It was the kind of cool, crisp morning that you would expect from October. The first frost of the season was just beginning to melt from the grass so that the dog's paws and his sneakers were quiet wet before they'd even walked fifty yards.
They'd only just started coming here earlier that week. There were two baseball fields, a boat landing, a small playground and a few picnic tables. There was also a dirt road that ran along the left side of one of the ball fields off into the woods. They'd walked up there last time about a quarter mile until they'd reached the place were the road narrowed and grew over into a forest path as it curved off to the right. Straight ahead was a gate and on the other side of that a housing development.
The dog, Bailey, was an Australian Shepherd and, due to hundreds of years of breeding, loved to run fast and hard through the open ball fields. Jamie had read somewhere that even the Australian Shepherd that had never seen a sheep or cow would try to herd whatever seemed to need herding. This had been proven just yesterday when they'd been at the park and there were two small boys with their mother. Bailey had run happily up to them and, after giving them a good sniff, had run little circle round them. As the boys ran out onto the ball field, Bailey, true to his breed, ran full speed towards them, passing them close on one side and quickly circling back to nip at their heels and nudge their bottoms with his nose, prodding them in the direction of their mother, just as if they were sheep heading back to the pen.
Today, they had just gotten out of the car at the park. Bailey ran off to find a quiet spot do his thing. Jamie looked out across the park. The morning sun sparkled off the river like diamonds in a glass case. He smiled.
Just then, he heard a car coming down the dirt road. “Oh great!”, he thought, He was hoping they would have had the park to themselves. He watched it drive by. It was a cream colored SUV. A woman was driving it. Probably a mother bringing the kids to the playground. Since it was Monday morning they were probably small kids, which meat that Bailey would have to go on the leash, at least until they could walk far enough off. Bailey was great with kids, but little kids get scared easily and parents get nervous. “Damn!” he quietly swore.
Instead of stopping or slowing, though, she kept driving. He watched her as she drove by. She had shoulder length blonde hair, was in her mid to late thirties and was dressed professionally. She drove past the ball field and down the dirt road into the woods. He thought that was strange since there wasn't anything down that way or a way out of there. He expected to see her heading back in a moment once she got to the end and realized there was no where to go.
Bailey was done with his business and they headed out across the field. Jamie headed towards the river. They'd never been down there before and he was curious. As they approached the river bank, he could see a boat landing. There was a sign there forbidding swimming or driving vehicles in the area of the riverbank, except to pickup or drop off boats at the landing.
Bailey splashed into the water, dipping his nose in and snorting out cold water. He pranced and splashed for a moment and them came out and headed up the riverbank to the left. Jamie looked back where his van was parked. The woman hadn't come back out yet, he would have heard the wheels on the gravel of the parking area if she had. Curious. There was that housing development. Maybe she lived there and had a key to the gate?
He followed Bailey along the riverbank. There was a trail there and he could see that it seemed to curve around to the left through the woods behind the ball parks. Bailey was sprinting ahead, where he stopped some 50 feet away and look back at Jamie. “Stop Bailey. Stay.” He didn't want him to get too far ahead. Jamie caught up to Bailey, who looked at him with his head cocked to the side in a quizzical, questioning way. “Go on.” he said to the dog, who happily sprinted out in front again.
As they walked, the trail continued to curve to the left. He could catch glimpses of rooftops through the trees and was sure that they were coming around near the housing development and that the trail would soon meet up with the dirt road.
The trail started to curve sharply and he called Bailey back to him so as not to lose sight of him. As they came around the curve, he was startled to see two vehicles sitting on the path in front of him. One was a cream colored sedan and parked directly next to it was the SUV he'd seen earlier. The Sedan was empty. He looked in the front windshield of the SUV and saw that it, too, was empty. Or so he briefly thought.
He had barely had time to wonder where the occupants might be before he noticed movement in the back seat of the SUV. The side windows were tinted, but through the windshield he could see someone with what seemed to be a beige shirt or jacket moving. The form was too large for the woman he'd seen earlier. It was definitely a man. Whoever it was, he had his back to him and he didn't notice him Jamie as he passed. Jamie briefly considered stopping and finding a better vantage point to look in from, but quickly decided to move on past. It was obvious what was going on and if he knew that if it was him, he'd appreciate the privacy.
As he walked away, he was both amused and disgusted. Amused that two grown people would chose to park in the woods and have sex in a car, especially in broad daylight and so close to a housing complex. Disgusted because it could only be an illicit affair. He was faithful to his wife and despised people who cheated on others. It wasn't his place to judge, of course, and there were always extenuating circumstances in every situation. Still, this particular situation reeked of deceit and base motives.
They were on the dirt road and had almost made a complete circuit of the park. He could see the ball fields coming up on the left and his van in the distance. Bailey ran ahead again and as Jamie walked, he thought of what kind of people were back in that SUV. What kind of person could deceive someone they supposedly love in that way? This wasn't a chance encounter. Not a slip up after a drunken party. Not someone lonely and away from home. Of course, even in these situations, cheating would still be wrong, but we are all only human, he thought, and things happen. He considered himself lucky that he'd never found himself in any of these situations and so had never really be tested. He had always hoped that if he was, he'd prove to be as faithful as he always tried be. No, this was premeditated, well-planned infidelity. No matter what the circumstances in their personal lives, this required cool, considered thought. It was wrong, indefensible and it made him want to spit to get the bad taste it left out of his mouth.
They had just reached the far end of the ball field when he heard the sound of tires on gravel behind him. He turned to see the sedan approaching from behind. The man who drove it was dressed in an expensive suit. His coat was off, but the tie and suspenders testified to the quality of the suit. The man himself was balding, with a strong, handsome face which reminded Jamie of Robert Duvall. He totally ignored Jamie and the dog as he drove past.
Jamie took his time getting to the van. He was curious to get another look at the woman. As he approached the van, he was surprised to notice the sedan parked near the entrance to the park. He thought that he must have stopped to have a conversation as he was talking on a cell phone. It took them about 3 minutes to get to the van. Once Bailey and he were inside, he waited for a minute or two. No sign of the SUV. He pulled out slowly and turned the van around. As he slowly headed for the main road, he saw the SUV coming up in the rear view mirror. He stopped and let it pass. The woman also ignored him and was also talking on a cell phone. He watch her turn right up the driveway and was surprised as the sedan quickly followed behind her. He pulled out and followed them. They were moving pretty fast, considering the speed bumps they had to negotiate. After turning onto the access road he could see them far ahead. He made it to the main intersection just in time to see both of them take a right onto the main road. His house was to the left. He briefly considered following them to see where they were going, but it really wasn't any business of his, so he turned left and headed home. He couldn't wait to tell his wife. He was sure she'd get a kick out of the story. She worked at a hotel and so always had interesting stories about the people she met and the situations they got into. He was pleased that he finally had something interesting to share.
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“That was awesome!”, she said as she drove across the train tracks and headed for the main road. She glanced in the rear view mirror and thought she could see him smile.
“Yeah, it was pretty good!”, he answered in his understated way. Even though he could only see the back of her head as he followed her, he could tell from the tone of her voice that she was smiling.
She turned right onto the main road with him right behind her.
“Want to stop and get some breakfast?”, she asked him.
“I think it's better that we aren't seen together.”, he said.
“Oh come, Greg! It's just two co-workers having breakfast together!”
“I know. I know.”, he said, sympathetically, “but it's just safer this way.”
She sighed. She realized that he was right. Better to keep things as they are. “Ok. Well, I'll meet you at the office then.”
“Ok. I've got meetings all morning and then I'm off to the airport so I won't see you until next week.”
