All Comments on 'Ghost'

Glad you are continuing to republish your old stories. They read just as well the second time around.

For putting this story up again as I missed it the first time.

Great piece as always. One small error I see is that cows don’t drop turds, they’re pies and I have first hand knowledge as I stepped in a lot as a farm kid. :-)

Hi Randi,could you please re-post Armadillo Crossing and the one about the ex-cia brother,sorry can't remember the title of that one.Liked both of those immensely. Cheers,Malcolm

This was a gripping drama and I was wrapped up in every word. As good as anything I've read. A great story from one of the best around. Five stars.

I've wanted to reread this for ages but it was gone.

Thank you

I just enjoyed it start to finish.

I don't feel like the husband was a coward. Therapy tells us to cut out toxic people. It's literally how you get through life. The girls, you could argue, were too young to understand the gravity of their taking sides. But they were almost legal adults. Two years from it. You could argue that the brain is still developing into a person's mid to late 20s, but they are emergent adults, not tiny children.

All these rationalizations make a ton of sense, but personal accountability is a thing. Only the husband seems truly accountable. That's not to say the women in his life didn't grow, own their mistakes, and learn! They absolutely did. But they use reasons as excuses. Only the husband is saying to himself, "that's not good enough, I made a choice that hurt others!" But that's biology. Women shit-test men. They gave him the ultimate shit-test. He passed. Toddlers do it too, mind you. But women do it to size up a man's self worth, to see how he ranks in society. If he accepted the infidelity, all these women would respect him less. Period. They'd also unconsciously treat him worse as a result. Him passing their accidental shit test, cuz the wife never planned on telling him, makes them absolutely adore him. His status, to them, is supreme. He is the ideal man because of his reaction. He doesn't see it that way, he feels horrible, but he's established that he has worth that he can take elsewhere if it's not appreciated.

I'm not disparaging women, this is just their darker nature. Men have their own unique biological nature. Men will lie, cheat, and steal to spread their seed. That's a man's darker nature. It's ugly as all get-out. Womanizers, rapists, abusing positions of power. Men that do this are blindly following a need to spread DNA, no adult control. The women in this story are following their dark nature (at first) That is hypergamy. No matter what the wife says, she was testing out other men to see if there was a higher status male to secure her DNA(children) better. She not only was disappointed with her choice, but engaged in shit-testing the husband just to make sure he truly was the ultimate mate for her. She didn't control her base emotions. Ghosting was such a brilliant story device because it's a way around our current societal cages. It's more like primitive times. Men, in today's society, are still vilified for their darker natures. But women get a pass, with laws and jargon designed to excuse their darker natures. In the past, however, a man that was cheated had many avenues society would give him to handle this. He could appeal to social morality, and have the cheating wife and womanizer shamed and punished rather than rewarded, or he could leave. "you want a better man? good luck finding him! bai Felecia! enjoy taking on my role of provider!"

there used to be GRAVE consequences for both men and women cheating, but nowadays only men are still vilified for it. some may argue about pendulums swinging, and the sexes will once again be equally hurt by 'no fault' divorces. but i don't think so. i just think there will be less marriages, families, and stable new generations. :shrug:

"I couldn't expect her to just sit around and wait for me." - Of course he could! That's why they discussed it first. If she wasn't sure she could take it, she should have told him not to go.

"Jesus Christ, Allie, it was 18 months!" - In a way it wasn't even really 18 months! He was away three months, then back for a month. He said it took eight months; does that mean when he went back for his third trip? That means that he had been home for a solid month! How lonely could she be?

"Would a woman who didn't love me have gone through all that?" - Would a woman who DID love him do what she did?

"I didn't mean to do it" - It's pretty hard to fuck somebody without meaning to!

As usual, Randi gives us a great story! I know this is in Romance and not Loving Wives, but I don't know that I would have been as forgiving as Caine, although I also don't think that I would have just taken off, either.

It's always a pleasure to dive into one of Randi's tales, new or old. Thanks for bringing your older stories back to Lit so a new audience can enjoy them for the first time, and old dogs like me can enjoy reading them again!

I enjoy all of you stories, but few things with this one has me baffled. I know this is long but there are a lot of unanswered questions.

You wrote

My wife, Gwen, my two daughters, Allicent and Marisol, who were sixteen and thirteen at the time, and I sat around the kitchen table and talked it over. It meant a lot of money. I figured that by the time I had been working the contract 18 months, we'd have enough to retire. Hell, I already had enough to retire. This was fuck you money. I'd be gone three months at a time and then home for a month. Everyone agreed that they could live without me for 18 months and then we'd be together all the time, permanently. It took eight months for the events to transpire that led to my ghosthood.

So he would be home for a month every three months.

I found out almost as soon as it started. One of my friends just happened to mention that he saw Gwen and the dickwad having dinner at an out of the way restaurant in a neighboring town. Of course, the first thing I did was get evidence. The PI had an easy job. He caught them at the local Holiday Inn. I authorized him to bug the house and our phones. Nothing ever happened at the house, but the Holiday Inn was a different story.

