As the last leaves fell from the trees and the first hoary days of winter approached, Paulus sensed a change had come - something unwelcome. It felt at times as if Delaney was pulling away. He had nothing to back up his doubts so instead of investigating he decided to get more involved in family business.
While her mate took the kids out for walks and cleaned up the house more often, Delaney would surreptitiously meet with her lover. Sometimes she had no choice but to bring her daughter. While Niamh would play with her dolly Delaney would have her own... fun.
It is said that you can fool the people who work above you but never the ones who work below. Sooner or later, skeletons come out. In this case, it was the babysitter who passed a couple of photos to Paulus that he taken of Delaney and her lover.
Paulus wasn't sure what hurt worse - that his beloved had cheated or that his worries hadn't been groundless. While Delaney was out 'for a walk' Paulus burned dinner as he stared into space; wrestling with his emotions. What was he going to do?
That evening, Delaney came home to a burned dinner and a silent husband. The babysitter had taken the kids to a neighbour's. Delaney's heart sank. How had he found out? Who'd betrayed her to him?
In the bedroom she tried to explain herself. He put up a hand, his voice cold with anger. "Not a word. You've done enough."
The next morning Paulus began packing a suitcase while Delaney took one of the kids out for a walk.
"Mama? We go in now?"
"Not yet, angel. We'll take another turn around the block."
"Dada mad, Mama."
"I know, angel. Dada will be mad for a while."
No comments:
Post a Comment