The Sunshine Potluck Society

Chapter 27

Gwen hobbled across Joanna’s den and sat on the couch with a grunt. “This boot is really quite annoying.”

Joanna set a glass of pinot noir down in front of her. “I’ll bet it is. Let’s hope they can remove it soon.”

“Three more weeks,” Gwen said as she picked up the wine glass.

“You can do it,” Debbie replied. She sipped at the wine in her hand. “Three weeks will fly by.”

“I’m grateful at least that it’s not plaster like in the good old days.”

“That is a blessing,” Joanna replied with a nod. “And how are things going with Duncan?”

Gwen didn’t know how to answer that. Her friends would be disappointed that she hadn’t pushed harder about the perfume on the shirt, or that she hadn’t looked through his phone. But that just wasn’t her. She wasn’t comfortable with confrontation or with snooping.

“I suppose it’s all fine. He’s been helping out a little more around the house. Although I doubt it will last.”

“And did you find anything in his emails?” Debbie asked.

“I haven’t looked. Honestly, I can’t imagine he’d be unfaithful.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, I’m not sure. We don’t spend much time together. We haven’t been intimate in years. He doesn’t seem particularly interested in me anymore, other than as his companion and housekeeper.”

“How romantic,” Joanna said in a dry tone.

“Where is he now?” Debbie asked.

“He’s at work—he’ll probably be on his way to the gym shortly. He goes right after work. Then sometimes he has a drink with friends and comes home at around seven for dinner.”

“It sounds like he has a healthy social life,” Joanna said.

“But without including you, his wife,” Debbie added.

“I’ve asked if I could go to the gym with him, but he says it’s his alone time.”

“And you fell for that?” Joanna said.

“You’re feeling feisty today, I see,” Gwen replied with a roll of the eyes. “Yes, I took him at his word. If he needs alone time, I’m not going to stop him.”

“But how much alone time can one man need? It seems selfish to me. You’re at home all the time, taking care of your children and now grandchildren. You don’t get out much. But he needs time to himself after work, and then with friends, but not with you? That sounds fishy to me,” Debbie stated. “I think you should surprise him at the gym. Get on your workout gear and show up to exercise with him. It might be romantic.”

“Or it could be a disaster,” Joanna added.

“That too,” Debbie agreed.

“But at least I’d know if he wanted me around or not, I suppose,” Gwen replied. “I can’t exactly work out, given the state of my ankle. But I could show up at the gym to spend time with him. Maybe take him out for a drink myself instead of him waiting to go with friends after his workout.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Debbie said. “If you want things to change in your relationship, you’ve got to change the cycle. That’s what I did. I stayed home, made dinner and forced my husband to talk to me about what was wrong.”

“And did he?” Joanna asked.

“He did. It was hard and emotional. He shared that he’s struggled ever since the miscarriage.”

“Boy! That was a long time ago,” Gwen said. “But I can understand that must’ve been hard for him. For both of you.”

“We should’ve talked about it together,” Debbie said. “But we were both hurting and trying to be strong for the other one, and we brushed it under the rug.”

“You’re talking now, and that’s what matters,” Joanna said.

“Yes, it is,” Debbie agreed. “And I think that’s what you should do with Duncan. Show up at the gym, whisk him away for drinks, change the cycle of behaviour you’ve gotten into. You’re in a rut. You need to get some romance and connection back in your relationship.”

“I can’t believe you made us come with you,” Joanna grumbled as she held on to the car door. Gwen knew Joanna got carsick, but she didn’t have time to think about that right now. She had more important things to focus on, like the fact that her boot kept knocking into the brake pedal.

“You didn’t have to come,” Gwen countered as she steered her car around a roundabout. “You said you didn’t want to miss out.”

“Are you supposed to be driving with a broken ankle?” Debbie asked.

“It’s fine,” Gwen said. “It’s my left foot that’s the issue. My right foot is perfect.”

Gwen was feeling nervous. What would Duncan say? She’d asked Debbie and Joanna to accompany her to the gym because she had a feeling Duncan would tell her he wanted to finish his workout and go home, and that she was being silly for suggesting anything else. And if he did that, she needed her friends with her so she could laugh it off and go do something fun together. If they weren’t there, she would sit in her car and cry while thinking about how she didn’t know what to do to save her marriage.

