Two

“Sort of true?” Mindy quickly released his hands and rocked back on her heels, wanting to distance herself from him as much as possible. “Some of it is sort of true, Chuck? Exactly what does that mean?”

“Don’t get upset until you hear me out.”

Mindy stood quickly to her feet and jutted out her chin. “I’m beginning to think I’ve heard too much already. How could you do this to us, Chuck? To our family? You’re not even old enough to be having a midlife crisis!”

Chuck grabbed her forearm and held on fast. “I did take her to dinner once, but that was right here in town, and only because I felt sorry for her.”

“You never told me about it!” she screamed back at him, feeling betrayed.

He released his hold and threw his hands up in the air. “Because I knew you’d react just like you’re doing right now!”

Mindy stomped her foot. “And you wouldn’t behave the same way if I told you I’d been out playing footsie with some guy?”

“We weren’t playing footsie!”

Mindy leaned toward him, her hands on her hips. “Then what were you doing, Chuck? Tell me that!”

He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “A couple of months ago when you drove to Bristol to visit that friend of yours—”

“While the cat’s away, the mice will play, huh?” She was sorry she said it the minute it slipped out.

Chuck spun around and headed toward the kitchen, leaving her standing there, feeling terrible.

Swallowing her pride, she followed him. After pouring them each a cup of the coffee she had put on to brew just before he got home, she handed his cup to him, adding a quiet “I’m sorry. That remark was uncalled for.”

He took the cup and seated himself on a stool at the breakfast bar. “It was raining when I drove out of the parking garage, and there was Michelle, standing at the bus stop looking as if she’d lost her best friend. I stopped and asked her what was wrong. She said she’d missed her bus, and another one wouldn’t be along for another forty-five minutes. I hated to drive off and leave her there, so I offered to take her home. I guess I mentioned it wouldn’t make any difference if I got home later than usual, because you were out of town and my daughter was staying overnight at a friend’s house and I’d be fixing supper for myself.”

“And she came up with this brilliant idea to fix supper for you in her apartment!” Mindy harangued sarcastically, tilting her head at a haughty angle.

Chuck looked as though he would like to choke her. “No, Miss Know-It-All, it wasn’t anything like that. She simply offered to buy my supper at a little diner not far from her place.”

“And being the gentleman, you took her up on it, right?”

He nodded, the incensed expression never leaving his face. “I couldn’t see any harm in it—at the time. Now I know better.”

“It must have been cozy. Sounds like something from an old movie. The rain. The diner. The gallant hero who rescues the damsel in jeopardy.” Mindy knew her voice had a denigrating tone, but she didn’t care. The whole thing upset her, and he needed to know it.

Chuck slammed his cup down, knocking the carton of coffee cream over, splattering it across the countertop. “Think what you like, Mindy. I’m only going to say this one more time. I don’t care what that woman says. There was never anything between us.”

“You have told me the whole story, haven’t you, Chuck?”

He slid off the stool, his dark eyes menacing. “Why should I tell you? You’ve already tried and convicted me. I can see it in your eyes.”

“So?” She turned away and tossed a couple of paper napkins onto the stream of cream that was slowly making its way across the counter. “I think you’d better move into the guest room until this thing is settled. I—I can’t imagine sharing a bed with a man—” She stopped midsentence.

“A man you don’t trust? Is that it, Mindy? Our years together don’t mean anything to you? You’re willing to cast me aside, just because a stranger tells a lie about me?”

“A lie? How do I know it’s a lie? I’d like to believe you, Chuck—you know I would—but you just told me there was more to the story! I’m afraid to think how much more! I’m only asking you to move into the guest room until this thing is cleared up.”

Chuck moved toward the door, his shoulders drooping, and leaned against the doorframe. “I—I guess, if I was honest, I’d admit I’d feel exactly the way you do. I was pretty shaken when Jake told me what she’d said. I knew it wasn’t true, but how could I expect you to react any differently when you have only my word for it?” He fingered the slight growth of stubble on his chin, as if debating what to say next. “I’m sorry for blowing up at you, Mindy. I guess, under the circumstances, your request is reasonable. I’ll move into the guest room as you’ve asked. Perhaps it would be best.”

