she said. “You’ve been putting up with it for years and I don’t understand why. Don’t get me wrong, I love Daddy, but why on earth do you keep letting him come back?”
