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Ron…or Rob…hell, whatever his name was…became business partners.  At some point, Jake decided he’d confess his long-pent up feelings to the other woman.”  Melissa shrugged and said, “I guess she felt the same.”
    “Holy shit!  What kind of asshole marries one woman while he’s in love with another?”  I’d already heard enough, but Melissa wasn’t through.
    “Well, it gets worse.  Not only did they have an affair, but she got pregnant.”
    “What the fuck?”
    “Yeah, Claire had to face the fact that the man she’d been married to for nearly twenty years was finally getting the woman he’d always loved.  And they were having a baby together.”
    “So, she’s what?  Moving here to start over?”
    “Yes, and out of all of this, Claire, from what I understand, has been pretty damn great about not killing the bastard.  I think they’re still pretty close.  She lets it slip every now and then about a text or phone call from Jake.”
    “Do you think he’s playing her?  You know, trying to keep a foot in the door in case that ‘green grass’ isn’t what he thought it would be?”  I could feel my anger building. 
    “No, I don’t think so.  I mean, she refused to move back to Texas even though it would have been easier for her there.  No, she chose to start over here, in a new place far away from Jake.”
    “Hmm…still bothers me and I don’t even know the guy…or Claire, really.”  I was more than bothered by it.  The whole situation reminded me of Abbi.  She had toyed with my emotions and fucked with my head for years.  I knew that game all too well, unfortunately.  And I suddenly had the urge to play protector with my new ‘friend.’  I needed to pay closer attention to things Claire said about this Jake guy.
    “You need to be nice.  She’s a great therapist and she’s my friend.  I hired her back in the summer and have gotten to know her pretty well.”
    “I am.  I will.  Promise.  I saw her yesterday and we had a good session.  I apologized for being a douche and she accepted.  I knew there was something.  And the way she just sort of blurted out bits of her life to me, made me feel like she was genuine.  Been a long time since I’ve been around a genuine woman that wasn’t kin to me.”  I smirked at my sister.
    “So what did she tell you?”
    “Just that she was recently divorced, her kids were in Texas with her ex and she let it slip that she hated being alone over the holidays.”
    “I understand.  It’s hard starting over, especially in a brand new place.”  And Melissa did understand.  She’d fallen for her college guy only to be dumped and humiliated three days before their wedding.  That asshole could barely walk, speak or chew by the time our two brothers, my football buddies and I finished with him.  Last I’d heard, he was selling used cars somewhere around Phoenix. 
    “But having kids makes it complicated.”  Melissa interrupted my thoughts.
    “How old are they?  I didn’t ask yesterday.”
    “I her oldest, Matt is a senior this year…so maybe 17?  Then, she has twins that are maybe 15, Jenna and Jon.”
    “Wow, really?  She looks young.”
    “Hey asshole!  She’s only four or five years older than you and you have NO KIDS!”
    “Thanks for the reminder.”  The ‘kid’ thing was a sensitive issue for me.  I’d wanted them the second I married Abbi.  But excuse after excuse kept us from really trying.  Of course, in hindsight, I was grateful.  I didn’t want to share anything with her and she was too selfish to care about anyone but herself.  Still, I would’ve liked to have been a dad.
    “Did you hear me?”  Melissa was irritated.
    “No, what?”
    “I said please don’t be a jackass and repeat this to her or anyone here at the office.  She only lets small bits of information leak out every now and then.  She told me in a moment of weakness, I think.  She was having a tough day and I pushed too