And real marriages aren’t held together by the absence of temptation. They’re held together by the choices two people make when temptation arrives.
Unfortunately, Vanessa had decided that my marriage was a competition.
And she was determined to win.
Chapter Two: The Gifts She Couldn’t Stop Giving
By the end of the second month, Vanessa’s little gestures had become impossible to ignore.
She left a cashmere scarf in Irvin’s car after asking him to help her jump-start her battery.
She brought over a bottle of expensive wine with a note suggesting that they might enjoy it together sometime.
She sent him a message asking whether he ever wished he had married somebody more adventurous.
And she began appearing whenever she knew he would be outside.
One Saturday morning, I watched from our kitchen window as she walked across the driveway carrying a small paper bag.
Irvin was repairing a loose board on our garden fence.
