She waited for him to say something like a child waiting for a reprimand.
He wanted to yell and curse at her for sneaking off in the night and was angry at himself for not having the courage to hear the truth. Only for the sake of his sick children did he struggle to keep his temper.
“This is the last time,” he said, his voice thick with warning. “You’re a married woman with children. What you’re doing… it stops tonight.”
She tried to hide her relief with a casual nod. “Of course. I told you I just—”
“I heard your excuse the first time. I’m telling you there won’t be another.” He didn’t wait for an answer. Cradling Felicity, he followed the sound of Samuel’s voice into the living room.
***
Four days later
The car was parked by a cliff, overlooking a moonlit sea. He’d stopped a few hundred feet down the road and walked the rest of the way. He didn’t want to give them any warning. As he got closer, he set the bag down. His fists and jaws were clenched as he picked up his pace. It was dark enough to obscure Caleb’s view. It didn’t matter. He’d seen enough to enrage him.
He threw the door open, reached in blindly and grabbed her arm.
Arianna yelped as he pulled her out. Miraculously, she kept her balance. Josh was next to exit, making quick steps, ready for a fight. He stopped cold when he saw Caleb. He held his hands up as Caleb barreled toward him.
“Hey, now, I don’t want any trouble.”
“Then you shouldn’t have talked to her,” Caleb said as he balled his fist and swung. He waited for Josh to get back up. He wouldn’t.
“Smart boy,” Caleb said.
Arianna hadn’t moved. Even though he had so much more to give Josh, he turned to deal with Arianna.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he seethed with a grip on her arm. He ducked his head to catch her eyes.
She looked anywhere but at him, scrapping for a shred of dignity or even a decent excuse. There was none. He’d caught her in another man’s automobile on a notoriously romantic bluff in the middle of the night.
“Nothing happened,” she said quietly, turning her head. She appeared to be bothered by the idea that Caleb would think otherwise.
“Nothing? You’re obviously stepping out on me and that’s nothing?”
“I meant—”
“It doesn’t matter what you meant. I can see this for what it is.” He let go of her arm in disgust. “And I can see you for what you are.”
She folded her arms, unfolded them, and took a step back, still avoiding his face.
“I’ve been under stress, Caleb. I just needed…”
“I’ll tell you what you need. You need to grow up. This behavior, this old you… there’s no room for it in this life.” He stepped closer. “There’s no room for it in my life. I warned you to stop this.”
He turned on his heel, and she nearly lost sight of him in the dark. After glancing at Josh, who was now standing safely on the other side of the vehicle, she sighed and began to follow Caleb. She didn’t have to walk far before he was coming back toward her.
Something heavy dropped at her feet.
“What’s that?”
“Your bag.”
Open-mouthed, she stared at it and then hurried after him.
“My bag?”
He ignored her.
“This is ridiculous, Caleb.”
He whirled around, furious. “What is ridiculous is that I am out at all hours searching for my wife who’s running around with other men! Sneaking off in the middle of the night! There are children and responsibilities at home!”
“Take me home, then!” she barked, looking at him for the first time.
He gestured to her bag sitting in the dirt. “No. Every choice comes with a consequence. And you made your choice tonight.”
She heard his truck fire up and he sped off leaving a plume of dirt and sand. With her clenched lips quivering, she turned just as Josh ducked into his car. She picked up her bag, gripping it tightly and fought tears. As she got close, the lights came on and she watched him drive off as well.
She stood in the lot for a long time, alone, staring out at the ocean. It was so quiet. She briefly considered walking toward the water. Across the dirt, over the edge and beyond. She laughed without humor. It wasn’t a big enough fall to do much but bruise anyway. She picked up her bag and began walking.
***
There were no lights on in the house, and by the time she made it back to the farm, clouds had moved in, stealing the moon’s light.
She crept up the stairs slowly, carefully, hoping they wouldn’t creak. They did. She extended a hand to the doorknob.
“What are you doing?”
Arianna’s heart jumped into her throat and she skittered back. She couldn’t see anyone in the shadows of the porch, but she knew Caleb’s voice. The swing creaked and groaned as it began to move under his weight.
“I’m tired,” she said weakly, desperately hoping to illicit some sympathy.
“Romeo didn’t even give you a lift home, eh?”
“He’s not…” She rolled her eyes. “He’s gone. For good.”
“Sure,” Caleb said softly. “Until the next time you get stressed.”
“That’s not fair,” she said.
He laughed. “You have a strange sense of what’s fair in a relationship.”
“I’m sorry, Caleb.” She sounded tense, forced.
“I don’t want your apologies anymore.” The swing stopped and he stood. “I already told you, there’s no room for this now.”
“Then I’ll stop,” she said, exhausted to her core. “I’ll stay home. I won’t go to the club anymore. I’ll… behave.”
“No, you won’t,” he said sadly.
“I will. I just… went a little crazy.”
“I thought you’d changed.”
“I have. You’ll see, things will be different, I promise.” Her voice was sincere now, if not for love’s sake, for the sake that she sincerely wanted to fall into her own bed.