I assume (bad word) that this started on his second tour?

"It didn't take three days," Gwen said. "I was like a cat in heat. I was going nuts. I wore out so many batteries on the toy you gave me I got rechargeable ones. Then my car broke down. The garbage disposal broke. Mari got pneumonia. We couldn't even call you, Caine. We had no idea where you were or how to get in touch with you. I'm not making excuses I'm just telling you what happened. Coach Ramsey helped us. I know now he was just a pussy hound, but then I thought he was a super nice guy."

So he is home for a month and everything fell apart just after he left the second time?

On Friday for three weeks, we went out to dinner. I... I'm so ashamed, Caine. I don't want to tell you. I... had too much to drink. I was stupid. I got drunk as hell and the next thing I knew I was waking up Saturday morning at the Holiday Inn, naked with him in bed.

Then... then your mom came over again. She told me that I hadn't hurt you. You would never know. You weren't there and I wasn't taking anything away from you. I rationalized it in my mind that she was right. I knew she wasn't and that I was really a piece of shit for doing what I did, but I did it again the next Friday night. I did it for three times and then I couldn't live with myself any longer. I still can't believe you caught me during those three weeks. By the time you came home it had been over for months."

So she went out with the guy for three Fridays before she went to bed with him and then repeated it again for three weeks after that. She claimed it had been over for months when he came home. Three Fridays plus three Fridays equals six weeks, he was only gone twelve weeks at a time. That would mean she started the Friday after he left and had just barely ended the relationship a month and a half before he came back, but he was only gone eight months total so either she can't count or she was off on when the affair ended. if all this happened in the first three months and she never said anything to him when he came home the first time, it doesn't explain how his friend saw her later on, and why would he have waited five months to come back and leave?

"Caine, let's go fishing Saturday."

"You hate fishing," I laughed. "It always bugged the hell out of you that I went."

"I did hate fishing," she grinned at me. "I needed something to do. I remembered how much you liked it, and I decided to give it a try. Do you remember Mitchell Thomas? He has a big spring on his place. It runs out into a little creek. I started stocking it with trout about a year after... after..." her voice trailed away.

"How long have you been working on this?" I asked.

"Four years," she said. "Do you like it?"

"I love it," I told her.

She had no money, yet she spent money to stock some one else's pond with fish?

Thank you for sharing this great tale with us. It's such an interesting and well-written tale.

I think there was an honesty to this story. I enjoyed it and I could understand the characters as being motivated by real problems.

this was a really good one! It was great reading this again and thanks so much for putting your stories back on Literotica. Great writing and a wonderful story! .

It’s a great story, well written with great characters. The plot really sucks, it’s a RAAC, the reconciliation made little to no sense. The suspension of disbelief that all fiction requires was too much in this case.

The daughters are treated like 5-8 year olds. They weren’t, they were young adults. They knew right from wrong and chose to do wrong consciously. The character of his mother is an absolute villain, yet he forgives her after a story and a few tears? Just because she said sorry? Come on how is that reasonable in the world you’ve created? How is that consistent with a guy who up roots and vanishes for 5 years?

Caine is the only victim here, yet he’s the one who has to take blame and bend over backwards to have his family “ forgive” him. He needed no forgiveness. He was the victim of an unforgivable betrayal by people who should never be forgiven

That’s how you wrote them. If you wanted a happy ending you should never have dug them in so deep into the hole as you did.

Love your writing style, admire your talent as I can’t write for shit myself.

Hated the plot and ending

Grant

Grant501@outlook.com

The first half of the story is a five, the last half a one. The notion that a cheated on man can really just melt back into his life is ludicrous. The daughters maybe, the wife is pretty far out there, and the mother that encouraged it is beyond belief.

I think you're not paying attention to the category!

In Loving Wives, you argument would carry more weight. This is in Romance, a different mind-set.

Ditto sbrooks103x sentiment. That one difference, is all important. I was starting to feel the same way, that the make up was all too easy, too much the fairytale but that was entirely appropriate in the context of a Romance story. And what Randi delivered was an enormously emotive one at that.

Thanks Randi for another engrossing read.

I don't see what's particularly romantic about a woman cheating on a faithful husband who loves her. It might be romantic for her to go to extraordinary lengths to win him back, but she didn't. This is a loving wives tale through and through.

I have enjoyed Randi's writing before, however there was nothing particularly romantic about this plot. The story deserves to be more and loving wives then it does in Romance, it's about a woman cheating on her husband and then him magically taking her back. I think there was a lot more thought behind the characters, into more emotion was the author as to his forgiveness and her sorrow than was truly portrayed in the story.

It was the story of a romance gone bad and how, with hard work by several people, the romance was rekindled.

The old marriage and family was a smoking, smouldering ruin.

But the new marriage that was built after the wreckage of the old marriage was cleared away? That's a good, new marriage.

