Chapter 2: Look What I Found

"You'll never guess who I ran into this afternoon," I said to Andrea as I arrived home that Saturday afternoon.

"Who?" she asked disinterestedly.

"Janice LeDane."

I'd no sooner got the name out of my mouth when Andrea's head snapped around and gave me a look I don't think I'd ever seen on her before. I'm not sure if it was fear or shock or what.

"Oh," Andrea stammered. "What did she have to say?" She looked worried now. I really couldn't understand her reaction.

"We sat for a while and chatted. She's getting married again. Met a nice guy with grown sons. She's really happy to have found this guy by the sound of it."

"That's nice," Andrea managed vaguely.

"Yeah ... I also found out what caused the divorce."

Once again, Andrea's full attention was on me and that strange look was back.

"He was cheating on her. She caught him and took him back twice, but the third strike and he was out. I had no idea he was like that, did you?"

"No ... no ... of course not. Did she say anything else ... about Barry I mean?"

"Not much. The last time she caught him it was with a neighbor. I guess he's just one of those guys who can't be faithful. Doesn't know how. I can't imagine it was because of Janice. She's still a very attractive woman."

Andrea nodded then returned to getting the evening meal prepared. She seemed to be back to normal again. I guess it was the shock of hearing that Barry was a multiple cheat.

That night, Andrea was in the mood and wanted sex. I wasn't going to question why, I was just grateful that she did. She was a lot more active this time too. Lately she'd been pretty passive and frankly not very responsive. This was a most welcome change, more like the old days.

"That was great, Babe. We haven't gotten it on like that in a while. We should do this more often."

She didn't respond except to put her arm across my chest and hold me before rolling over and going to sleep.

I lay there for a while thinking about our relationship. It had cooled dramatically in the past two years. Once upon a time, Andrea was a dynamite sex partner and I was hard pressed to keep up with her. Over time, however, that had cooled and finally, with the injury to my knee, it had almost vanished. Tonight was a very different thing.

I got me to thinking about the reaction from her when I told her I'd met with Janice. I was trying to find a way to identify what I saw but it just wasn't coming to me. Her reaction was out of proportion to the information she was given. All I had said was that I had met up with Janice LeDane and her expression changed immediately. What was that phrase that was so over-used? Deer in the headlights? Yeah, that was it. That was exactly it. Fear mixed with alarm.

Why? Why would she react that way? And then ... in the middle of the night ... I had a moment of clarity. Andrea was frightened of what Janice might say. Why? Because she was one of Barry's conquests? Did Janice know that Andrea was with Barry? She couldn't be sure, and that was where the fear came from. Was there another possible reason? I couldn't think of one.

My gut was in a knot and I knew there was no possibility of going back to sleep. I rolled quietly out of bed, put on my dressing gown and slippers, and left the bedroom, heading for our study. I sat in front of our home computer and gazed at the screen. Our photos were on the screen saver and I saw picture after picture of our family and friends. It did nothing to make me feel better.

I googled "Signs of a cheating wife" and sat stunned at the response. Over thirty-seven million hits in less than a tenth of a second. I couldn't believe it. Thirty-seven million! I began to read. I wanted facts, not fiction. I wanted to know if I was off base or looking at what I thought might be the reality.

Apparently, over seventy percent of all divorces were initiated by women, which would imply the men were the most common offender. Statistics on cheating wives and husbands were inconclusive since few would admit to their sins, but there was a strong belief that wives were more prone to cheat than husbands. That sounded contradictory, but that was the opinion of the so-called experts. Nothing I saw over the next hour gave me any comfort.

Since Andrea didn't work and both our children were in school all day, plus their outside activities, she had plenty of time and opportunity to indulge herself in an affair. When I noted the various signs of a cheating spouse, several of them struck a responsive note. Of course, the drop off in sexual activity was first and foremost. The attitude change I had noticed in the last couple of years was next. She had become quite negative in some of her comments and reactions toward me.

I thought about getting up and making some coffee but the machine was noisy and I didn't want to wake either the kids or Andrea. I settled for a glass of orange juice. As I stood in the kitchen thinking about what I was learning, I noticed Andrea's purse on the counter near the laundry room. I had never once invaded that private space, but that all changed in an instant. What could I learn from within that leather bag?

It looked like a random jumble of things when I peered inside. There was an open central part of the purse and two inside side zippered pockets as well as an outside one. I started with the main cavity. There were the usual things. Car and house keys, makeup kit, a hanky, some tissues, a couple of tampons, a change purse with a couple of dollars worth of coins, and a wallet with her credit cards, some cash, and the odd scrap of paper with writing on it.

I checked the wallet and credit cards and found nothing unusual. The paper bits were notes to herself and a couple of phone numbers that I didn't recognize. I made a note of the phone numbers and put everything back the way it was.

Next I looked in the inside pockets. There was nothing at all in one of them. In the other, however, I found something I didn't expect to find. A cell phone. I took it out and looked it over. It didn't look like anything special. It was a popular brand name but didn't have a camera feature or any of the applications that people seemed to think were so necessary. It was just a plain cell phone. Nothing unusual except for the fact that as far as I knew, Andrea didn't own one.