He was close to her now. There was nothing tense in his posture, nothing angry in his voice, and she waited for him to take her into his arms. All would be forgiven and they’d move on.
“Things will be different now, Arianna. You haven’t changed. But I have.” He walked around her, into the house and closed the door. A second later, she heard him latch the lock. Slumping into a pile on the porch, she began to cry.
***
The first thing she noticed was the smell of shit. Which animal’s shit, she wasn’t sure. The smell was everywhere. Wrinkling her nose with a groan, the next thing she noticed was a sharp blade of light shining right into her eyes. And third, the muzzle of a very curious horse hovering over her face.
“Why Mommy there, Daddy?” Samuel asked.
Arianna hurried up on one elbow, squinting. Hay decorated her wild, dark locks.
“Because she wanted to sleep there, Sam,” Caleb said. “Watch your baby sister while I work.”
The children were huddled close inside a wheelbarrow, parked by the workbench. Caleb didn’t say a word to her as he grabbed the pitchfork and began mucking out the pig stall.
Arianna stumbled to her feet. “I can take them inside and…”
“No.” Caleb held out his hand. “They’re fine.”
“They need breakfast—”
“Already fed them,” he said and aggressively threw a pile of hay aside.
“Then they need baths.”
“I did that, too.”
She held the wooden post of the horse’s stall and looked at her children. They stared back, curious and unsure. None of them reached out to her, none of them called for her. One by one, their eyes went to their father and stayed there.
“I can—”
“I thought I made it clear what you were to do last night.” Caleb turned sharply, with a concerned glance to his children. He had to choose his words carefully in front of them. �
��Just do us all a favor.” He jerked his head to the door.
The shock of being thrown out of her own home hit her again. Unlike last night, she was inclined to believe he was serious.
“Where am I supposed to go?” she asked, serious, sober.
He faced her and leaned on his pitchfork. “You’ve made some new friends. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind seeing you again.” He noticed Samuel and Savrene’s eyes moving between them as they spoke.
“Or your parents. That’s where you were headed the last time, remember?”
Both his posture and voice showed he was even angrier this morning, and it was only for the children’s sake he was showing restraint.
“I don’t want to…” she said quietly. He stopped and glared at her.
“Don’t make me say it in front of them. They’ll remember it forever. Don’t be that selfish.”
She batted her eyes against tears. “Can I clean up first?” she asked.
“You know where the well is,” he said, resuming his work.
“Can I clean up in the bathroom… Please?”
With a sharp nod, he didn’t look at her.
***
As a favor, Jonathan picked Aryl up for the day’s work at Ruth’s. He was frowning when he walked out of his house, the first few buttons of his shirt undone. When he got in, he slammed the door too hard and Jonathan eyed him. He looked ragged as if he hadn’t slept a wink. He slumped in his seat, his hair messy, nearly in his eyes. Then he surprised Jonathan, pulling out a cigarette case.
“You mind?” he asked, digging out a match.
“Go ahead,” Jonathan said. He’d seen Aryl smoke off and on, didn’t think anything of it. There was something about it today that bothered him. Was he struggling against the opiates again? Money? This month was good—which explained how he could afford the tobacco and papers. Maybe he was just enjoying a bit of extra cash.
“Want one?” Aryl offered after he lit his own.
“No, thanks.”
Aryl stuffed the case back into his shirt pocket. He rested his head back, but his eyes weren’t watching the scenery. The cigarette in his hand went from resting on his leg, to his mouth and back again all the way to Ruth’s.
Jonathan parked and walked around to where Aryl stood. “What’s wrong, Aryl? You haven’t been yourself for the last week.”
He shrugged it off, taking a long drag that finished the smoke before he stubbed it out.
“I had to break some really awful news to Caleb,” he said, not looking at him.
“What news?”
Aryl started to speak and then thought twice.
No. He wasn’t going to be like those gossiping hens, whispering secrets. They all knew, all the women knew and none of them said anything.
“You’ll have to ask him,” Aryl said and lumbered away.
It appeared that Ruth was using the excuse of checking her newly planted roses next to the front door in order to give them space. When Jonathan was alone, she approached.
“Is he all right?” she asked, hand up shielding against the bright sun.
“I don’t know.” He reached into the car and pulled out his gloves.
They watched Aryl swipe up the shovel, drag it behind him to the last of the bushes to be removed and stab it into the ground.
“You girls have been getting together lately to plan that party. Has Claire or Arianna seemed out of sorts?”
She turned, wiping the concern from her face with a bright smile. “It didn’t seem so, but then I haven’t seen them in over a week.”
He stopped mid-nod. “What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. They were here Wednesday, a week before last. We had tea, too many pastries, and even more fun planning. Oh, and Ava is working wonders with my dining room. She really is talented.”
Jonathan didn’t answer, his brows knit, making sure he remembered what Ava told him correctly.
“I was under the impression you were doing all the planning on Friday nights,” he said.
