“After,” Olivia responded honestly. “Actually, he moved out yesterday. He’s getting an apartment in the city, and a divorce.”
“How old are his children?”
“He has a seventeen-year-old daughter, and eleven-year-old twin boys.”
“They’re young. Have you met them?”
“Not yet. He wants me to meet them soon, but I want to let the dust settle a bit first.”
“How long have you known him?” Gwen questioned her.
“Five months. He’s wonderful, Mama, you’ll love him.”
“I hope so, but I have to admit, I’m not in love with the idea of you as a home-wrecker. That’s a lot of responsibility to take on, if he left his wife for you. And his kids won’t thank you for it, especially the daughter.”
“He says he would have left her anyway, sooner or later. He’s wanted to for years, but didn’t want to upset the children.”
“Breaking up a family isn’t a nice thing to do, if you caused him to do it. It was done to me. It doesn’t make anyone a bigger, better person, and his children will be very hard on you if they blame you for the divorce. How old is he?”
“Forty-one, almost forty-two.”
“What does his wife do?”
“She’s just a Connecticut housewife. I think he’s been bored with her for years.” Olivia looked slightly supercilious as she said it, with the advantage of youth.
“If he cheated on her, which he obviously has, he might do it to you one day. That’s something to think about.” Gwen was not sold on the idea of this man who had left his wife for Olivia, and had cheated on her for five months until then.
“I have thought about it. I trust him. He’s a good person, and it was a bad marriage. And he’s never cheated on her before.”
“Men say that too, but it’s not always true. Well, you’ll see as things progress. Keep your eyes open though, and don’t lie to yourself.” Olivia nodded, and the maid came to announce that lunch was ready. Brigitte, the maid, looked pleased to see Olivia. Her mother had had the same employees for many years. “Just be careful,” her mother warned her again. “If he’s at the beginning of a divorce, it will get ugly before it’s over. Try not to get caught in his mess. Let them fight it out, and stay out of it.” It was good advice, and Olivia nodded, but she was sure it wouldn’t get too messy. He had told her that Eileen was a decent person, and he was planning to be generous with her. He wasn’t wealthy the way Olivia was, but he made a huge salary and they lived well.
“You’ve had your share of wild love affairs too,” Olivia reminded her as they sat down in the oval dining room.
“Not lately.” Gwen smiled at her. “And never with married men. That’s one rule I’ve never broken. Anything else is permissible. Other people’s husbands aren’t.”
They talked about other things then, a script Gwen had read and didn’t like, two movies she’d seen, a book she’d read and would love to see made into a movie. She had her finger on the pulse of the industry. And Olivia told her about her fledgling business that was growing by leaps and bounds. Gwen was very proud of her, but as she thought about it after Olivia left, she still didn’t like the idea of her with a married man. She was liable to get hurt, or hurt someone else, and there were children involved, which made it even more serious. Olivia seemed very taken with him, but Gwen wasn’t convinced that she was deeply in love with him, enough so to take on two young boys and a stepdaughter only ten years younger than she was. She was infatuated certainly, but more than that? Her mother wasn’t so sure. She would have to be patient if he hadn’t started the divorce proceedings yet. At least he had a decent job, and had been married for almost twenty years. That said something for him. Gwen was curious about him, and wondered if Olivia would introduce him soon. She hadn’t suggested it during lunch, which said something too. Gwen wondered if Olivia had doubts of her own.
* * *
—
On Sunday afternoon, Eileen told the children that their father had moved out. She said they were taking a break, which came as a shock to Seth and Mark, but not entirely to Pennie, who had been aware of her parents’ differences in recent years. Her father’s bitterness was obvious during her pregnancy. He still felt that being pressed into marriage before he was ready had impacted his life and career, and deprived him of the opportunity of greater success he believed he was capable of. He was convinced he would have been a major entrepreneur and made a fortune. He had no one else to blame for it except Eileen. Her parents weren’t warm with each other, the way some of her friends’ parents were. She would have liked to have parents like the others, but she didn’t. Even Tim’s parents, who were uptight and conservative and she didn’t particularly like, seemed closer than hers. The Blakes had the same ideas and were allies, which her parents weren’t, so she wasn’t entirely surprised at her father moving out. Eileen and Paul never seemed affectionate toward each other. She had realized that in her teens.
After the boys went upstairs to play with their PlayStation, Pennie stayed downstairs to talk to her mother.
“Are you okay, Mom?” she asked, concerned about her. Her mother looked tired and pale, with circles under her eyes. She looked sick and sad.
“I think so. I’m still in shock. I’m kind of numb. Everything happened very quickly yesterday.” She hadn’t slept all night afterwards, replaying it in her head.
Pennie hesitated and then asked her the question Eileen had feared. “Do you think there’s someone else?”
“I think there might be,” she said as candidly as she dared without maligning Paul to his kids, which she didn’t want to do, out of respect for him. “Things were never totally right with us. We got off on the wrong foot. I thought we had worked it out, but I guess your father wouldn’t agree.” He had made that clear when Pennie was pregnant, during their conversation with Tim’s parents.
“Do you think he’ll come back?” Pennie asked her.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure. Maybe he doesn’t know either.”
“If he doesn’t, you’ll meet someone else. You’re still young,” Pennie said kindly. Pennie wasn’t sure what she wished for her, for him to come back or not. He seemed harsh with Eileen at times, and disconnected, as though they had never really merged, while he blamed her for their marriage.
“No, I’m not young, or I don’t feel it anyway,” she said with a sigh.
“At thirty-nine, you’re not old. And you’re beautiful.” Pennie smiled at her. She had become surprisingly mature since the baby she’d lost. It was a hard way to grow up, but she was back in good health again. Eileen could guess easily that she still missed Tim, but he was off in his new world now, without a baby or a wife, which must have been a relief to him, even if he missed her. It was harder being the one still at home. Pennie wasn’t dating anyone and said she didn’t want to whenever the subject came up. She was still feeling wounded by everything that had happened, and sad about the baby she’d lost. It was like losing Tim again, and all their dreams.