Dear John Ch. 02

This chapter further deals with Sandys abandonment. There is no sex but any sex described within this story would be between two consenting adults of at least 18 years of age. I hope you enjoy. Please vote and any constructive criticism is encouraged.

***

Finishing my beer I decided that Sunny had to be told. Even though it was the middle of the week I would take her out of school for a few days. Maybe together we could work through the devastating series of events that had just occurred. My beer consumption precluded me driving to pick her up so I called Cindy's mom and asked if she could drop Sunny off when they were through studying. Cindy's mom Karen said they were just finishing and she would bring Sunny home on the way into town for her weekly bridge night.

Hanging up the phone I sat at the kitchen table to schedule the following day. I grabbed a pad of paper and started my list.

First I would call work and schedule the rest of the week off. Next I would arrange for Sunny the same time off from school. I wanted her to be as involved as I was because this was her mother that had just removed herself from our lives.

Next would be a visit to her attorney. I looked at the card she had left me and recognised the name. Dewey Slocum and Howe more commonly known in divorce cases as 'do we screw em and how' these guys were commonly known as the go to sharks if you wanted a divorce and wanted to take your mate to the cleaners. They usually got most of their client's wishes and over the top judgments for their client's were the norm. These guys were real sharks so I was happy to note that my 'loving wife' had been so generous and had asked for nothing in return.

Next I felt I should retain my own attorney in case something wasn't right. Also, for advice on this whole situation, I needed a professional to advise me. I wasn't very knowledgeable on family law in general and certainly not on divorces in particular. I grabbed our old phone book and checked the ones that listed family law in their references. I quickly found the name of a woman that I had went to high school with and even dated a few times listed so Angela Wilson got the nod because we would at least have something in common. I thought back to those high school years and our few dates. We had never dated seriously and when I discovered that Angela wouldn't be giving up any pussy I had moved on to the next conquest. We had parted amicably though, both of us moved on with no hard feelings. I had not seen Angela since high school. Back then she had short mousy brown hair, 5' 4" about 110 lbs with small boobs but a nice ass.

Next I started a list of anyone that knew Sandy, both professionally and personally. Her family was first. Her parents had been killed in a house fire 10 years before. Her only close family was a younger lesbian sister married to her 'life mate' living across the country in Seattle. Alexa and Sandy had once been close but as far as I knew hadn't been in contact with each other in years.

I knew of only one coworker that Sandy had any contact with outside of work. Debbie was an attractive widow. 5' 8" maybe 150 lbs blonde hair and blue eyes. Her curves were in all the right places. Her husband Vince had been killed by an enraged husband when he walked in on Vince and his wife while they were fucking. The husband shot him in the balls from behind and the bullet went through his nut sack, exploding his balls, and into his wife's abdomen at an angle severing her spine. The enraged hubby then pulled a screaming Vince onto the floor where a bullet between his eyes killed him. Really gruesome scene I had heard. His wife was permanently disabled with no feeling below her waist and the hubby was convicted of murder and other gun related charges. Now he was behind bars for the rest of his life. Too bad really. They had a little girl Sunny's age, now with no dad and a disabled mom.

So I had a very short list. Alexa and Debbie. I would discreetly ask around the neighborhood but I had a feeling that would be a dead end. We were not close to any neighbors, never had much occasion to socialize with them but you never know. Someone may have seen something.

Debbie might know of any workplace hanky panky but I wasn't encouraged there either. By the tone of her letter Sandy had been very discreet with her other life and planning her exit strategy. I suspected that Debbie wouldn't know if anything had been going on.

You might wonder at this point why I was looking at my wife's abandonment in such a cold manner. Well to be honest I was torn up inside. I had this huge balled up hurt in my gut. I couldn't describe the feeling exactly but it kind of felt like I had been kicked in the stomach by a Missouri mule. I was hurting bad, real bad. While our marriage hadn't been perfect, no one has a perfect marriage, I didn't think I deserved what she had done. But I was looking at her action in a pragmatic way also. Neither of us had ever been a dominant presence in our marriage. I had always felt that we were equal partners, always supporting the others decisions and sharing everything including household chores and child raising. If this action was her way of expressing a discontent or lack of something in our relationship and she wanted out I would let her have it. After all if she wanted to cheat, and she had admitted that she had cheated for at least 6 months, who was I to demand that she had to unfuck her lover. How could I stop her if she wanted to continue to take a lover? I couldn't or wouldn't make her account for every second of every day. Trust had to be a two way street. No, if this affair had gone as far as it had, as hard as it was for me to admit it, she was welcome to whatever she had in store for the rest of her life.