I wondered why I hadn't seen a bill for it coming in the mail. I suppose Andrea could have intercepted it before I spotted it but that would be a risky proposition if she didn't want me to know about it. I pressed the send button and it came on instantly. I did a bit of exploring and found the call history. There were only two numbers listed and one of them was frequently dialed. One of them looked familiar and it quickly twigged on me that it was the number on one of the scraps of paper in her wallet.

When I looked at the two numbers more closely, I could tell they were in our area code but the three number prefix was unusual. Then it dawned on me. They were cell phone numbers too. I found the listing for her phone's number and it turned out not to be one of the numbers on the paper scraps. So the phone was apparently used to call two people. That had me scratching my head as well.

I was still wondering why I hadn't spotted a bill for this phone, or even any evidence in our checking account that there was a payment for one when my brain finally caught up with my questions. A trac phone, of course. Prepaid and paperless. Simple and easily disguised. So that left only one question: who was she calling?

My cell phone number had been with me for almost twenty years. I had begun with one of the old in-car units with the transmitter/receiver in the trunk and the coil-cord and handset mounted on the transmission tunnel. From there it was a flip-phone next before the third generation phones replaced any need for bulky, cumbersome units. I had maintained the same phone number the entire time and it was similar to a conventional local phone number. Andrea's number was one of the new cell-only numbers.

I was pretty sure neither of the mystery numbers was Barry's cell phone but just to be certain I checked. As expected, it was quite different. Did he have a trac phone too? I suppose the easiest thing to do was to call the number and see who answered. However, if it was Barry, and if he had caller I.D., he'd know it was me and that they'd been found out. I didn't want to alert him or whoever was the holder of that phone.

That was the other thing that came from my reading about cheating spouses. Verify before confronting. If you're wrong, only ugly things can happen to your marriage or relationship. I was going to have to find out if my suspicions were correct. There was also the problem that if Andrea had been in a clandestine affair with Barry and it had ended, how would I ever get any evidence?

Why did I immediately think of Barry as the culprit? Simple. He knew and liked Andrea. He had told me how lucky I was to have her on several occasions. As well, Janice made it plain that he was a serial womanizer. With our alternating schedules and his outside sales calls, he would have the opportunity to be with my wife quite easily. I might be jumping to conclusions, but Andrea's reaction to Janice's name was enough to put Barry up at the top of the list of suspects.

I finished examining Andrea's purse and, finding nothing more, put it back where it was. I went back to my study and sat down, my mind still going a break-neck speed. It occurred to me at some point that I'd already decided my wife was guilty. Despite the fact that the only evidence I had was a look on Andrea's face and a mystery cell phone, I was convincing myself that she was cheating. When did I get so quick to condemn? Was I looking for a reason to believe she was unfaithful? A few hours ago it wouldn't even have occurred to me.

I sat back in my chair and closed my eyes. I could see that "look" as clearly as if she was right in front of me now. I tried to think of any other way it could be interpreted, but nothing came to mind. Improbably, I dozed off, my head back on the headrest of the big chair. When I awoke it was nearly six o'clock. I had slept for over four hours. I'd needed the rest. It was going to be difficult enough to act normally around Andrea and I needed to keep my wits about me.

I decided on a simple approach for finding out about the phone numbers she was calling. I would disguise my voice and see who answered the phone. Simple but dangerous. If I didn't do a convincing job and it was Barry and I was unmasked, the shit could hit the fan from dizzy heights. I decided on a pseudo-English accent since I could replicate that fairly well I thought. I also decided I would make the calls from one of the pay phones in a local hotel. All I had to do now was work up the courage to actually make those calls.

I was usually awake and up before Andrea, so it was no problem to return to the bedroom and begin my normal morning routine. She was still asleep when I went downstairs to make breakfast for myself. I must have worn her out last night with the unexpected sexual activity. I could hear the kids stirring about in their bedrooms so I was satisfied they were up and getting ready for school.

There was another thing I hadn't really thought about: our children. Brandon could probably handle a separation or divorce. We were close, but not so much that he couldn't cope with living with his mother for another year. He was dating and was growing into a responsible young man. I was sure he must know things weren't exactly perfect between his mother and me.

Candice was a whole other matter. She and I were as close as any father and daughter could be. I don't know why, but we'd been that way since she was a little girl barely able to walk. She just naturally gravitated towards me and, of course, had me wrapped around her little finger. Andrea never seemed to mind except when it came to discipline. Then she was ticked when Candice would try to use me to get out of any punishment she had earned.

My research on the internet confirmed that we lived in a 50/50 environment when it came to divorce. As usual, the wife almost always got to stay in the home and keep the kids. I would be paying alimony and child support at least. Worse still, she would end up with half my business and that would really hurt. Essentially, she would be rewarded for her cheating and I would be punished. I needed to think long and hard about the consequences of a divorce before I pulled that trigger.

With all these concerns and unanswered questions floating around in my head it was no wonder that I wasn't concentrating on my business. It was just as well that I had good people in place to look after things in my absence. I had to get a handle on just what to do about what I suspected and once having confirmed my suspicions, what to do after that. This was not going to be a good time in the Tyler household.