Romance isn't always pretty.

"Romeo and Juliet" - The lovers commit suicide together.

"The Titanic" - Jack drowns at the end.

What's that Rom-Com formula? Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl. This was "girl loses boy," in a particularly harsh way, and certainly isn't a comedy, but still fits!

Those of you who read and commented, I am especially grateful. To those who thought I should post in loving wives, you first. If you enjoy the experience, then I'll give it a shot. Deal? I thought it was a romance story.

Only one issue: The naivety that Gwen demonstrates in continuing her mistaken one night stand is not worthy of a 45(?) year old. A little odd that she needed(?) the sex but had to get drunk to actually go through with it is a bit contrary. Good story otherwise.

My opinion seems to have disappeared. Guess that any slightly negative comment is not appreciated.

For a btb stop at him disappearing and causing his dissenters to suffer.

Reconciliations get thoroughly dumped on at loving wives.

I stand by my other comments that disappeared, even about liking your writing.

pushy bunch of bitches aren't they. The wife and parents reconciliation was rushed. They were insane to push his parents on him that quick but yeah enjoyed the story. Thanks!

"Reconciliations get thoroughly dumped on at loving wives." - Um, this ISN'T Loving Wives! It's Romance!

But this is a wimp story for me. It's a matter of trust...

at least there is a truce between them

when that life is unsettled, TK U MLJ LV NV

She was seeing someone from her gym. But no.

Good read .. thanks.

A gripping story from start to finish!

Not that it makes any difference, but I agree this was a "loving wives" story rather than a romance. The entire thing is about Gwen cheating on him and the devastating impact it had on the family.

Her cheating on him in the first place seemed pretty dumb, but people do sometimes do very stupid things. Caine punished her for being a slut and she tried hard to atone for betraying him, so I think she deserved another chance, as did his daughters who had suffered for his 5 year absence.

The parents didn't deserve forgiveness though. Caine's mother encouraged his wife to have an affair... She instigated the whole mess in the first place! It doesn't matter that she was a good mother in the past, she totally destroyed her son's life... that was unforgivable.

5* for a compelling read.

Every story I read I love your style more!

I enjoyed it very much!

Another good read, you, very well written.

Read it 2x. Kind of had to and I am still left a tad unsettled.

Caine’s emotional behavior changed on page 3 from determined and set to Whoa is me, I’m bad, I’m a coward.

Huh? A bit drastic yu’ think?

By the end of the tale things had started to mesh again but I feel like that page 3 change kept dropping rocks on his skateboard sidewalk. Kept waiting for the hand grenade to drop.

Overall, a good tale.

Thx

Interesting, Caine is a bit of a comelion as to his adolescent attitude changes otherwise I can relate to his feelings of betrayal, I took a 2 year assignment and lost my whole family. Took a new wife and 21 years to get back in touch, no kids though thank God. Well written.

To be able to read, don't they notice the column over to the right where the genre is listed? I could have sworn this was 'Romance', just a moment while I click back to check... Yep, there is, dated 09/05/18, sandwiched right between two other 'Romance' stories. So what's the gripe about a Reconciliation in this story? Plenty of stupid to go around and everyone paid a heavy price for five years. Thanks in part to a great fiance and two brave, heartbroken, beautiful daughters things began to turn around. Plenty of steps forward with stumbles backward but that's how life runs. Gwen did everything she could to improve herself, take care of their daughters and learned to fish. Any idea how many men would kill to have a beautiful woman who loves to fish? I would have probably taken me longer to forgive my mother and dad probably isn't not going to live that long, but... Another great one Randi and take no prisoners when it comes to 'Annie's' comments or those other twits either! Wouldn't have minded a happy little Mustang parked in the driveway though. Signed: BTW

I would be able to forgive the kids fairly easily, especially the 13yo, since they were just spouting out what they had been told. The wife, if she were truly sorry, I cold forgive but the trust would take some time to return. The mother would have to work very hard for forgiveness. If she knew her son at all then she should know that he would never do such a thing. The father, acting like he did, I would have punched and told him that if came near me at any family function that the same thing would happen again. I could never forgive that.Never being truthfully sorry for the part that he played would have been unforgivable.

I have a couple of friends that cheat on each other but they don't consider what they have is an open marriage. They are just weird. They cheat when they are away, they cheat to get back at each other. They have kids and they are somewhat well adjusted but they are young. A house full of dishonesty and constant deceipt will definitely impact the children, how could it not? The couple are very flippant when it comes to infidelity, they are definitely of the mind that cheating is no big deal so long as you come home. I could see them poisoning someone to adopt their bullshit. It's a way of justifying their behavior by the tired "everyone is doing it argument."

The fact that Caine's mother was an instigator is a huge betrayal. I understand why mom would do it though.

