Page 42 of His Loving Wife

I know fertility issues can weigh heavy on a couple. It’s practically what tore apart Dana and her husband. They spent years trying to get pregnant. Eventually, she did, but their marriage was close to over by the time the girls arrived. It’s like they lost sense of what they really wanted along the way.

“I didn’t leave him because of that, though,” Angie continued. “I want to be clear about that. I was willing to explore other options. I would have been fine not having children if that’s what he wanted. But it’s like that one setback started leading to everything else.”

“In what way?”

“He became obsessed with little things. What people at work were up to. What our neighbors were doing. Then he turned that obsession on me. He was never violent, but he was self-destructive. He’d threaten to hurt himself all the time. I tried getting him help. He found a counselor and got on medication, but then he’d stop taking his pills. That was worse than before he even started. I reached a point I just couldn’t take it anymore. His condition was taking a toll on me too. The person I fell in love with, the person I kept fighting for, just didn’t exist anymore.”

“I’m guessing he didn’t handle the divorce well.”

“Let’s just say his behavior escalated once he moved out. Got worse when I started dating. He almost turned me off the idea of relationships altogether, but then I met Gavin.” She twirled the wedding band on her finger. “He was willing to start a life with me, even if it meant putting up with my crazy ex.”

“I’m happy you found someone who understands.” Kate’s eyes fell on Angie’s stomach again. “You know, some of what you’ve saidhasmade sense of things. At least, it might explain why he renewed his obsession with me.”

Angie sat there waiting. It was Kate’s turn to talk.

“When I first saw Paul again, he brought up my daughter. Willow. He had this crazy idea that… maybe she was his.”

Angie’s eyes widened. “He never mentioned that to me. But again, by the time he moved on to you, I was old news.”

“It’s ridiculous. We broke up months before I conceived. But now that I know what he’d gone through with you… it seems connected, doesn’t it?”

“It’s hard to make sense of what Paul’s thinking. I almost drove myself crazy trying.” She took a sip of her coffee, pointing at Kate. “Almost.”

As Kate drove home, she felt better. She couldn’t understand Paul, but she could at least understand his motives. That seemed useful.

When she arrived home, Andrew’s car was parked outside. Kate guessed he wasn’t working, or if he was, at least he was doing it remotely. She hoped he wasn’t drinking. On more than one occasion, she’d found empty vodka bottles in the trash can, crunched beer cans in the trunk of his car. Each discovery left her feeling helpless, aware there was little she could do to stop her husband from destroying himself.

Kate walked upstairs. She marched into the bedroom, caught off guard to find Andrew there waiting. He was sitting on the bed.

“I’m heading to the gym,” she said, barely looking at him. She was irritated because he was sitting on her stack of clothes, already slowing down her process. “Can you move?”

She looked up then as he stood, got a good look at his face. He’d been crying.

“Andrew? What’s wrong?”

“We need to talk.”

The one thing they needed to do but he had created every barrier possible from doing. “Talk about what? The kids—”

“The kids are fine.”

“Then what is it?”

“I want to talk about us. All of it.”

Was it wrong that Kate was irritated? After months of begging her husband to be open with her, he’d finally done it, and it annoyed her. It disrupted the life she was used to living without him by her side. But then again, it wasn’t like Andrew to wait on her. It wasn’t like him to cry. Maybe after months of holding back his emotions, the dam had finally broken.

“Okay. Let’s talk.”

“Ever since I found out the person who broke into our house was Paul Gunter… I don’t know. I just lost it. In some ways, it seemed easier when it was some stranger, a random criminal. To know he was someone we knew, that he was someone you… had been with. It bothered me.”

“It bothered me, too. You can’t imagine the guilt I’ve carried. I did nothing to bring on this attention, but I can’t help blaming myself.”

“And then you told me you had seen him recently. That he’d been trying to contact you, but you kept it a secret.”

Kate wanted to interject, but Andrew wasn’t listening to anything she said. He was busy spewing everything he was feeling, getting it out of him before he lost the courage to do so.

“It made me wonder what else you were keeping secret from me,” he admitted.

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