It was Sunday evening, and Lynn was at the stove, removing heat from the boiling potatoes and green beans. Darryl's flight had landed, and he was expected soon. She found herself singing away while she readied their meal until she heard the front door open. Lynn left the pot of drained potatoes in the sink so she could greet her husband.
"Hi, baby," said Lynn in a confident stride, with arms outstretched. Darryl was a bit surprised at Lynn's welcome, as he knew that his away time is normally time for Lynn to stew about not having sex.
"Hi, Hun. How was your weekend?" Darryl asked in an upbeat tone, hoping to keep things positive.
"It was great. Jen and I did a few things together." She bit her lip so as not to betray her fond recollection of a sexually charged weekend.
"Oh... good." Darryl was just happy that he wasn't coming home to yet another fight about sex, or lack thereof.
Lynn put his carry-on down and led him toward the kitchen. "I've got dinner ready. Just mashing the potatoes." As they entered the kitchen, the table was set, and Lynn carried on with meal prep. "Just sit. So how was your conference?"
Darryl sat down at the table and replied in an excited tone, "Great, actually. We've picked some new clients, and now I'm thinking I may have to make Murray Wallace a partner. Business is getting crazy!" He held his breath, waiting for the happy dam to burst and for Lynn to remind him of his neglect at home.
Lynn set the dishes down, handing him a plate of steaming roast beef. "I'm really glad to hear that, Darryl," said Lynn, with a gentle pat on his shoulder. Lynn busied herself with filling her own plate, while Darryl wondered at his wife's gleeful manner. As he stared at Lynn for non-verbal clues, his stomach grew tense. Was Lynn this happy because she took his advice and found a lover? He already had concerns anout her faithfulness while he was away but he was far to busy to have been worried.
Dinner was filled with small talk, an oddity in their recent relationship. But nothing gave Darryl any negative vibes from Lynn. After supper, Lynn poured two teas and asked if Darryl would like to sit outside on the patio. Again, this was something they never found time for since Darryl began the law firm, and he had to fear that once he sat on the patio, this unusual welcome might fall apart.
"So, what did you get up to while I was away?" asked Darryl innocently, making sure not to sound too curious.
"Well, Jen invited me over for a girls' night in their hot tub. Adam had a poker game, so we had the evening to ourselves. We got really drunk." Darryl caught Lynn's smile as she recalled the event. "We did some shopping, and Adam served barbecue for dinner on Saturday."
Everything sounded pretty mundane, much to Darryl's relief. As Lynn took his empty cup from him, Darryl said, "I think I'll take a walk up to Adam's and catch up a bit. Is that okay, Lynn?"
"Sure. Do what you like," Lynn offered. She disappeared into the house, and Darryl walked down the driveway and over to Jen and Adam's, and Adam happened to be putting the lawnmower back into the garage.
"How's it going?"
Adam turned with a surprised smile at Darryl's presence. "Great! How was your trip?" He hit the button for the garage door to close, and he met Darryl halfway up the driveway. Adam felt a bit of heat in his face, and a pit in his stomach, in fear that he might give away signs of his involvement with Lynn.
"Oh, you know, boring stuff. I'm just working hard to put food on the table."
"Yeah, I get it. Nobody likes those long flights and days of convention speeches."
Darryl was a bit surprised at Adam's statement, because Darryl looks forward to those conferences so he can make his business thrive. But he let the comment slide. Adam is too laid back to understand Darryl's drive to succeed, he thought. "Hey," Darryl asked, "can we take a walk?"
"Sure. Up toward the park?"
"Yeah, great." Darryl relaxed at the thought of being able to talk without being interrupted. He turned in that direction, and the two men walked quietly before Adam broke the silence.
"You okay?" Adam's look of concern was met with no eye contact. Something was heavy on Darryl's mind.
"Yeah, I guess." Darryl was measuring how much information to give Adam. Like, how many guys would tell their wives to go out and have sex with another man? Adam might think Darryl was crazy if he admitted to having said that. "It's just that, uh, Lynn and I had a bit of a blow up last week, and I, uh, wondered how she has been while I was away."
"Oh, Lynn seems fine. She and Jen had a girls night on Friday. I played cards at Kevin's, and they both had way too much to drink. So, Lynn seemed fine to me anyway." Adam was pleased that he could answer Darryl in such a way as to leave out the things that Darryl did not want to hear about, through Darryl's 'don't ask, don't tell' plan.
"Thanks, Adam. I feel better."
Adam decided to add a layer of deflection. "Darryl," he offered solemnly, "you aren't, uh, you know... involved with anyone, are you?"
"No. No way. Not at all, Adam." He chuckled at the thought.ย "I don't have time for that."
"That's good. If you want, I can talk to Jen and have her get a feel for Lynn, if that makes you feel better." It wasn't a planned double entendre; it just came out that way.
"Thanks, buddy. I'm glad you have my back." The two men walked back from the park and separated at Adam's house.
When Adam came into our living room, I was watching a game show. "Where did you get to?" I inquired. "I heard the lawnmower stop a while ago."
"Adam replied, "Darryl stopped by."
I muted the TV and asked, "Is everything okay?"
Adam told me about Darryl's concerns.