This is a well written piece randi. Your character development is excellent as always.

i liked the story and writing was good.

dialogues was corny sometimes and the apologies was a bit repetitive.

main criticism is how his relationship with Gwen and family just progressed by leaps and bounds, the development was just too fast. in their first meeting, he was nervous, stressed and angry but ended up having sex. renting apartment seemed pointless since their relationship improved so quickly that it sounds like he's already moved in with her before the day ended. just thought he could've slowly eased his way back into their lives. the cars and the money was too over the top.

Little confused about the financial situation. How much money were they paying him to go overseas? Millions? If he's as well off as he says, the 18 months overseas job just doesn't seem like a smart move. Not with teen girls at home who need him.

Ghosting was just wrong. He crapped on his girls. You don't hold teens responsible for being bad, stupid, selfish, mean, or whatever -- they are teens. Comes with the territory. Being a loving father means you take all that crap and mold them into quality adults. It ain't easy, but you don't quit and you don't run. Period. Ever.

And taking all the money and leaving his kids to suffer? Wrong, wrong, wrong. Just wrong. I don't care how bad his feelings got hurt. Geez, grow some balls and be a dad.

Worth reading all the way through. Gave it a 3. He's not a likeable character. Just couldn't relate to him or like him. What happened to him sucks. No doubt. But damn, lots and lots of people have to deal with a helluva lot worse than he did. Just way over the top with the crybaby part. At some point, grow up.

Enjoyed the story very much. People need to realize this is fiction and meant to be enjoyed as such

im a btb guy and this was not a bad story. it seemed like he took her back to easily though because he had bottled everything up in those 5yrs then everything is somewhat fine again. maybe those 5yrs he had some sorta self discovery but the way his feelings were bottled up i was surprised it went as easy as it did. i understand why he did it because as a guy u react without thinking but his daughters were just immature teens and shouldve been easier to forgive.

Very good story! Gwen’s actions for 5-years following D-day made it alot easier for the two of them to reconcile. Stupid actions and decisions by both Gwen and her husband (Daddy) needed to be understood and dealt with. Looks like they both did that. It is true that communication... or the fear to communicate ones feelings and wishes is one reason for divorces. To me... this was the appropriate ending. Thank-you... I thoroughly enjoyed this read!

what the hell was with all the crying ? i cried when my mom died and my dog my ex left i got over it in about i day

Very good story.

Why did you put it in Romance and not in Loving Wives?

Becoming a ghost is a bit extreme, but I really like a longer or shorter separation / divorce in order to take stock of your life, your feelings, ..... and the future for both spouses.

Here you have perfectly shown that the husband and the wife both still have feelings, and that both have regretted, atone, and suffered for 5 years.

Thanks for sharing your talent.

Pleasure to read. Thank you.

Wonderful story, very well written. True love always wins.

I am glad you put the mothers confession in there. Prior to her saying how all the cheating happened for two years I was baffled at why his wife would cheat when he comes home for a month between the quarterly absence. Sure the wife is horny but she could wait. But the mother convincing her that the men in the family cheat while away and how easy and fair it is to do the same really answered the "why" for me.

But I would not run away. I would just divorce, split the money, and get on with my life.

I wonder, as a person and a writer, why people personalize these stories so much? Why, especially on this site, do people take these stories so seriously? It's fiction. Normal rules do not apply. This is from the world, good or bad, that lives in the author's brain. It is not autobiographic, in most cases, but I do know, like myself, we write from what we see or have seen. People are not perfect. They do dumb shit on the daily. Granted it is nice to know the reader becomes invested with these fictional characters, but one must remember they are not real, in most cases, except in the fantasy place called the writer's mind.

Keep up the good words

Myhands316

Hi Randi. BJ again.

I am the author of an erotic trilogy about a family from the East Coast of the USA. I plan to offer it on kindle format within the year. I do not know yet if I will ever publish it eventually on Literotica due to the total length of the writing. The three books cover almost one thousand pages!

In these kinds of writings, even if the characters are purely fictional and exist only in the mind of the author, I am always amazed at how much we reveal about our real selves and/or our hopes in our writings. For instance, in the description of your female characters, there is always one that has cute little freckles; the women are either tall or delicate little angels with firm bodies and smallish boobs. Your male characters are big and strong, from six feet tall to six-eight. Both are VERY attractive. Some are very well off and some need help really bad and a good Samaritan shows up and steps in to help. What does that reveal about you personally?

If your are talking politics, we can see where you most likely stand in real life through your characters and the reader can feel your deep "devotion and love for our beloved politicians and leaders". This also applies to good vs evil, angels and demons, etc. like you did in two of your stories that I have read recently. This is also what makes the characters so human and captivating to the readers. The reader can identify with the characters. This is what will bring me back for second and third readings of these delicacies.

In this story, I wonder where fiction starts and where real life experience ends?

Again I am amazed at how you weave the various plots and subplots in your stories to make them almost impossible to walk away from, even for short periods of time, once you start reading.

This one is another masterpiece in my view and five is again too low on the evaluation scale.

