28 

The next morning, Jean sat quietly at the dinette table staring at nothing in the backyard. Tom had just left for work without saying a word. He had only gone out for about forty-five minutes last night, but when he came back, he refused to talk to her. They went through their normal get-ready-for-bed routines, minus any conversation.

Somehow, Tom had no problem falling asleep, and she nearly hated him for it. She’d tossed and turned for over an hour and was tempted to take a sleeping pill or a Benadryl but dared not because of the baby. She hadn’t been to the doctor yet, but she was certain she was pregnant. That knowledge only increased her anxiety about the difficulties they were having.

It just made no sense. The way Tom was acting. Not just the past few weeks but the past few months. None of it made any sense.

That was what she was thinking about as she sat there sipping cold coffee, staring at nothing in the backyard. Fortunately, Tommy and Carly were sleeping in, which almost never happened. A small mercy from God.

A single terrifying thought had tried to enter her mind last night, but she refused to let it fully form. If she had, she would have never gotten to sleep at all. That same thought had been crouching at the door of her consciousness all morning, waiting to be invited in. Weakened by the lack of sleep and worn down by her conflicting emotions, she could no longer resist its presence.

This phantom thought was the only thing that might explain Tom’s bizarre behavior. But it couldn’t be true, could it? Not Tom. He would never do something like that, would he? Not to her, not to them. They had talked about this early on during their first year of marriage. She didn’t even remember how the subject came up or who talked about it first. But somehow they began discussing how they would react if either one of them were unfaithful to the other.

Although they were both Christians and both believed in God’s forgiveness, they felt that if one of them ever betrayed their marriage bed, it would end the relationship for good. They would take that scriptural option that allowed divorce due to unfaithfulness.

Tom had felt just as strongly about this as she did. Partly because Jean wasn’t his first love. That honor fell to a girl he’d dated in high school and felt sure he would marry. But she had cheated on him and actually got pregnant by another guy. It crushed his heart. He didn’t pull out of his depression until they had met a year later, as freshmen in college.

When they had talked about this, Tom was emphatic. She could still remember the look on his face and the edge in his voice when he’d said it: “Jean, I love you more than I ever loved her. And your love has completely healed my heart. But I’m serious, don’t ever think about cheating on me, no matter how hard it gets between us. I’ve got to know you won’t ever go there. Promise me. I couldn’t take it if you did.”

He went on to say he would never do that to her, no matter what. Then he said, no he’d begged her, if she ever felt tempted to cheat on him because of anything he had done, or any way he was treating her, would she please talk to someone about it and tell them what she was feeling, rather than turn to some other guy. She could even talk to his mom if she wanted.

She knew then just how serious he was, because if there was anything Tom dreaded in life, it was the thought of displeasing his parents. He was almost obsessive about it.

She took a final sip of her cold coffee, trying to find some comfort in this bizarre memory. Oddly, it had given her strong assurance from that moment until now, that no matter what, she could count on Tom remaining faithful.

No matter what.

But sitting here now, her feelings and emotions colliding inside, she couldn’t help but wonder if the thing she had dreaded most had actually happened. That Tom’s heart had left her for another. What else could explain the way he had been acting lately?

And now, these “overtime hours.” Tom had never worked evenings before. He had announced it as something that would be going on “for a few months.” If that was so, then they should have plenty of money. Instead, Tom was acting like a maniac, fretting over every penny.

Why else would he be worried about money now with all this overtime, unless he was spending it on some other woman?

About two hours had gone by since Henry Anderson had his quiet time. The thing that had been bothering him all evening yesterday, and had kept popping up during a restless night of sleep, became the preoccupying theme in his morning devotions. He was pretty sure he knew why.

God wasn’t okay with him helping his great-nephew Tom hide what he’d been doing these past five months. Henry didn’t believe in covering up things. Never did. In his almost seven decades of life, nothing good had ever come of that. And he was certain God had not orchestrated things to get him to intersect with Tom at the Java Stop just so he could be a co-conspirator in Tom’s scheme.

As he walked into the kitchen to speak with Myra, he was greeted by the wonderful smell of fresh baking bread. “Now there’s a smell you can never get too much of.” He came up behind her and gave her a peck on the cheek. “So glad you bought that bread machine.”

“That coffee’s still pretty fresh,” she said, “if you want to pour a cup. Of course, it’s decaf, so it won’t give you that kick if you’re needing a good kick about now.”

“Decaf is fine. I’m kicking pretty good, don’t think I need any more help. Can I talk to you a minute?”

She turned around to face him. “What’s on your mind? I could tell last night something was bugging you. Have a pretty good idea what it is.”

“It’s this thing with Tom and Jean,” he said.

“Yep, that was it. I didn’t think you’d be able to sit on that very long.”

“I can’t believe I agreed to do it in the first place. I was just so shocked and so unprepared for what he said.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. It would have shocked me too.” She leaned up against the counter. “I wonder how he’s going to react to the news that Jean’s pregnant.”

“My guess is, pretty badly. But I don’t think it’ll be near as bad as Jean’s reaction to Tom’s news.” He sat on a dinette chair nearby. “The whole thing’s just horrible.”

“Oh what a web we weave . . .” she said. “So what are you going to do?”

“I told him I wouldn’t say anything to anyone else but you without talking to him first. So I’ve got to abide by my word.” He stood up to fix that cup of decaf.

“So you’re going to drive back over there?”

“Don’t see as I have a choice. Figured I’d find out what time he got off work today and be there to meet him when he came out.”

“What if he has to close?”

“Then I’ll just have to go there in the dark. But I don’t think calling him first is a good idea. Then he’d have all day just to stew on it. Get himself all worked up before I get there.”

“So how will you know when he gets off work?” she said.

“Thought I’d just call over there and hope one of the other employees answers. If they do, I’ll just ask them what time the assistant manager is working till tonight. If they ask why, I’ll just say I need to talk to him.” He stirred the creamer into his coffee.

“And what will you do if Tom answers the phone?”

Henry didn’t know what he’d do then. Right now, he thought hanging up sounded like a pretty good idea. But he doubted God or Myra would agree with that. “I’m just gonna pray that doesn’t happen.”