“How will we explain it to Bethany?” she asked, suddenly realizing their nearly thirteen-year-old daughter would be coming home soon.

He stroked his forehead thoughtfully. “Since she’s usually in bed before we are, she won’t even notice. I’ll set my alarm a half hour earlier, so I’ll already be up when she gets up. No need to get her involved in this.”

“Thanks. I sure don’t want to upset her. I doubt she’s forgotten all the arguments we used to have when she was younger. I think it’d be best if we kept all this to ourselves. I don’t want her worrying about it.” Mindy walked slowly toward him. “Want me to help you move things?”

He gave his head a sad shake. “No thanks. I can do it myself.” With that he turned and disappeared through the kitchen doorway.

Mindy watched him go, feeling as if her world had just collapsed around her. Though Chuck had never been a model husband, he had been a model father. It would not be fair to shake Bethany’s trust in him since, she hoped, he would soon be proven innocent and things would get back to normal.

She moved to the sink and wet a clean dishcloth under the faucet, then robotically began to clean up the spilled cream.

Mindy froze when she heard the front door open. Had Chuck decided to leave? Maybe take a motel room somewhere? She hoped not. After all, this was his home, too, and that’s where he needed to be.

“Hi, Mom!” a voice called out cheerily.

“In the kitchen!” Mindy dabbed at her eyes with the dish towel. “You’re home early!”

Her pretty daughter bolted into the kitchen and plopped her books onto the counter. “The game ended early. Where’s Dad? I saw his car in the driveway. He’s home early, too. Does that mean we can go out for pizza for supper?”

“I—I don’t know. Your—”

“I’m right here, Princess.” Chuck strode into the room and wrapped his long arms around his daughter, planting a kiss on her forehead. “Pizza sounds fine to me, if it’s okay with your mother.”

Mindy forced a smile, glad Bethany hadn’t wandered into her bedroom before coming into the kitchen and found her father preparing to move his things into the guest room. “Pizza it is!”

Though she felt awkward sitting close to her husband in the crowded restaurant, Mindy did her best to keep their conversation light, making small talk about things that had happened at her office that morning and about an article she had read in a women’s magazine about raising teenagers. “You’ll be a teenager in a few weeks,” she reminded her daughter.

Bethany grinned at her mom, then turned to her dad. “Just think, Dad—I can get my learner’s permit next year, and you can teach me how to drive.”

Chuck rolled his eyes. “I can hardly wait.”

“Dad!” Bethany slapped at his arm. “Some of my friends’ fathers are already teaching them to drive.”

His eyes rounded. “Not on the street, I hope!”

“Well, not exactly drive, but they’re letting them start the car and move it back and forth in the driveway.”

Chuck laughed. “Hey, the last thing I need is a big hole in the garage door. I think you’d better wait until you’re fourteen and it’s legal. Then I’ll take you to a big parking lot sometime when all the stores are closed and let you behind the wheel.” He jabbed her arm playfully. “Better yet, why don’t you just wait until you can take the driver’s education class at your school?”

Bethany wiped a string of cheese from her father’s chin. “What’s the matter, Dad? You afraid I’ll wreck that old Corvette of yours?”

“The thought did cross my mind.”

Mindy watched the two of them, and despite the bombshell Chuck had dropped on her only hours earlier, she had to smile. If there was one thing she could never accuse him of, it was being a less-than-perfect father. Though she and her husband had disagreed on practically everything about Mindy’s upbringing since even before she was born, Chuck had always had their daughter’s best interests at heart. He had been there for all of it and had been an integral part of Bethany’s life in every way.

“Isn’t that right, Mom?”

