Arthur sat across from me.
“On and off for decades.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
Arthur was quiet.
Then he said,
“He wasn’t hiding an affair.”
“I didn’t say he was.”
“You were thinking it.”
I looked away.
Maybe I was.
He continued.
“We met when we were young. Robert spent almost a year here in Australia before you met him.”
I looked at the painting.
“He painted this here?”
“Yes.”
“He told me he painted it after we were married.”
“He painted another version after you were married.”
Arthur pointed toward the painting.
“This one came first.”
I felt something twist inside me.
“All these years…”
“Yes.”
“He never told me.”
Arthur smiled faintly.
“Robert kept some parts of his younger life private.”
“Why?”
“Maybe because he was afraid you’d think those years mattered more than the life he built with you.”
I swallowed.
“They did matter?”
Arthur nodded.