Did she have to be so fucking cold blooded though?

I was lost in deep thought remembering our life together when I heard the car door slam. Sunny must be home. I suddenly felt a fear for her. How would she handle this separation from her mom?

The door slammed open and my beautiful 13 year old rushed inside all books, backpack, loud giggling on her phone and, "Hi dad, where's mom? I just gotta go shopping for a new phone. Mine locked up twice today. Oh, Karen wants a recipe for some kind of dessert that mom has a recipe for she's coming in now. Here she is. I'm going to my room. Bye," she blurted out in almost one sentence.

Cindys mom, Karen, came shyly into the kitchen and said, "God, I don't know where they get the energy from. This has been nonstop since Cindy and Sunny came in from school. John what's wrong? You look white as a sheet," she suddenly looked concerned.

I didn't know Karen all that well and quickly debated as to if I would share my situation. Sandy and Karen were acquaintances brought together by our two daughters but Karen had always seemed a kind and caring woman. I quickly came to the conclusion that she would know soon anyway so I said, "Please sit down Karen, I have something I need to share with someone." She sat with a bewildered look and said again, "John what's wrong. You are scaring me. Did someone die? Is it Sandy John? It is her isn't it John. Was Sandy killed today?"

"Karen no one was killed or died but in a manner of speaking what happened was just as bad," I said as I slowly slid the letter in front of her.

She quickly read my 'Dear John' letter. She gasped out "Oh my dear god" half way through the letter. By the end her tears were dripping onto the table. She read the letter again slowly a second time. When she finished the second reading she broke down and just sobbed out loud and rushed over to my chair. "Oh John I'm so sorry! You poor man. You must be devastated." She stood in front of my chair and sobbed into the top of my head while she squished her generous sized boobs into my face.

"What will you do now? Are you going to find her? What if she didn't go willingly?" She asked.

I didn't consider the possibility that she may have written this under duress. Could it all be a lie? Fabricated to put me off the trail of an abduction? If in fact she had written this but not meant it, was it all a lie? Parts? If so which parts?

"I don't know yet Karen. Should I tell Sunny now? After all this is her mom we are talking about. If not now then how do I explain the absence of Sandy so suddenly? She was here this morning in a good mood, talking about the vacation we had planned when Sunny finished school this summer."

"I'm surprised that Sunny hasn't asked already since she got here tonight. Sandy never traveled alone before so that won't work for an excuse. The only relative she has alive is her sister and she is over 1,000 miles away."

"Sunny is a good level headed girl John. She isn't an airhead like some of those girls in her class. It's your call but I think she should be able to handle this. In fact, perish the thought, but she might be able to shed some light on her mother's actions."

"Do you believe that Karen?" I wanted to know.

"No but you can't leave any stone unturned. I think she would respect you more if she is involved from the beginning. Would you like me to stay here with you when you talk to her? Sometimes a mother figure helps with the shock," Karens face paled at what she had just said. "I'm so sorry for that John. It just came out."

"No don't apologize. You are right. Someone besides myself should be here. She likes you and respects you so you would be a good choice for support. I'll get her now."

I went to Sunnys room and took a deep breath then knocked on her door. "It's open dad come on in." I opened her door and peeked in. She was lying on her stomach on her bed texting.

"Sunny would you please come into the kitchen?"

She grabbed her phone and started following me. I said, "Honey could you leave the phone here. I don't want any distractions when we talk."

She looked at me and saw the serious look on my face, not like I was angry but something not good.

"Dad what's wrong? You look sick or something."

"Just come into the kitchen please," I said.

"Ok daddy. But why the serious face? Did I do something wrong? Am I in trouble?" She was sounding worried.

"Just come into the kitchen please." I repeated.

Sunny was surprised that Karen was still in the kitchen and seemed upset also. "Mrs. Fisher why are you still here? Couldn't you find the recipe?"

Karen just sat in her chair with a pained look on her face, tears running down her face. I took over the conversation.

"Baby I have something to show you then I will ask you some questions," I said as I gave the letter to her.

Sunny started to read the letter but before she finished her face literally turned white. She looked up at me and asked, "Daddy what is this about? What happened to mom?"

