Page 74 of Seasoned
“Mongolian beef for me.” Hector closed his menu.
Should she say something about the woman? The decision was taken out of her hands when the woman and her date came over to the table.
“Hello, Hector, how are you?”
Adelaide kept her eyes trained on Hector, watching his reaction.
He didn’t react much, except for a quick frown. “Hi Rita, how are you?”
“I’m doing fine, thanks. This is my brother, Bert.”
“Nice to meet you,” Bert said.
Hector stood and shook the other man’s hand. “Hector. Nice to meet you. This is my…this is Adelaide.”
“Adelaide?” Rita said her name in surprise. “The ex-wife?”
Interesting. He’d talked about her with this woman.
“Yes,” Hector said shortly.
“Nice to meet you.” Rita extended her hand.
Adelaide stood and shook hands with Rita. “Nice to meet you, too.”
“Are the two of you back together?” Rita’s voice sounded normal enough, but the smile on her face looked unnatural and stilted.
“I think we better go,” Bert interjected, cheeks turning red.
Rita laughed self-consciously. “I’m sorry. I’ll see you later, Hector. The two of you have a nice meal. The food here is delicious. Good night.” Once more Rita glanced at Adelaide before they both disappeared.
Hector and Adelaide sat down and Adelaide sipped her water. She avoided Hector’s eyes but could feel him looking across the table at her.
“Do you want to ask me anything?”
She could say No and ignore the weight of suspicion in her gut, but she couldn’t.
She looked across the table at Hector, suddenly having difficulty with the idea that he was her ex-husband and not her husband.
“Have you slept with anyone since our divorce?” The question came out softer than she expected because she was afraid he’d give the answer she expected.
He answered gently, his eyes never leaving her face. “Once. Right after we divorced.”
She let him take her hand while her heart broke a little. She didn’t want to think of him making love to another woman.
“With Rita?” she asked dully.
“Yes. She’s my next-door neighbor and I shouldn’t have done it. I wasn’t ready and it felt unnatural, like I was cheating on you.”
“Why did you sleep with her in the first place?” Adelaide asked.
“I don’t know…loneliness? I was at a low point, and she was kind and friendly. I regretted it afterward.” Hector rubbed his thumb over her fingers. “No one in the world can replace you, Addie. I’m right where I want to be, with the woman I should have never left. I should have said no when you asked for a divorce. I hate like hell I gave up when I should have fought for us.”
His sentiment went both ways. Maybe she gave up too easily. True enough their marriage hadn’t felt happy for a few years, but what was a few years’ rough patch in light of two decades of love, laughter, and happy times?
“Do you want to know about me?” she asked.
“No,” Hector answered swiftly, his hand tightening over hers. The lines in his face became sharper.
