Chapter 4: Timing is Everything

Andrea had gone out shopping on Sunday afternoon and I was home alone with the kids. I was sitting in the living room, supposedly watching TV but not really. As usual, my thoughts revolved around what would become of my life and my children's lives when it came time to divorce Andrea.

I barely noticed when my daughter came downstairs and seeing me, came over to the sofa and sat beside me. She didn't say a word, but put her hands around my arm and snuggled up to me. It had been a while since we'd shared one of these moments and I almost had tears when the conflicting thoughts in my head began to be overtaken by my emotions.

"Are you sad about Mom, Dad?" she asked, looking up at me.

I wasn't expecting a question like that.

"What do you mean?"

"You know ... why she doesn't like us any more."

I shook my head. What in the world was she talking about?

"I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"Come on, Dad. She's been like this for while now. She's okay, I guess, but she's not the mom we used to have. I think she's fooling around on you."

"Whatever in the world would make you think that?" I asked, completely stunned at her comment.

"The usual. Secret phone calls. Bet you don't know she has a cell phone. She forgot to turn it off one day and I heard it. It's in her purse. And ... she goes out when we're at school. She usually goes before lunch time and comes back before we are out of school. She doesn't have any shopping bags either."

"How in the world do you know this?" I asked, amazed at her knowledge.

"Mrs. Quinn across the street told me. She's a real busybody and a gossip. Everyone knows that. She couldn't wait to find out what Mom was up to."

I let out an exasperated sigh. My whole private life was becoming an open book among my children and now my neighbors. How much worse could this get? I had no idea what to tell Candice. I could deny it, I suppose, but she was too perceptive to buy an outright lie. I didn't know what to do.

"Brandon knows too," she said. "I told him. He didn't believe me at first, but he heard her talking on her cell phone and when he came into the kitchen, she tried to hide it. She isn't very good at this, Dad."

"I don't know what to tell you?" I admitted, closing my eyes and resting my head on the sofa back.

"Why don't you tell us what you know and we can compare," she suggested.

I thought about it. My children were growing up too fast for me to keep up with them. I don't know why I was surprised. They were both bright kids and Andrea's attempts at keeping her affairs secret had proved futile.

"I met Mrs. LeDane one day a few months ago. I'm sure you remember her. She told me that she divorced Mr. LeDane because he had cheated on her more than once. When I came home, I told your mother about it and she gave me a real funny look ... like she was scared or something. It was bugging me and I couldn't sleep so I came downstairs to get something to drink and while I was here, I looked in her purse. I found the cell phone and the numbers she had been calling.

"I tracked them down and found out one of them belonged to Mr. LeDane and the other one to another man I didn't know. I did some digging and found out your mother had an affair with Mr. LeDane and is having one even now with someone else. I've talked to a lawyer to see what I should do, but I haven't made up my mind yet."

Candice squeezed my arm and I could see a few tears on her cheek.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I won't let anything or anyone hurt you if I can help it. You won't lose me, I promise."

She nodded, unable to say anything as she sniffed her nose and dried her tears.

"Why, Dad. Why does she want to hurt us?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I really don't. It hurts a lot, doesn't it?"

She nodded, still sniffing as the grip on my arm tightened.

"I'm going to ask you to do something for me. Something important. I want you to act normally around your mother. The lawyer I talked to said we needed to wait before letting her know we found out about her affair. Can you do that? For me, please?"

She nodded. "I think so. It'll be hard, but I'll try. I hate her now."

"No, Candy ... not hate. I know you're angry, but we don't know why she's doing this. Don't hate her. She's your mother and nothing will change that."

"I'll try Dad. But you better tell Brandon because he's really pissed with her too."

"Language, Candy," I admonished with a smile.

The two must have decided that this was the time to let me know about Andrea because Brandon came downstairs and sat on the other side of me.

"She told you?" he asked.

"Yes ... but I already knew."

"Why's she doing this, Dad?"

"I don't know. Maybe she's unhappy with me. Maybe I'm not a good enough husband. She's never said she was unhappy. I just don't know why."

