Then he looked down at his coffee.
“The affair is over.”
I waited.
He swallowed.
“Turns out guilt and secrecy were most of what we had in common.”
I studied his face.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I want you to know it meant nothing.”
I felt something inside me go still.
“Then why did you risk everything for it?”
He had no answer.
After a moment, he whispered, “I destroyed everything.”
“You damaged a lot of things, Mark. Some of them may never be repaired.”
“I want my son back.”
“That is between you and Daniel.”
“Can you talk to him? Tell him I’m sorry?”
“No.”
He stared at me.
“Carol, please.”
“For thirty-one years, I cleaned up uncomfortable things because I wanted this family to remain intact. I made excuses when I should have asked harder questions. I protected the image of our marriage because I believed protecting the image was the same as protecting the marriage.”