Brought out of her thoughts by her daughter’s question, Mindy gave her a blank stare. “What? What did you say? I’m sorry—I had other things on my mind.” She could not help but glance in Chuck’s direction.

Bethany let out a giggle. “I said Daddy was funny! Didn’t you hear his joke?”

“No—I guess I didn’t.”

“It wasn’t that funny, Princess,” Chuck said, giving Mindy a shy grin. “Hey, now that we’ve finished our pizza, how about an ice cream cone? Maybe Rocky Road or Pralines and Cream?”

Bethany leaped to her feet and grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair after tweaking her father’s cheek between her fingers. “Or Peppermint Crunch, your favorite, Dad!”

Chuck reached out his hand to Mindy. “That okay with you?”

She nodded and smiled back, but inwardly her heart was breaking. Oh, Chuck. Sweet, sweet Chuck. Am I crazy to doubt you?

Later that night as Mindy lay in their bed, her head propped up on a pillow, trying to get her mind off their problems by reading a romance novel, she heard the grandfather clock in the hall chime eleven times, then footsteps in the hall. Chuck was on his way to bed. She ran her hand across the empty pillow beside her, remembering years past, miserable years for both of them, when he had spent much of his time in that guest room. She held her breath, half-hoping he would come in and climb into bed beside her. Though it had taken nearly ten of their fourteen years together to cultivate an overwhelming love for her husband, it had happened. She had hopes of their growing old together and being grandma and grandpa to Bethany’s children. Now this had happened. Chuck had been accused of molesting his coworker. As much as she wanted to believe in his innocence, visions of him with that woman kept playing in her mind. If only he had never taken Michelle home that night, perhaps none of this would have ever happened.

Startled by a soft rap on the door, she grabbed the sheet and pulled it tightly about her neck.

“Can—can I come in?”

Though the voice was barely audible, she knew it was Chuck. “Sure. Come on in.”

Still dressed in the shirt and trousers he had worn to work that day, he moved slowly into the room and headed toward the bathroom. “I forgot my toothbrush.”

“Oh.”

“Sorry to bother you.”

“No bother.”

He moved quickly into the bathroom, then came out carrying his toothbrush and a new tube of toothpaste. “Okay if I take this?” he asked, holding out the tube.

“You bought it.”

“I think I’ve got everything else I need.”

“There are extra blankets on the top shelf of the closet,” Mindy told him as he stopped at the foot of the bed and stood gazing at her. “And clean towels and washcloths in the linen closet.”

“I didn’t do it, Mindy.”

She closed her book and leaned back onto her pillow.

“Somehow I’m going to prove it to you.”

“I hope so, Chuck—I really hope so. But it sounds like another one of those unprovable cases of ‘he said—she said,’ the kind so many of the sports figures have been involved in lately. Her word against his. How can you prove which person is telling the truth in cases like that?”

He grabbed hold of the bedpost, pressing his forehead against it. “I know, but believe me, this was not one of those consensual things. You have to have made contact with the person to have that kind of excuse or reason apply. I had no physical contact with that woman.”

Mindy let out a loud sigh. “Seems one of this nation’s high public officials made a statement similar to that, and the next day he recanted.”

“That won’t happen here. I can assure you nothing improper happened,” he said firmly, giving her a slight glare. “I have nothing to recant.”

“I—I hope that’s true, Chuck—” She stopped, unable to speak what was in her heart.

“If our roles were reversed, I’d feel exactly the same way. Even the thought of another man touching you in a more than friendly way sickens me.”

“That could never happen, Chuck. Even though our life together has been rocky, I would never cheat on you.”

“Nor would I cheat on you! You have to believe that, Mindy. You have no idea how hard all of this is on me!”

He started for the door, stopping halfway across the room to turn back to her. “I’ll set my alarm early like I said I would.”

She gave him a faint smile. “Thank you. I’m sure you want to protect our daughter as much as I do.”

“I am going to prove my innocence, Mindy. Just promise you’ll give me some time. I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I’ll find a way. I have to. I—I love you.”

