The day of the funeral was a damp and dreary one. Samantha, my three kids and their spouses all stood there to one side of the coffin as the preacher droned on and on. This guy had never taken the time to get to know us, even though we had been members of his 'flock' for years, and now he was expounding on Becky's virtues and how she was going to heaven like he had known us forever. It sort of made me sick inside.
I had things on my mind this day too. Becky's lawyer had contacted me immediately after her passing to tell me a very eye-opening story. Deep inside I knew that Becky had meant well, but for her to have bought a hooker for her replacement as my wife was a bit much for me to handle. I hated her lawyer for having spilled the beans too.
He had called me up and made arrangements for the meeting then once there, he had talked on and on about Samantha and how she was an escort service girl...a pro, hired by Becky with a life insurance nest egg she had. How Becky had been able to hide that policy from me had me wondering just how much I did know about my late wife.
The kids had been there for me, and they all seemed to love Samantha...although I had to wonder too what they would think if they knew the whole story about her. I stood there holding the umbrella over Samantha and I still being the ever faithful and loving man. I was in a turmoil now, and I didn't know quite what to do.
In my mind I started to run over all the facts, as I knew them. The most obvious first fact was that Becky, my loving wife, had in fact paid a woman to pretend to love me...in order that I'd not be alone after this day.
The second fact was that Becky had paid this woman just over a million dollars to do so...with a contract that spelled out all the details in finite form.
The third fact was that Samantha was either a very great actress or she really did have some feelings for me. After all, she was still standing beside me when her part of the deal had been lived up to...almost. The money was to be paid out in four parts, the first quarter the day after tomorrow. Then for the rest of the next year from today she'd get another quarter until all four were paid out.
The last fact I had was the hardest for me to deal and cope with. This fact was the breaker for everything. Samantha had become so much a part of my life and of my kid's lives now; she fit in with us all. Not only that...I had fallen in love with her. Me...a faithful husband, loving only one woman in all these years, had fallen for another woman as my wife died. A woman that was or at least had been, a professional...escort.
After the service we all went to the house and tons of people came by paying their last respects. I was in the process of getting rather well oiled; drinking scotch like it was water. My oldest son was keeping an eye on me, and once in an while he'd slip up beside Samantha and they would both eye me over quite seriously.
I was getting on my lips drunk now and the drunker I got, the more everyone around me would come by and tell me they were headed out...and to take care. It was obvious that they wanted to be far away from me now, since I was more than likely going to have a come apart. I was stressing out, and had nobody I could trust to talk to anymore.
Everyone but the kids and Samantha were gone as I stumbled into the back yard to sit on the swing I had built for Becky so long ago. I hurt deep inside and couldn't get around how unfair life had turned out for Becky and me. Totally unfair. Sitting there I realized that I had no suicidal tendencies. I was questioning that when someone slipped in beside me in the swing.
"Hey there. You okay?"
"Hi Samantha. Just thinking...that's all. Did I ever tell you that I built this swing for Becky about fifteen years ago? I did. My own two hands. The whole thing."
"Becky told me about it. How you had started it and then had to change it several times because she was changing her mind all the time on what she wanted. She made it a very funny story."
"Becky told you that? This swing was the cause of our worst argument...for a long time. I had gotten angry when she kept changing her mind and almost lit into her hard...but just as I was about to I overheard her telling our daughter, who was three at the time, that daddy was the bestest husband in the whole world because he put up with mommies nonsense on this swing. After that, what could I do but keep on making the changes for her until she was satisfied?"
"You are a good man John. Becky really caught a good one when she caught you."
"Well, I was luckier. Becky was the catch of a lifetime. One could not ask for a better or more loving wife than she was."
I stopped talking, thinking about how Samantha had come to being here, and then having to ask myself if Becky could still fit that all encompassing bill I had just paraded out there. I suppose that in her own way, doing what she had done and how she had done it, was only the best she could do under the circumstances.
Now though, I had the problem of figuring out if Samantha and I could be a couple...or if I even wanted to be. Our whole relationship had been started with lies and deceit. Samantha wasn't who she really said she was...well, what she had been, to be fair. Maybe she had changed. Maybe, at the end of things, her and Becky had become true best friends.
"Penny for your thoughts."
"I was just wondering when you were going to take off. I mean, Becky's gone now...your part in her deal is all over with, so you're free to fly away."
Samantha froze up and just stared at me. Then a tear started in one eye, and soon both eyes were running streams of tears.
"You know then."
A statement. Not a question. She had heard me and accepted it as fact that I knew all about the 'deal'.
"Yeah. Becky's lawyer called me the day after her death. He had quite a tale to talk about and he felt I needed to know about all that money that Becky foolishly threw into the hands of a hooker."
"I was never a hooker John. I was an escort. There is a difference...even though you may not think so. At first I was in it for the money...but after a while...I was in it for Becky. She was a special lady and I was lucky to have been able to call her a friend."
"So...I know this will sound selfish and all, but where exactly does that leave me?"
"Oh. I think I see now. You think that all that's happened up to now has been me just playing some kind of part then?"
"Yeah...you see, I have a million or so reasons to think that. That's what Becky paid you isn't it? A million dollars...to have me fall in love with you and keep me from dying off?"
"At first...but not now."
"Oh? What's changed then?"
