Deceiving Maria

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Early the next morning after breakfast with my parents, I stood quietly on the front porch, wondering where the day would take me after the revelations of the previous day.

On hearing the crunch of tyres on loose gravel, I looked up to see Russell Feldham's large Mercedes approaching ahead of a cloud of dust. Maria sat beside him and the two were engaged in animated conversation, continuing even when the car drew to a halt a few metres from where I stood.

I strode to the driver's door as Feldham emerged, ignoring his outstretched hand.

"What the hell do you want?" I snarled.

He returned a wistful smile and said: "I came to return something that belongs to you."

He turned to the back of the car, retrieving two large suitcases and placed them at my feet. I looked on, puzzled, failing to notice that Maria had emerged from the passenger side of the car. Russell returned to the driver's seat, fired up the 'Benz' and reversed sharply away before swinging the big car back onto the track and disappearing in another cloud of dust, leaving his wife standing beside me.

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Epilogue:

Russell never spoke to his mother again, not even when she was diagnosed with cancer a few months after their estrangement. Maria's mother suffered a different punishment. Her husband was disgusted with what she had done and the two argued constantly. When the news became public, as it was destined to do in a small community, she was shunned by all her friends. Eventually the pressure became too much, they divorced and she never had the opportunity of seeing her grandchildren growing up.

The parish priest annulled the marriage with the blessing of the bishop in the city, leaving Maria free to marry again -- this time for love.

After I completed my internship, Maria and I bought the abandoned bank building and manager's house in town, converting it into a veterinary base with a livestock yard behind. The first few years were tough, but I was accustomed to financial hardship and we made do -- even when the first of our three children came along. As my reputation grew, the practice thrived, to the extent that farmers from miles away brought their livestock to me for treatment.

These days I work a couple of days a week, overseeing the team of the four vets who now run the practice, one of whom is our eldest daughter. Our son runs the farm with his wife and two children. It is now turning a nice profit since he specialized in rearing llamas.

Me, well I play a bit of golf and spend as much time as I can with Maria and our grandchildren.

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Thank you for reading!