BJ

What? Why would he take any of these people back? He should have never agreed to allow his daughter back into his life. They made their choices, he made his, they all need to move on separately. Just don't care for how he continues to roll over for them.

Great story. Great what he did to Gwen and the 2 little shits. His mother really fucked up.

Excellently done story. 5* from me.

I have to say this is by far my favorite story from the exceptionally talented Randi. I'm a burly 41 year old man and his interactions with his daughters had me a blubbering mess. Rarely do authors explore the path of having the children complicit in the betrayal and it made for a unique and emotional read, especially the reconciliations. Outstanding fiction...

My only real complaint is the use of the "# years later" trope as a conclusion. It feels like we were cheated out of seeing the journey of healing between the characters once the decision to stay and work on the relationships was made.

But overall, this is too good of a tale for anything less than 5 stars. Great job!

Just read through for the second time. I had forgotten how much I loved this story! So much hurt and the difficulty of not only forgiveness but trying to find and pick up pieces. Loving is the second hardest thing we have to experience in life. Not loving is the only thing worse! Yeah, forgiveness means on throwing hand grenades after you have said you forgive but feel defensive or angry again. Great reminder! Thanks again…

As much as I like the story, the happy ending doesn't work for me.

I think that even after five years his pain would still be too raw, especially when he saw his wife again. The pictures and videos taken by the PI would always be in his mind no matter what she told him.

Personally I feel that he would have ghosted again. That he would have had an escape route planned.

That they would have turned up at the end and found he'd gone leaving no traces

Again another great story with some substance. Great job thanks for all ur hard work.

It seemed to me that Caine was a severely damaged man, psychologically. He swore he forgave and loved one minute, and the next minute he was yelling at them and hating on them. His wife, his daughters, his mother. I hate to say it because I’m not really a fan of the psycho community, doctors or therapists, but I think Caine desperately needed to see a shrink. The phrase “PTSD” comes to mind.

Such a well written story, it sucked me in and wouldn’t let me put it down. Definitely worth five stars and then some.

Dee

No rating

Agreed with others' comments.

Damaged bad mood swings etc causing little empathy for him.

Others! Characters changed to much for me

A searing investigation of the depth of pain that betrayal can cause but a story leaving us with hope that things can improve. Thank you

He did much better than I would have under those circumstances. Great story!

Well done. I've read this 3x and it gets better every time.

Love the story. AAAAAA++++++

So we’ll done. But damn it ended abruptly!

.

5 *****

Not talking about the improbables of this tale, but I don’t know if it’s me or not but this story seems like a wish fulfillment of the highest order! It’s almost like reading a what if or watching a twilight zone show. I keep getting an emotional ride when reading some of the wife or kids interactions with the MC. Like the author is pulling from some personal life experiences and transferring them to a digital format. It could me I’m a knucklehead after all.

Good writing and superb story, as always, but one of the foundations of the character falls apart. You can be the greatest A&P mechanic in the world, or even an A&P with an inspector rating, but unless you can sign-off your work or the work you're inspecting with a current, valid A&P license, you might as well hang wallpaper. Nothing will ground an airplane as fast as "unauthorized" work. You could remain anonymous only by working under another mechanic, who will sign-off on your work, and 99.99% of certified A&P mechanics would never, ever consider doing that. Still a five.

What a roller coaster of emotions and told as only blackrandl1959 can tell it. A very easy 5 stars.

Well done Caine for ghosting the cheating skank, the ungrateful daughters and parents!! Loved the burn!! His mother encouraged the skank and should have been punished more!!

The grandmother really fucked up!!

Cheaters will always support fellow cheaters!! The whore grandmother didn't have faith and respect for her own son!!

He forgave her, well and good!! The four of them should just move away. Let the whore parents stick together!!

Didn't care for this one, Caine should've just stayed a ghost to all of them.

Great story, aside from one comment about the A&P license, but this is your story so forget the naysayer and continue on. I really could not find anything to complain about so keep up the great work.

He had to ghost on them. If he had stayed, they never would have understood his pain and their own culpability.

When Caine found out that mom advised gwen to do it, that's when it's time to walk away,they've done it once they'll do it again ,,,,the doubt is always going to be there

He gave in TOO BLOODY EASY.

This story reminds me of a mantra I regularly said decades ago when my two daughters were teenagers…”As hard as it is to raise daughters…it’s even harder to raise Daddies.”

Thank you for sharing another wonderful story.

Wow. Really? Ghosting was his only option? He left them nothing to live on for five years. Divorce and move on. Bad things happen to good people. I can understand he could not forgive or forget what Gwen did (at the time), but his kids? Marisol was 13 and easily manipulated. And so many commenters below applaud what he did and also believe he had no options. Total abandonment and leaving them with nothing financially? That is not a loving father. That is revenge and spite for a broken heart. Even of the kids remain nasty at the start after the divorce, he has a chance to reshape the narrative between them over time. And they would mature and live away from Gwen. Besides Gwen would not hate him and would not burn him in divorce (false charges, shark lawyer). Wad this about money? If so that is disgusting.

