My brother-in-law had always had a creepily close relationship to my wife, Katie. Now, suddenly, he had come for a visit and she had been acting strangely, as if she were attracted to him and sick of me. It had all happened pretty fast.
Now, the day after his arrival, a moving van had appeared in front of my house with his clothes, furniture, and God knows what else. I confronted him in the kitchen as the men began to bring in boxes and place them in the hallway.
"What the hell is this, Philip?"
My tone made an impact. A minute ago he had been standing there with his bathrobe hanging open, exposing himself to me. Now he pulled the ends of his robe together and smiled apologetically.
"I thought you knew, Dan. She sent me an urgent e-mail. Asked me to drop everything and stay here a while. She said she's depressed and needs me. Oh, man, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. But... well, you know how Katie can be." He grinned.
"Yeah -- well, she's pretty impulsive. She should have talked to me." What was happening? I had forgotten how charming he could be. "You know, we need our privacy."
He took a step or two towards me. "Oh, man. I am so embarrassed. Look, do you mind if I just stay a day or two more? Hey, it's not like I have time to come every time she calls. I just -- I thought she was freaking out or something."
"Well, I understand." We shook hands. "It's really her fault. But, if you don't mind, this just isn't a good time for us to have company."
"Oh" -- he put both hands up. His robe fell open again but he was too close for me to see anything. Not that I wanted to look. "Understood. Completely understood."
He was on his way back to his room when I got that extra bit of courage. "Hey, Philip. Do you mind if I ask you a real personal question?"
"Oh, no," he said. "Not a bit."
"What were you and Katie doing alone in your room yesterday? Just after you arrived?"
He laughed. "Oh, man, she just unloaded on me. All about how afraid she is of getting older, how she's getting wrinkles around her eyes. And all the time I'm thinking -- THIS is the emergency? I canceled a sales call for this."
I just smiled and nodded and his door closed behind him. As I tipped the moving guys, I steeled myself for a talk with my wife. She had always been unpredictable, high-maintenance, happy one moment and depressed the next, but I had reached my limit with her. If telling me that she was having sex with her brother and then mocking my anatomy was her idea of a joke, I wasn't amused. Not at all.
As usual, Katie slept in, so I had to wait, sitting on one of the high stools in our eat-in-kitchen, till she woke up. Philip stayed in his room, probably sensing that Katie and I needed space to talk. I realized one thing as I waited. I had enjoyed talking to him; Philip was the one person in the world who knew how difficult my wife could be. He had always had to deal with her: her erratic behavior, neediness, sudden fits of anger, her occasional cruelty. For the first time, I liked him.
When Katie emerged from her room, saw the pile of Philip's stuff -- boxes and furniture -- in the foyer and saw my face, she almost turned around and walked back.
"Wait a minute," I said.
She sighed and sat down on the bench next to mine.
"Did you ask your brother to move in to our home?"
"Yes."