There was a lot riding on this.

“You know, if he’s not there, or he doesn’t want to go out with you, we’ll just grab some drinks together. I saw this really great place nearby that I’ve been meaning to try out, but I’ve just been too busy,” Debbie said. “This is the perfect time to do that.”

Gwen slowed as the car neared the gym. “Hmmm… Okay.” She was looking about the car park frantically, hoping to spot Duncan’s BMW. If it was parked, that meant he was already working out and she’d have to wait. That would be a relief, really. She and her friends could grab a drink, and then she could catch her husband on his way home.

“Do you see his car?” Joanna asked, craning her neck to look around Debbie’s seat.

Gwen shook her head. “It’s pretty early. He may not be here yet.” She pulled into a parking space and switched off the car. “We can wait a little while. He loves a strict routine, so he shouldn’t be long.”

She turned on the radio. Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” came on. “Oh, I love this song.” Gwen started to sing along to the lyrics. And soon all three of them were shouting out the words at the top of their lungs as they bopped about in their seats.

This was one of the things Gwen adored about her friends. When things were tough, they were always there for her and knew exactly what she needed. They could be silly and sing together like they were teenagers all over again, and it filled her heart. Beneath the surface, an understanding loomed—her marriage was in trouble. It was a realisation she’d been avoiding for too long.

The front doors of the gym were glass. She could see some of the workout equipment in the background. A young woman stood outside the doors wearing yoga pants, a crop top and a bag slung over one shoulder. She played with her phone, hair slipping forward to partially obscure her face.

The song came to an end, and Gwen turned down the radio. “We should go. I don’t know what I was thinking. If Duncan sees me here, he’ll think I’ve lost my mind.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Joanna suggested. “It might make him realise it’s time for a change.”

Gwen glanced in her rearview mirror and noticed a black BMW pull into a parking space behind them. Duncan climbed out of the driver’s side door with a black backpack. He wore a buttoned shirt, a tie and a pair of navy slacks. He must’ve seen her because he waved in her direction and then jogged across the road towards her car. She was about to open the door to greet him when he ran right by and onto the footpath.

The woman in the yoga pants glanced up at him and smiled. Gwen’s heart froze. Yoga Pants Woman put her phone in a pocket and reached up her arms to encircle Duncan’s neck. His own hands slipped around her slim waist. He leaned in and kissed her on the mouth.

“Is that Duncan?” Debbie asked from the passenger seat.

Gwen couldn’t answer. Her voice caught in her throat.

Joanna leaned forward. “Is he kissing that woman?”

“Oh, no,” Debbie whispered.

Gwen didn’t move. Her throat was so painful, it felt as though a rock was lodged in it. She wanted to scream, to cry, to do something. Instead, she pulled her phone out of her purse and snapped a photo of her husband kissing a stranger.

“What are you doing?” Joanna asked, aghast.

“I’m going to show this to him, and then we can finally have a real conversation,” Gwen said. She was amazed at how calm she sounded. She didn’t feel that way on the inside. Inside, she was wailing and beating her fists against the walls that surrounded her.

“Are you going to say something to him now?” Debbie asked gently.

Gwen shook her head. She watched as Duncan and the woman walked into the gym through the automatic glass doors. “No, I’ll speak to him at home. There’s no point making a scene. I don’t have the strength for it.”

They drove back to Joanna’s house, where Gwen dropped her and Debbie at the curb. She couldn’t bring herself to go inside.

“Come in for a drink, honey,” Joanna said. “I have a divine chocolate torte I made as well. It’ll do the trick.”

“No, thanks, Jo. I need to be alone,” she replied.

As she drove away, she could see Debbie and Joanna watching her in the rearview mirror. They looked worried. She turned her attention to the road, and her fingers clenched around the steering wheel. What would she do? Duncan was having an affair. She’d suspected it for a while but hadn’t really believed it was true. Being faced with the evidence had taken her breath away. He’d been her world for so long, she couldn’t remember who she was before he came along. There was no clear way forward. She wished she didn’t know. It was better when she was ignorant and naive, living in her big house and watching the grandkids every other day, completely ignorant of the fact that her life was a lie.

She pulled her car into the garage and sat still while the door whirred shut. Then she hobbled into the house and collapsed into her bed. She pulled the covers up to her chin, curled onto her side and cried.