"Yes, Allicent, I know this wasn't your fault. You just got caught up in the explosion. I don't know if I could have a few years ago, but now I can." I sat for a minute and we said nothing while thoughts whirled through my mind. "Allie, I need for you to forgive me, too. I had no right to do what I did to you and Mari. I completely failed you as a man and a father. No matter what you did, you were my babies and I should have taken care of you. I should have kept track of you and made sure you had the things you needed. I was just so angry and so hurt that I couldn't get over it. Will you forgive me, sweetheart?"

=== five years late... the MC has issues.

Caine's mother was a piece of work. She should be ghosted. Ugh. No clue why Gwen roped her daughters into it for such a short affair (3 times in three weeks), the first heavily drunk with no memory (though intent going into the dinner). The girls were 16 and 13. Just saying you are going out with friends. Make an excuse for staying over thr first time. Be discreet. No reason to rope in the girl with what you are doing unless you are bringing the sleazeball coach over to your house or spending weekends together or having a long affair while hubby is gone. And she did get really guilty despite the mother in law's bullshit cliches after the third time and broke it off. Not saying the MC shouldn't have divorced (though he shouldn't have ghosted and abandoned his kids and run off leaving them with nothing) but it takes five years to learn the truth? For all the alpha male history he recounts in his younger years in high school and college, the guy has mental problems. "Divorcing" himself from his two daughters is craven.

Great story 5/5

His mother was weird, Gwen is lucky

Thanks Randi for a great story

I liked the way it was put together but not how many times he had to say that he forgave everyone

@sbrooks103x

Thoughts

"I couldn't expect her to just sit around and wait for me." - Of course he could! That's why they discussed it first. If she wasn't sure she could take it, she should have told him not to go. - Yes, and it was brought up in the story. No need for you to bring it up.

"Jesus Christ, Allie, it was 18 months!" - In a way it wasn't even really 18 months! He was away three months, then back for a month. He said it took eight months; does that mean when he went back for his third trip? That means that he had been home for a solid month! How lonely could she be? - As prereader for this story you should have brought this before it was posted. Or did you save it so you would have something to comment on.

"Would a woman who didn't love me have gone through all that?" - Would a woman who DID love him do what she did? - Well, it obviously is, we know that by reading the story, but on the other hand, she did show her love by the things she DID do.

"I didn't mean to do it" - It's pretty hard to fuck somebody without meaning to!

As usual, Randi gives us a great story! I know this is in Romance and not Loving Wives, but I don't know that I would have been as forgiving as Caine, although I also don't think that I would have just taken off, either.

Good read, I enjoyed it

I liked the story overall. I can understand forgiving the girls not sure about the wife though. The mother who encouraged the whole fiasco needs to stay far away along with the cheating father who began the mess.

I agree with the Anonymous comment from 3 months ago that starts with "Caine's mother was a piece of work". She encouraged Gwen to go to dinner with the asshole. After getting drunk and sleeping with the jerk, not remembering much that happened when she awoke in a hotel room (though it was consensual, it was powered by alcohol, anger, and selfishness), there is a good chance e it would have been a one time slip except for the intervention of Caine's mother. She fills her head with crap that Caine is almost certainly cheating on her, that he will never know, it is just sex, and probably even tells about her own experiences with taking a lover while Caine's asshole father was cheating while out of the country. While Gwen is ultimately at fault for her actions, his mother was like the serpent in Eden. A lot of the crap that Gwen spewed when he came back was driven by her fear or divorce but also based on discussions with her mother-in-law. If (a big "if"), I could actually KNOW the real story of how many times (3 drunken, short trysts), the why (loneliness, powerlessness, anger, spite, selfishness, long separation), her level of guilt (when not trying to bluff her way through the havoc she created), and could see after some separation time (not 5 years!) that she owned up yo her disastrous choices and her betrayal of thr wedding vows, then yeah maybe reconciliation would be possible after like 3-6 month separation and counseling. But the Mother? No I don't see that. She and his father were toxic. Thr mother had as much fault without the guilt of Gwen in some ways. The problem of course with the "If" is how does one ever know for sure that the cheating spouse is not lying? Trust is hard to heal after such a breach. I also don't get why Gwen marshalled her daughters to defend her three Friday night (unfulfilling, brief) romps. Ok Mr Asshole showed up at the house to fix and help with things and she probably went to lunch with him several times, but it sounds like after the three weeks, she cut him off. There was probably a slow burn of some intermittent contact prior to her first drunken tryst. But really it is a short enough duration that she can't hide it from her two daughters? Switching topics, I could never do to my kids what he did in ghosting them. Critical ages for his two daughters. Not only that financial ruin and malfeasance with abandonment that really hurt his two girls by putting the vise on Gwen. I know Gwen accepted it as atonement of her sins, but the kids are a whole different ballgame. He was a coward. File for divorce or separate or fight for your marriage. Whatever you choose. But do not burn your teenage daughters. Mari could be easily manipulated at 13. And Allicent was still immature and probably got conned into their hare-brained defense of their mother, thinking it would avoid a divorce. And again Gwen certainly suffered herself quite a bit and busted her ass for her two daughters and atoned for her 3 drunken fucks with the asshole. If she doesn't deserve a reconciliation now after 5 years, ghosted by her husband, nearly broke, and incredibly guilty, with no male companionship, then who does deserve one? In contrast the MC was a coward of a different stripe.

