Libby refused to go back into the house after Jeremy aired the one thing she’d tried to get him not to say. Jeremy considered his options then asked me to go for a ride with him in his truck. Fifteen minutes later, we were driving around, only he wasn’t talking, which grated on me until the silence I usually craved was something I couldn’t endure anymore. “What’s going on with Josh and Libby?”
“I’m sorry, Callie. Part of me is sitting here thinking it wasn’t right to spring that on you back there. It’s obvious he never said anything to you. I’d been wondering if he had.
“You brought it us, so you may as well finish.”
“Just because of what I’m going through doesn’t mean I have the right to get involved with what’s happening on your end. I’m sorry.”
I didn’t want his sorry.
I wanted the truth.
“We’ve been going through a rough patch, too, and I don’t know why. He just pulled away from me, stopped sleeping in our bed, stopped talking to me about things. And then yesterday he packed a bag, told me he was leaving, and he went to stay at his friend’s house. So, if there’s something I need to know about Josh, I need you to tell me, because he hasn’t explained anything, and I don’t know if he ever will.”
He pulled to the side of the road, put the truck in park, and turned toward me. “Couple weeks ago, I came home from work a little early, about twenty minutes before I usually do. Josh’s truck was still there, which wasn’t surprising. Sometimes he’s still there when I get home. I went in, walked around, trying to find where he was working. He was in the master bathroom with Libby. I could hear them talking.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t think it matters. They didn’t hear me come in. I poked my head in the door and saw my wife’s arms wrapped around your husband’s neck. They were kissing.”
I’d braced myself for what he might say, but I still wasn’t prepared to hear it. “Oh,” was all I could think to say.
“My wife looked over, saw me standing there, and acted like she didn’t care. She smiled. She seemed pleased that I’d caught them together. I’m not kidding. There wasn’t an ounce of remorse on the woman’s face.”
“What about Josh? What did he do when you caught them?”
“Josh was the complete opposite. He pushed Libby away and tried to explain. I wasn’t listening though. I was so caught up in what I saw, even though his lips were moving, I didn’t hear a thing.”
“What happened?”
“I told him to leave, and he did. When I confronted my wife, she said she had feelings for Josh. She said he returned her feelings. She planned on leaving me for him and said she just hadn’t decided how to tell me yet. I think she was relieved when she got caught.”
My stomach churned, twisting like a tightened knot at the end of a noose. I was shocked. Paralyzed. Not even sure I was still breathing. All function in my body ceased.
Jeremy touched my arm. “Are you all right?”
“I don’t know. I feel like ... I feel like I’m going to be sick.”
I opened the door and vomited all over the side of the road. In an instant, Jeremy had hopped out and rushed to my side, wrapping a hand around my disheveled, blond hair. “I’m sorry, Callie.”
“Don’t be. I’m glad you told me. I mean, it’s not what I wanted to hear, but I needed to know. I’m just confused. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
One more vomit session later, I was back in the truck and we were on our way again, driving much slower than the speed limit allowed, which I assumed was to reduce the chances of me throwing up inside his truck. Every so often he’d look over, ask if I was okay and if I needed anything. He even stopped at a gas station and bought me a drink to soothe my stomach. But nothing in the world could soothe me. I was broken, my life shattered into a million pieces.