“I love you, too, Chuck. That’s what makes this so difficult. If I didn’t love you, it wouldn’t matter, but I do love you. More than you’ll ever know. I want you to prove your innocence so our marriage can continue, but—”

He held up his palm between them. “I will, Mindy. I have to.”

She flipped over onto her side, turning her face away from him, knowing if she looked at his sad expression one more time, she would break out in tears. “Good night, Chuck. I do love you.”

“Good night, Mindy. I love you, too.”

A few seconds later she heard the door close softly, and she was alone in the king-sized bed, her tears dampening the pillow.

❧

The strain was still there between them the next morning at the breakfast table, but for Bethany’s sake Mindy worked hard at keeping things as normal as possible. And she could sense Chuck was doing the same. The child had suffered enough at their hands during the first ten years of her life, until they had figured out a way at least to appear compatible. But the funny thing was, once they decided to look as if they were trying to get along and live life as a normal family, they had actually begun to like each other. They had even felt some of the same vibes they’d experienced during the weeks they had dated and those first few months after their wedding. That was before Mindy discovered she was pregnant and Chuck lowered the boom on her by expecting her to quit the job she loved and be a twenty-four–seven, stay-at-home mom. Her pregnancy had come as a total shock, and though she had wanted someday to have children, she was not prepared to put her career on hold as Chuck expected her to. At least not until she had reached the top of her profession.

“Why do I have to be the one to give up my job and stay at home? What about you?” she had asked him, fully believing he was an equal partner in their marriage. “Why can’t you put your job on hold and stay at home? I’m making more money than you are! We could far better afford to live on my salary than on your commissions.”

He had countered by reminding her that God made women to be the child bearers, so He also must expect women to be the caregivers.

In anticipation of the birth of their first child, once they had both accepted the fact that a baby was on its way, and wanting to make sure the baby had a good start in life, Mindy had arranged to take a six-week leave of absence from Health Care Incorporated. She served there as assistant manager—a well-paying position she had worked long and hard to attain. She had known that with that promotion her earning potential would be unlimited, provided she would be available to travel to their many branch offices, spending as much time at each one as necessary. She had hoped that once her six weeks’ leave was up, Chuck would change his mind, take over, and become a stay-at-home dad, but that was not to be. Though she resented his pigheaded, unchangeable attitude, she had to admit she loved each minute she spent with their new daughter, soon realizing that being away from her for long periods of time was nearly intolerable.

She glanced to see if Bethany was watching her and, finding her daughter engrossed with her bowl of hot oatmeal, eyed Chuck with a frown. He was dressed in a suit and tie, the way he normally dressed when going to the office. Why was he dressed like that?

As if reading her mind, Chuck took his last swig of coffee and rose to his feet, folding up the sports section of the morning paper and stuffing it under his arm. “See you ladies tonight,” he said as cheerily as if nothing had happened and it was a normal day.

Where is he going?

“Got a full day ahead of me.” He bent and kissed Bethany’s cheek. “Have a good day at school, Princess.”

“Bye, Daddy.”

Stepping up close beside Mindy, Chuck hesitated only for a second before leaning over and kissing her on the forehead. “I’ll call you later.”

After Bethany left for school and Mindy finished cleaning up the kitchen, she slipped into her dress, checked her appearance in the mirror, then grabbed her briefcase. She was already in the hallway off the kitchen with her hand on the doorknob when the phone rang. After a quick glance at her watch, she rushed to answer it.

“Hi,” a male voice said softly. “Is the coast clear?”

“Clear? If you mean is Bethany gone, the answer is yes. Her ride picked her up about ten minutes ago. Where are you, Chuck?”

“I’m at the service station. I—I thought it might be best if Bethany saw me leave for work as usual. I sure don’t want to have to explain to her why I’m without a job.”

“I was on my way out the door. What are your plans for today?”