"Dad says we have to act normal so she doesn't know we know."

Brandon nodded but remained silent.

"Do we have to live with her if you get a divorce?" he asked finally.

"Not if I can help it. I'm told you will be asked where you want to live and why. That will carry some weight with the court. I'll guess we'll have to keep our fingers crossed."

We sat there, the three of us, our thoughts all in a jumble, wondering what the future would bring. I certainly didn't know. I could understand their fear. Fear of the unknown. I was feeling the same thing.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Bruncardo. I'm Norman Tyler."

"Good afternoon ... and please call me Emilio. We're going to be spending some time together over the next while."

"Fine, Emilio. I'm Norm to my friends."

He directed me to a long table where we sat side-by-side. He had done some homework already and had what looked like a spreadsheet laid out in front of us.

"I did some research on your business and with your permission I met with Walter Cromwell to discuss how this agreement came about. He holds you in high regard, Norman. I'm sure you'll be talking to him soon. I assume you've told him that my interest is in giving you maximum protection in the event of your divorce. That's what I wanted to discuss with you today."

"Walter and I are very good friends and there are few secrets between us," I smiled.

"As well as being a good man, he is also a very clever businessman. The way he has structured this agreement of sale protects both him and you to some degree. But for now, let's get some basics out of the way."

I sat with him for the next hour and a half and we discussed everything about both the business and our household income. I told him that since I was the only breadwinner in the home that it was my name only on the mortgage and on the deed. I had brought our latest monthly statement on our status and we owed $94,877.62 as of the end of the previous month. The estimated value on the market was $590,000. Assuming a fifty-fifty division of assets, I would realize approximately $225,000 from a sale if that became necessary.

Our retirement accounts were already separate and held about $150,000 each. In addition, there was the college fund for each of the children. Those would be exempt from the split with a simple transfer to one or the other party. The big issue was going to be the business.

I've had never had an offer from anyone to buy it, so I had no idea of its commercial value to someone. That was something that Emilio was going to have to work out. And that was when he began to discuss my options. The court or the conciliator would want to have a valuation of the business for the purposes of deciding what each partner would retain. It wouldn't be a fifty-fifty split, he said, because my name had "goodwill" attached to it whereas Andrea's did not.

In theory, I could sell the business and walk away and it would be worth less than if I stayed to run the business as I had been. I could borrow against the business and buy Andrea out once the split of assets had been decided. There were a couple of more devious possibilities, although legal, not very palatable to me. I didn't just have my family to consider, I had nearly twenty employees to think about as well.

"Many of these decisions can't be made until the conciliator rules, Norman. That will help us decide on the right path for you and your family. Of course, if you decide not to divorce now but perhaps later when the children are older, the situation will have changed again. I'm going to produce a summary of your choices for you so that you can consider them. Whatever you decide, I'll try and give you the best result that is possible within the framework of the law."

"Thank you Emilio. I have to admit, I don't understand it all, but I'm glad I have you on my side," I smiled.

"We'll get you through this, Norman. Keep the faith," he said, shaking my hand.

It was on a Friday morning over two weeks later when I heard from Margaret Shadbolt. I was anxious to hear what she had to say when I met with her that afternoon. The acting that the children and I had to do around the house was beginning to wear thin and I was surprised that Andrea hadn't said something about our behavior. Perhaps she was distracted by her own sneaking around.

We hadn't had sex in over three weeks, but I didn't get the feeling that she missed it or even noticed it had been that long. I thought about saying something, but that might precipitate her trying to initiate sex and I really didn't have the stomach for it. I had already closed the door on our marriage and now I was just marking time until it was necessary for me to confront her. These had not been good weeks in the Tyler household.

I had stayed close to Brandon and Candice. I wanted them to keep their spirits up as well as their acting. So far they had been very good at behaving normally. I also kept them informed of what was going on with our lawyer. The time was drawing near when it would all come to a head.

"Norm, I'd like to meet with your son and daughter," Margaret began. "I'd like to talk to them about what's happening and how they feel about. I want to do that in private so that they aren't influenced by your presence. Are you okay with that?"