Overall a good story. 4 Stars. I understand forgiving the girls. Totally forgiving the wife, not so much. Good old Mom, would not have happened. Dad cheated, so Mom did too. So good old Mom encouraged the Wife to go ahead and get some action while he was gone. What a couple of bitches! I would have helped my girls have a good life, from now on and I might have done the friends with benefits thing with the wife. Mom and Dad would have been kept as far away from my girls as I could keep them. I suppose, eventually, the girls would decide. If I was going to give the Wife half of the money, then we may as well be divorced and see what relationship developed. Still... A good story, as it stands.

Not a bad story, He was just too quick to forgive. THe children i can understand and possibly to some extent the wife. But the parents. no

Coward for leaving? Sorry but I think men have diff responses to something life altering events like his did. For someone who can just leave instantly like he did without looking back, leaving everything he's known takes alil bit of strength and courage, mixed it with a lil bit of cowardness as well.

I get time heals all wounds, but he was really quick to forgive Gwen and his parents, especially the mom. The mom deserved a longer process to forgive than anyone else because that would've been the hardest betrayal to get over when she was supposed to be the most loyal, loving and supportive one out of all of them. Otherwise the story was pretty good..

I don't like that the husband/father/son is portrayed as a coward, what options did he really have? He talked with hiss family first before taking the 18 month job abroad, giving them the option to voice their concerns, again before he did anything, and the reason was that after the 18 months, he would retire and spend his time with his family. And what do they do? the wife cheats on him several times, and when he finds out everyone betrays him. When you are surrounded by traitor and cheats, best action is to get rid of them, second is to leave them behind, and i agree with MasterKote, Gwen and his parents was forgiven was to fast. Overall i good story.

Read this for a second (or third) time and I am just not good with the reconciliation. I get that there is some logic behind the betrayal, after all they assumed he'd be cheating so why not do the same. Unfortunately two wrongs have never made anything "right" in the end. I love that he is back being a loving dad to his daughters but I don't like his forgiving the wife and his parents, that betrayal is too much to forgive. Yes, the daughters parroted their mother's logic to him when he came home, and he shouldn't have run, but I don't find fault in his not wanting to be with his wife after she cheated. She didn't deserve to be forgiven regardless of the time having passed. She knew she was wrong, she went against her own principles having to get drunk every time in order to cheat on him. The utter disrespect that was shown the man and then HE is apologizing? 3*

I do not understand commenters who say he had no other choice. Bullshit. he abandoned his kids. Fine divorce Gwen. Sever contact with his parents. The kids said wrong and hurtful stuff , but Gwen was not trying to drive a wedge between them. And they were kids. Just as bad he cut out like a coward and ran away, leaving them financially destitute. Gwen felt miserable about what she did. She got drunk off her ass three times on a Friday night and fucked the coach out of her anger and misery at feeling abandoned and being convinced by his own mother that he was cheating on her and that what she did wouldn't hurt him. It was like cutting herself. It was wrong and a betrayal of their marriage but she didn't even remember granting consent the first time or what happened. Her MIL convinced to keep doing it. Because that is what she did, knowing his father cheated all the time overseas and it "worked out for them". Green severed all contact with the asshole coach early on our of profound guilt. Is she blameless? Hell no. She broke her vows by listening to the serpent in the garden. The coach was an awful lover, from what she can remember the second and third time, and she listened to her MIL who is a total bitch. Sure the FIL didn't help either. MC planned the getaway job terribly as was long time and they had no way to communicate. Crazy. He left the gate open to the wolves. Yeah Gwen fucked up but she was not some total bitch or evil monster. She sought some sort of ill conceived payback, out of misery, misinformation, and crushing depression and loneliness, each time getting really drunk. Again her profound shame and guilt is what ended the cycle despite her MIL egging her on. But is reaction was way out of proportion because of his intense pain. Not because he had no choice. He ditched his kids. As a father myself, fuck that! Suck it up and be a man. Worse he crippled them financially being a deadbeat dad that fled far away. Yeah he is heartbroken and miserable but didn't bother to learn shit about what was really going on and set them up with the clean break. Don't get me wrong. This is one of the author's best stories because the characters are complex and all have issues. Even he realizes he fucked up when running off and what he put the family through was rough. Gwen gree up a lot. Took care of her kids. Was remorseful and even penitent (e.g. the fish pond). She never dated anyone else, she worked her ass of to support her daughters and she owned up to the betrayal she committed. I understand a reconciliation between him and his daughters as well him and Gwen. What I disagree is with his parents, well he doesn't reconcile with asshole father, but his mother? Wow. She was the serpent in the garden. Giving advice and counsel and comfort to Gwen that directly hit her fears and hit her buttons, causing her to fall and chest three times. She had zero emotional affair with the coach. She felt like shit after each time (her words) and stopped after third time despite the urges of his mother. His mother is the villain in this story along with his shithead father (to a lesser extent). To his mother what is good for the goose is good for the gander. On a minor note, any husband with her salt would make sure a friend or family member would stop by to check out how she and the kids were and help with repairs and shit. He just off and disappeared. He said what he planned to do without really making sure she supported it. She was sickened by the idea of being away from him that long. She loved him that much. Of course it turned to shit and then he ran off, and they were separated for many years. Look I get his suffering. It is written well, but either divorce her and be a responsible co-parent or seek counseling and try to fix it. Running away was the coward's way out and was NOT his only solution. What are you 12 years old? Man up regardless of what the choices. Their long separation was avoidable. And he should not have shirked his duties to the kids regardless of what they said to him. They are kids. Still an entertaining and emotionally visceral story. I for one and glad they made it back together and he found joy with his two daughters. Just lose the reconciliation with his mother.