“I—I thought I’d come back home. There’s no place else for me to go. Somehow I’d like to prove my innocence, but how do you go about doing something like that? Like you said, it’s my word against hers.”

Mindy nervously twined the phone cord around her fingers. “Have you talked to Michelle about this?”

“No.”

“Don’t you think you should? If you are innocent, maybe you can talk some sense into her head—let her know what this is doing to your life.”

“I’ve thought about it, but—”

“But what, Chuck? You can’t sit idly by and do nothing. You have to take action of some kind.”

“I don’t want to talk to her in private, not after the kind of accusations she’s made, and I don’t want to talk to her at the office with everyone listening in on our conversation. I’m furious with her for what she did. I’m not sure I could talk to her face-to-face without losing my temper.”

“So? Are you just going to let things ride?”

No answer came.

“Chuck, did you hear me? Are you still there?”

“I—I’m here. I just don’t know what to do. Can I meet you for lunch?”

She pulled the phone from her ear and stared into it. Have lunch? “I—I don’t know.”

“Look, sweetie—I can’t blame you for reacting the way you are. The whole thing is ridiculous. I can only imagine what it’s doing to you, but I—I need you, Mindy. I can’t stand this wedge between us. It’s miserable in that guest room knowing you’re sleeping all alone just a few yards from me. I wanted so much to hold you in my arms and kiss your sweet face. I barely slept a wink last night.”

“I had a hard time sleeping, too.” She pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and her fore-finger. “Okay, I’ll meet you for lunch, but not at a restaurant. I’ll meet you at home and fix us a bowl of soup.”

“Thanks, Mindy. You have no idea how much I need you to help me get through this. And don’t worry about fixing the soup. I have all the time in the world to do it. I’ll open a can of something and have it hot when you get there.”

“See you at noon.” Staring off into space, she hung up the phone. She loved Chuck. Though they’d had their troubles, she’d never once thought about him cheating on her. With a lump in her throat, she picked up her briefcase and headed out the door. What is it they say? The wife is the last to know?

When she reentered the house on Victor Lane at five minutes past twelve, the enticing aroma of tomato soup greeted her, and she had to smile. For years Chuck had resisted her urgings to keep canned soup in their pantry, reminding her that his mother always made their soups from scratch. She had reminded him that was his mother’s choice. Not hers. Mindy was a good cook and spent many hours in the kitchen preparing the things he and Bethany liked, but homemade tomato soup didn’t happen to be one of them, any more than his mother would prepare a homemade quiche as Mindy did, which happened to be one of Chuck’s favorites. After many an argument Chuck had finally conceded that prepared and fast foods had their place in busy lives.

“Soup’s hot, and the table is set,” he said, meeting her at the door, taking her jacket from her hands. “How’d your morning go?”

“Okay. I guess.” She felt a small smile quirk at her lips as she washed her hands at the sink before sliding into her chair. Wasn’t that what June Cleaver always asked Ward Cleaver when he came home from the office? All Chuck needed was an apron tied around his waist, high heels, and a string of pearls.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said. I’m going to call Michelle and ask her to meet me someplace so we can talk about this.” He gave her a shy grin. “Would—would you come with me? I don’t want to be alone with her.”

She folded her hands on the table and eyed him suspiciously. “You want me to go with you? Isn’t it a bit unorthodox to have the little woman go along with the accused man?”

He reached across the table and cupped his hand over hers. “I—I need you there, Mindy. That’s why I wanted you to have lunch with me. I want you to hear the entire story before we talk to her.”

Her heart sank. “Entire story? You mean there really is more?”

“Everything I’ve said is true. I—I just haven’t told you all of it.”

The room began to swirl, making her dizzy. Though Mindy had never fainted in her life, she was sure this was going to be the first time. “Oh, Chuck, I’m not sure I’m up to this.”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I meant it when I said nothing was going on between that woman and me. I think you’ll better understand if you hear me out.”

She pulled her hands from his and linked them in her lap, her heart doing the fifty-yard dash. “I’m listening.”