“No.” She shook her head. “My nanny goes home Friday afternoons for the weekend, so it’s better to meet mid-week. She watches all of them, sweet thing, so we can actually get something accomplished.”
He laughed without humor and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Ruth. I don’t mean to be stupid. But are you saying that you all have not been meeting here every Friday?”
“No. Jonathan, why?”
He pulled on his gloves with a jerk. “Nothing. I’d better get to work.”
She stepped back, concerned with his sudden shift in mood. “I’ll have lunch ready at noon,” she said. He nodded a silent thank you and went to join Aryl.
***
On the way home, Aryl smoked again and Jonathan joined him, both wearing heavy frowns.
“Did Claire tell you they were meeting at Ruth’s on Friday nights?” Jonathan asked suddenly, breaking the silence.
“No.”
Jonathan gripped the steering wheel harder.
“What did you have to tell Caleb?”
“I told you, you’ll have to ask him.”
“Since when do we keep secrets from each other, Aryl?” Jonathan was tempted enough to pull over and demand an answer.
“It’s not a secret. I’m just not going to gossip.” He’d finished his cigarette, threw it out the window, and lit another.
“It’s not gossip when you’re concerned about a friend.”
Aryl held firm, lost in his own worries.
Jonathan stopped in front of his house and Aryl got out quickly then turned around.
“Go to his place right now if you’re concerned. Who knows, maybe you can help them.”
With that cryptic statement, he walked away, not going inside his house, but around the side to the backyard. Jonathan watched him until he disappeared and then drove to Caleb’s house.
***
It was quiet, even for a Sunday. There was a proverbial dark cloud hanging over his house and even the animals seemed hesitant to make noise from their pens. No sooner had he parked, Caleb shot out the back door so fast, the screen slammed into the wall behind. Seeing Jonathan, he deflated.
“Hey, how are you?” Jonathan called, trying to figure out how to ask what really awful news Aryl had to deliver without being tacky.
Caleb looked terrible. Angry. Spun up as if awaiting a fight. Jonathan climbed the porch steps and stopped.
“Aryl tell you?” he asked.
“Aryl told me that he had to deliver some bad news. He wouldn’t say what.”
Caleb threw his hands in the air. “I’m surprised everyone in town doesn’t know. Amazed that Muzzy isn’t writing up a story on it right now.”
Jonathan followed him into the house. It was quiet. He could see one of the twin’s legs hanging off the sofa in a deep afternoon sleep. Felicity made small squeaks and gurgles from somewhere off in the corner. Caleb went to the icebox, cursed at the puddle forming below the door and threw down a towel.
“I swear to God, I’m going to buy an electric one this year,” he growled.
“I saw one down at the hardware store, second hand.”
Caleb ducked his head in and pulled out two long neck bottles. “If Arianna hadn’t been taking money out of savings, I could.” He set the bottles on the table. “I don’t know if this is any good. Traded rabbits for a dozen.” Jonathan pulled the cork and sniffed. It smelled of strong home-brewed beer. He took an experimental sip.
“That’s pretty good,” he said and took another.
Caleb threw his leg over the chair and sat with a thud. He finished half the bottle in one tilt.
“What happened?” Jonathan asked.
Caleb looked over, up and down. “She’s been seeing someone,” he said quietly.
The resulting silence was deafening and Jonathan scrambled for something to say. There was no consolation in situations like this. The most he could offer was a ray of hope.
“Are you sure? Maybe—”
“I caught her,” Caleb said, looking up quickly.
Jonathan nodded slowly and sipped again.
Okay, so hope was out.
“Where is she now?” Jonathan asked, looking over his shoulder.
As Caleb threw himself back against the chair, he shrugged. “Don’t know. I made her leave this morning.”
Jonathan grappled for words and found none. They drank, didn’t look at each other. The most he could do for Caleb now was just be here and wait until he was ready to talk.
“I caught her coming home in the middle of the night earlier this week. She said she’d been at a hooch house with some people she met. Aryl had already told me what he heard. I didn’t want to believe it, even when she stood there at two a.m. lying to me that she was with no one special, just having some drinks, getting away from it all.” He shook his head at his own weakness. “I couldn’t ask her outright. I didn’t want to hear the answer. Last night, I felt her get out of bed. I heard her sneak out the front door, so I got up and followed her. Followed her all the way to lover’s bluff.”
Jonathan cringed.
“Pulled her out, punched him, and handed her bag to her,” he said with finality.
“Maybe that’s what it will take for her to…”
“To what? Learn? No, those days are over. And so are we. I thought she was past all the drinking and running around, but she’s not. She never will be. Good riddance.”
“She was for a while. Are you sure it’s not something else?” Jonathan asked, leaning over his arms. “Even back in the day, she never went this far. Maybe Ethel’s death affected her more than you thought.”
Caleb frowned. “My mother died—so naturally, Arianna has an affair? That makes no sense.”
“During times of extreme stress, people don’t always make sense. Is there a possibility it could have been just an emotional affair?”
“What difference does it make?” Caleb asked.
Purling Road - the Complete Second Season: Episodes 1-10 Page 12