I'm thinking that this story has sparked one hell of a lot of comments, both good. Like it said, there is a lot of emotional wounds being reopened and brought into the open after five years of repressing them. Some people want to see a BTB but I just enjoyed the story and let the author tell it the way they wanted to. Got to be a good story to generate that much emotion and controversy in the readers and still have a decent rating.

Caine's mother was a major reason for Gwen cheating. His mother and father were cheaters. Caine forgave his mother too easily. He did the right thing with his skank wife and ungrateful children by disappearing. Story would be perfect if him, Gwen and the girls moved away from his bastard parents!!

The other reconciliation stories were a little easier to read. Here it's a nonstop barrage of apologies, makeups, then blowups and apologies again. The mom's involvement was never that convincing. If she didn't know her own son well enough to realise he wasn't like her or his dad on such a huge point, that doesn't feel like a very attentive mother.

Minor peeve is that the Ghost factor doesn't even last a few paras. From the title, I was imagining MC off the grid, slipping through the cracks, one step ahead of the pursuers, all that. Alas, it wasn't to be.

I read the comments and find that commenters find fault using their own skewed view of THEIR reality. When I read i try to suspend who I am and put myself in the characters position and mindframe. Do I find their action plausible given who they are. I wouldn't have done it this way, but given his experiences and closeness to his family, his pain and since of betrayal would be overwhelming. Depriving the girls was a no go for me, regardless of what they did to him. His pain allowed him to punish them. After 5 years I see the possibility of a reconciliation. He "needed" the reconciliation to feel whole again. I think he punished himself the most and realized it. People who are truly repentant are allowed forgiveness. Sometimes you just need to forgive to make your own self right. 5 and KUDOS! As for the pace, writing, and story a stellar job, Randi.

Don Romine

So the guy leaves his family for eighteen months to work for some shithead dictator for money he says he doesn't need and then is shocked--shocked I say--when it doesn't work out all peaches and cream. THEN he gets all judgmental. No way to say that he was sacrificing for his family. Not much of a story.

why do you make all the male protagonists in your stories such pussies?

Questioned asked" "why do you make all the male protagonists in your stories such pussies?"

Wonder if the author will give us a realistic answer. Is it just coincidence is is it the author's actual; view of males.

Please, author enlighten us here in the comments. You are truly a talented author, one who new stories should be highly anticipated.

@Annie: "Question asked..." LOL. So here is a comment, clearly meant to insult me, and you imagine that I'll give it a single thought? I don't give a fuck. I have no obligation to justify myself to anyone.

The obvious answer is, I don't. If I want to, I will. There is nothing anyone can do to stop me. I am a grown-ass woman and I can do anything I please. You wanna know who is a pussy? People who make rude comments to others on the internet.

Would this mofo say that to my face? Too afraid of getting punched in the throat? Yeah... No. Sorry, dude, but that shit doesn't deserve my attention. I usually just delete it.

5 stars the first time I read the story. I guess 5 stars the second time. But I can NEVER reconcile with cheating, period. Then again, this is your story. As Saddletramp says in the preface to most of his stories and I am paraphrasing here " This is my world, and if you don't like it, tough". Yeah, I know, lousy paraphrasing, but you get my point.

Randi, just keep writing, and I will keep on reading. Love ya. Thanks.

Never ceases to amaze me. The author spends X amount of hours out of their like to write, proof and edit a story to entertain a reader, all for free, and then people go off on rants to bitch about it. I, for one, enjoyed it. Thanks for your work.

Good story overall and thanks for writing it. Obviously, he had a good sum of $ hidden away, so he could have sent $ to his lawyer for his girls.