"Honey just read the whole letter before asking me anything." I felt a lump in my throat and my eyes were bleary with my tears. She put her head back down and started reading again. I could see the tears dripping on her blouse as her world came crashing down. I thought to myself that no young child should have to endure what my sweet daughter had in store for her. Karen got up from her chair and sat next to Sunny and put her arms over her shoulders and hugged her. Both of them had rivulets of tears running down their cheeks. I headed to the bathroom for a box of tissues.

As I was walking back to the kitchen I heard a wailing, agonising cry, "MOM WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US! WHY?" Sunny was inconsolable. She had her face stuffed into Karen's ample chest while she held her in sympathy. Both were sobbing. I couldn't stop myself from joining them as my tears ran down my cheeks. I tore out a handful of tissues and handed them to Karen. She looked up at me. I couldn't identify the look in her eyes. Sympathy? Pitty? Anger? What? I felt that she was as devastated as my daughter and I were.

Karens phone suddenly started emitting a shrill hard rock ringtone and she picked her phone up. "I'm sorry but I have to take this call," she said swiping the screen. "Hello? Yeah I'm sorry but something important just came up and I won't be there tonight." she listened briefly. "No you won't. Because I said so. Ok then have it your way. Never again, understand?" her voice hardened as she said the last. "Don't call this number ever again. No I won't. Have a shitty life." With the last she swiped her phone to terminate the call and threw it onto the table. Then she wiped her eyes again and blew her nose. Sunny had calmed down briefly and asked her who the call was from.

"Just someone that I have been seeing sweetie. I don't know why he lasted as long as he did but he is history now. Cindy didn't know because I was never sure if we had anything. That's why I told her I was going to bridge. I'm glad that he turned into an asshole so quickly though because that made my decision to stop seeing him so much easier. Don't worry about my problems though. You two have enough on your plate." She looked at me while holding Sunny. "John what are you going to do now?"

I thought briefly and said," Tomorrow I am taking the rest of the week off to deal with the attorney. I found an old friend to handle my side and hopefully find some answers. Like how and why a wife and mother can justify total abandonment of her husband and daughter and just walk out on her entire life. Then I want to check into my finances. According to the letter I have been enriched substantially by her. If all that is true I want to open new accounts so if she changes her mind someday she can't access the money."

"Dad you can't do that to her. What if she finds out that she really doesn't want to leave us? How will she get home with no money if she wants to come home?" Sunny made a good point but if in fact she had been carrying on a clandestine affair for a year, even if she hadn't been intimate until the last 6 months, I wouldn't want her back. A one time mistake in the heat of the moment or even a short misguided affair might be forgiven. Maybe. A year long affair was unforgivable even if nothing had happened for the first 6 months.

"Ok Sunny I will leave an account at our old bank with our previous account number with $5,000 in it. I will put it in mine and your mom's name. I won't change the password so if in the future she needs the money to come home, she will have access to it. I will say this though and don't try to change my mind, if your mother ever does come back she will need a very good excuse for what she did. Buyer's remorse won't work. Neither will boredom, blackmail, drugs or alcohol. About the only excuse she might give that I could accept would be forced abduction and I don't believe at this time that she was kidnaped."

"That's acceptable I guess," my daughter said.

"Ok here is my plan. Tomorrow we, you and I, will go see this attorney that your mom says has the divorce paperwork. Then we will go see an attorney that I know that handles family law. When all the legal stuff is done we will go to the bank to do all the banking. You, Sunny will be off school for the rest of the week so we can get our heads on straight and deal with the world again. Any questions?"

Karen spoke up. "John I want to help. You two will need someone to take care of your shopping, cooking, house cleaning and to make sure that you two don't fall apart or self destruct. I remember how devastated I was when my ex left me. I didn't have a clue that he was so into the drugs and crack whores so I understand how you two must feel. Please let me help."

"Yeah dad let her help us." Sunny piped up.

"John I still have all my vacation I can take some time off from work so money will not be a problem. Please John?"

I had to admit that Karen would be the perfect candidate for the help she was offering. She had survived essentially the same thing with her ex husband. "Okay Karen I'll accept whatever help you can offer but you must promise that your homelife won't suffer and that includes Cindy. I don't want you to become so engrossed in my family that you neglect yours. I'm serious here. I will not allow you to let your little girl become a latch key kid because you are helping us."