One of the Wicked: A Mick Callahan Novel Read Free

might be able to coach you through. But believe me, the odds are not good."
    I had his full attention. I bored in further. "Also, she is too young, Quentin. I tell men that if a woman is under thirty she's too small, throw her back. Let's do the math. When you are sixty, she will be thirty-four, so when you're seventy, only forty-four. I've seen people beat this one, but it is rough. And the most likely outcome is that she'll eventually leave you for someone younger, and you'll have a heavy burden to carry."
    "You're probably right." I wasn't telling Quentin anything he didn't already know. It just helped to have it coming from the outside. That made it a bit easier for him to focus on the truth.
    "When we drift into an affair, it is usually because we've ignored the signs that our marriage has gone off the tracks. We feel so disconnected from our spouse that we withdraw that mysterious spark of attachment and allow it to begin to flicker elsewhere."
    "Yes." He closed his eyes as if to soak in that idea.
    "You probably started with harmless flirtation, right? Then some private time and sharing personal information you would otherwise have held back. And being in the same church group created a kind of false intimacy. You stopped talking to your wife about the things that matter. A crush became an emotional affair and then finally sex. But what if the proper connections had been nurtured months or years ago? What then? You've had crushes before, but never allowed an affair to start, right?"
    "There was a woman in the choir maybe ten years ago," Quentin said. "She was married, too. We talked about it, but never did anything. She and her husband went into therapy."
    "I rest my case. She did the right thing. And it would have been smart for you to have followed in her footsteps back then, for your own sake. Once the communication clears up, we often rediscover why we're together and save things."
    "I don't like hearing this, but I get your drift."
    "What I'm saying is that it's generally more about the problems in the existing relationship than the appropriateness or desirability of the third party in a triangle. There's still a chance you can fix this thing."
    "You've seen it work out?"
    "Lots of times." And that was the truth. People constantly amaze me with their resiliency and capacity for change. In fact, that's what keeps the work so interesting and rewarding.
    "Can we still be friends, Mick?"
    "After this?" I shook my head. "No. My advice is to lose her phone number. Send no E-mails, arrange no more meetings."
    "That seems cold."
    "Every young woman has read a dozen articles warning her not to get involved with a married man because he usually stays with his wife. Her friends will spank her and remind her that what she did was foolish and wrong."
    "I can never speak to her again?"
    "If you want to call her once to tell her you're going into therapy to try and save your marriage, keep it brief and not romantic in any way. Believe me, if she really cares about you, she'll get it. She may even be relieved."
    Quentin cocked his head. "I don't understand that remark."
    "People have affairs for lots of reasons. One reason younger women pursue older men who are married is a buried wish to take Daddy away from Mommy."
    "Ouch."
    I stared at him. Quentin's face was pink with shame. He'd deserved it. "Our time is up, Quentin. You have the card I gave you? Joan is a good marital therapist. Call her, set something up and take your wife in for a few appointments." I also told him about a book by John Gottman, PhD that I often recommended. Quentin found some tissues and wiped the tears from his face. His jaw settled. He looked like a man on a mission.
    "Do I ever tell my wife about the girl?"
    Now just "the girl," no first name. We'd won some ground. "That's another one I can't answer for certain, but my gut feeling is no. I'd just keep your mouth shut. It doesn't seem fair to unburden your conscience at her expense, especially if you