The New Husband(59)

“I didn’t know that about Glen, the pride and all. Didn’t know much about him because it was just a one-night thing. I swear. I had the evening off, and was hanging out here ’cause what else was I going to do? We were having a great time at the bar, things got a little heated as we got drunk, and the other guy said we should take the party to my place, and I was like, why the hell not? I’m not proud of it, but I also wasn’t thinking very clearly. Anyway, the other guy passed out on my couch, took off without a good-bye, but your husband—well, he stuck around.”

Teresa cringed a little. “I’m really sorry it happened, but that’s the whole story and the truth.”

Nina’s eyes were filled with doubt.

“I can tell you don’t believe me,” Teresa said. “And I don’t blame you. But if you ever find Glen, ask him, and then you can be sure. It was one night only. I saw Glen maybe once or twice after that, and then I took off.”

Nina gave a nod. She wanted to accept Teresa’s story as the truth—part of her did—but she’d need to look Glen in the eyes to be certain.

“If Chris didn’t send me that picture I never would have known any of this,” Nina said, her voice getting softer.

“What are you doing here?” Teresa asked. “What is it you’re chasing?”

“Answers,” Nina said sorrowfully. “I hate not knowing.”

“Why he cheated? I told you we were wasted.”

“Not only that.”

Nina quickly went through the narrative—the job Glen pretended to have and the money he stole from his own family to keep up the ruse.

“I don’t know why the bank fired him, they wouldn’t give me that answer, and now nobody can find Glen.”

“Oh my, that’s a lot of secrets for one man to keep.”

“Tell me about it,” Nina said, again exchanging a knowing look with Teresa. “When you hung out with him, did he say anything about me, his wife?” Nina’s crooked smile acknowledged the silliness of talking about herself in the third person.

“Not much, no.”

“He didn’t … criticize her … me … any?”

Teresa got a faraway look in her eyes, maybe drifting back to memories of friendly chitchat at the bar before alcohol tore down all inhibitions.

“No, we didn’t talk about you like that. You were the wife, that’s all, and there were his kids, but he didn’t talk about them much either. He told me he had business in Carson, but fished every chance he got. I got the sense there was more to the story there, but no idea what a screwed-up story it was. Like I said we were … you know…”

“Bar buddies,” Nina said, allowing a little bit of bitterness back into her heart. The rest didn’t need to be said. “And he didn’t complain about me, his family, not ever?”

“No, but don’t kill yourself trying to figure it out. Men can be crazy. The first time I broke up with Chris he faked having cancer so I’d feel sorry for him. Then, I found out it was all bullshit, and that’s when I broke it off for good.”

“That is crazy.”

“It’s no biggie,” Teresa said with a wave of her hand. “He’ll be away for a long time. But picking a man can be like reaching into a bag of jelly beans, you just never know what flavor you’re going to get.”

“I have a new man,” Nina said, offering up the information like a reflex. Perhaps she was hoping Teresa, an impartial third party, could waylay her lingering concerns.

“Tell me about him,” Teresa said, her eyes sparking a bit. “I’ve got about five minutes before I’m on the unemployment line, and much as I hate it, I need this job.”

Nina talked about Simon, how they met thanks to Daisy, and about his job as a teacher, how she’d been judged for moving on so quickly with a new man, how his tragic past and hers might have helped speed up their union, and how wonderful he’d been to her since he’d come into her life. For whatever reason, Nina felt compelled to share, in brief, her struggles with Maggie. For sure it all took more than the allotted five minutes, but Teresa didn’t complain.

“No surprise there,” she said in reference to Maggie. “It’s hard for a kid. It was hard for me.”

“You had a stepfather?” Nina asked.

“I wish,” Teresa said sharply. “I had four.”

“Oh.”

“Look, I know you didn’t come here for my advice,” Teresa said, “but I’m going to give it to you anyway, because you seem like a really sweet girl, and your husband was a real shit, so I’m going to give you my two cents and then I’ve gotta split. Time is money.”

“I’m all ears,” Nina said, leaning forward, catching that faint whiff of tobacco again.

“Make sure you really know this new guy of yours. Make really damn sure. I made that mistake with Chris, and it’s one mistake I’ll never make again.”



* * *



ON THE drive home Nina thought about Teresa’s warning. There were still things about Glen she didn’t know—why he’d lost his job, for one, if he had had other “flings,” for another. She’d come to the Moose hoping that insights into his choices would help her feel more comfortable with her own. Instead she left feeling an urgent need to get windows into Simon’s life. But how? His parents were gone. There was no extended family to contact. No place to turn for clues—or in Teresa’s words, to really get to know him—unless of course she went to Simon himself for answers. But hadn’t she done that? Hadn’t they talked, and talked, but did she feel any closer to an understanding? No, not really.