Childless: A Novel Read Free

then I said I don’t feel like he wants me the way he did when he first moved in. I tried to be strong because he gets mad when I cry. So I took a deep breath before asking him if he had slept with other women.
    “He didn’t get mad. He didn’t react at all. He just turned slowly toward me and said, ‘It’s none of your business who I sleep with. And no, I don’t want you like I did before.’
    “I felt like a knife went into my heart. I ran to the bedroom and cried myself to sleep.
    “Well, you can imagine my surprise when he woke me a few hours later to say he wanted to make love. I was so happy. When we finished he began to fall asleep. I cuddled in close and whispered in his ear that I will always love him, no matter what.”
    Same song, hundredth verse , Tyler thought, a needy woman grasping for an apathetic man like a drunk caressing an empty bottle . Tyler saw what Naomi refused to accept. Davey didn’t love his partner the way she hoped for or deserved. He merely enjoyed their living arrangement and the on-demand sex afforded by a girl sleeping twelve inches away. But Naomi had invested too much of herself in the relationship to let him go. Better to keep a small part of Davey than lose all of herself.
    “Anyway,” the message continued, “I paid your invoice and I thank you for your hard work. I suppose it’s possible that Davey made a mistake, possibly even slept with someone once. But I still think we have something special and I’m choosing to hope for the best. I don’t know what I’d do without him. You’re a very nice man, Mr. Cain. Your girlfriend is a lucky gal.”
    The comment reminded Tyler that he hadn’t yet made dinner plans to celebrate his girlfriend’s good fortune. She insisted they do something special every August seventeenth, the day they had met, in lieu of a nonexistent wedding anniversary.
    Three years with one woman , he marveled.
    Two more than I intended , he thought with a sigh.
    This relationship, like his prior three, should have ended after a sensible nine or ten months, when infatuation wanes and daily habits annoy. Both happened with Renee after fifteen months, about the same time he found himself short on capital and scrambling for clients.
    “I’ll cosign,” she had offered supportively when Tyler confessed his inadequate credit. Renee would have done anything for her man. Still would. So the relationship expanded from that of while-love-lasts lovers into that of until-the-loan-gets-paid business partners.
    What made him most nervous was Renee’s recent comment about her biological clock. As if afraid of a ticking bomb, the thought made him want to get away. Despite cutting corners and pinching pennies, however, he had only managed to pay down the outstanding balance on their joint loan by a few thousand dollars. It would be two more bottom-feeding years before he could retire the loan, before he’d feel right easing out of the relationship.
    After tapping the DELETE MESSAGE icon Tyler typed and sent a brief note.
    Hi Naomi:
    I just got your message and wanted to wish you well. Thanks for sending payment. While I hope it won’t be necessary, I am available if you or any of your friends find yourself in need of investigative services in future days.
    Warm regards,
Tyler Cain, PI
P.S. Davey is lucky to have you.
    Tyler felt a sudden urge to stretch his legs. He hesitated, concerned the distraction could cause him to miss the woman’s exit. Checking the time, he noticed twenty minutes had passed. He had always called arranged hookups the illicit counterpart of drive-through fast food. Transaction and consumption occur quickly. But he figured the two would spend time getting acquainted before going through the motions of awkward foreplay, hesitant passion, and the rest. Perhaps another fifteen or twenty minutes. Tyler decided to take a chance. He exited the car to cool in the shade of a nearby tree.
    That’s when he received a call from Greg Smith, the one man