More Than Just Business

"I suspected, but didn't know for certain. What do you want me to do now?" she asked.

"Sign the papers, Linda. End this sham of a marriage. Then get some help and get your shit together. For the sake of the kids," I said. "I suspect you'll have plenty of time. I think Grant's probably going to be a guest of the state for a while."

"You're probably right," she said. "Alright, I'll sign the papers. I'm sorry, Jon. For everything."

"You said that," I told her.

"I guess I did, didn't I? Well, thank you for letting me have some time with the kids this weekend," she said.

"You're welcome," I said.

"I know you don't believe me, but I do love you," she said. "And I wish you could find a way in your heart for us to stay together."

"You're right. I don't believe you. But thanks for saying so, anyway," I said. "I guess a small part of me will always love you as well. But it's not enough. I need to be able to trust my partner. And after what you've done, I don't know if I'll ever be able to trust anyone again." She nodded her head as tears fell down her cheeks.

"I... understand," she said quietly. "Goodbye, Jon." She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

"Goodbye, Linda," I said. She turned and left the room in tears. George, Rhonda, and the kids came in after she left.

"Everything alright, son?" George asked.

"Yeah," I said. "We talked a bit. I think she finally realizes how bad she screwed up."

"Does that mean you and Mom are getting back together?" Sophie asked. I shook my head.

"No, sweetheart," I said.

"But you guys love each other," she said.

"It takes much more than love to make a marriage work, Sophie," I said. "It also takes trust, and right now, I don't trust her. One of these days, you'll learn that for yourself." The doctor came in and gave me one last check, and released me. George took me home with the kids.

Epilogue:

Later that night, I got a frantic call from George and Linda. Natalie called them to say Linda tried to kill herself by overdosing on sleeping pills and alcohol. According to them, Natalie found her when she went to Grant's house to get some of his things. A note on her nightstand simply read, "I'm sorry."

She nearly died from the overdose but survived and spent a couple of days in the hospital. After being checked out by mental health professionals, she was released into George and Rhonda's care and eventually moved back in with them.

She signed the divorce papers, contesting nothing. Lisa told me I would be a free man in 90 days. Free... Yeah, right...

Grant and Natalie's lawyer quickly settled with us for half of what I had asked for. As a result, I ended up with about $3.5 million after Lisa's cut. I put a million into accounts for both children to see them

through college and banked the rest. I started planning to take them on a Mediterranean cruise during their next summer break.

Grant was found guilty of aggravated assault and battery and attempted murder based on the video footage taken during his attack. He was sentenced to 10 years in state prison but would be eligible for parole in about 8.5 years.

I saw Linda whenever I took the kids over to George and Rhonda's house. We would sometimes sit and talk about things for a bit, but I could never get over what she had done. She saw a counselor who was helping her understand why she did what she did, and continued to hold on to the fantasy that I would take her back.

I was glad she was getting some help, but it was a bit like closing the barn door after the horses escaped. Over the next few months, she slowly rebuilt a relationship with the kids, which I was also glad to see. George told me she spent most of her time writing articles for various business-related blogs and refused to date.

She was sad to learn I was taking the children on a Mediterranean cruise without her, but she managed to deal with it, wishing us well. The kids often sent her text messages with photos of the places we visited.

I met a lovely woman from British Columbia, Nicci, who was taking a post-divorce cruise like me. She was about a year younger than Linda, sported shoulder-length blonde hair, was quite pretty, and had a bubbly personality. I especially liked the way she ended a lot of her sentences with, "eh?" She also had two children, a year or so younger than mine, spending the summer with their grandparents in north Idaho.

We spent quite some time together talking about our situations and shared a bed on several occasions. More than once, I heard Sophie teasing me.

"Daddy's got a girlfriend," she would sing while poking me with her elbow. We exchanged contact information when the cruise ended and promised to stay in touch by email and Skype. I'm not sure if anything will ever come of it, but we talk to each other online at least twice a week.

We adjusted to life without Linda in the house. My boss was more than happy to work with me so I could take the kids to school and pick them up. I knew the time would come when Aaron would be old enough to drive, and he would take over that chore from me. George came by the house not long after we returned from our cruise and gave us a bit of bad news.

"They're going to put Linda in a mental hospital for a while," he said.

"Oh? Why?" I asked.

"Sophie sent her a picture of you three eating dinner with that Canadian girl you met on your cruise," he said. "I don't think she meant anything malicious by it, but Linda didn't take it very well. She... lost it. Rhonda and I found her in her tub. She slit her wrists."

"Oh my God," I said. "I'm sorry to hear that." I truly was sorry to hear that she had tried to kill herself again, but a part of me felt a bit... vindicated. Now she knew just a little bit how I felt when I first learned about her and Grant.

"Yeah. Me too. Fortunately, she screwed it up, and managed to live. But the doctors said that with her history, she needs constant care and supervision," George said. "Rhonda and I are getting a bit too old to watch her 24 hours a day. So, they decided to institutionalize her."

"For how long?" I asked.

"Hard to say, son," he said. "Could be a few years. Could be permanent. I just don't know."

"Let me know if there's anything we can do," I said.

"Thank you, son. I appreciate that," he said.

Nicci and I continued our long-distance relationship and I found that the more we talked, the closer I felt to her. I also found myself fantasizing about her... a lot! She was sad to hear about Linda, mostly for what it did to George, Rhonda and the children, but she echoed my sentiments.

The last time we talked, she mentioned coming down with her kids to visit us. She also suggested I bring the children with me to her place, a two-story log house on 50 wooded acres north of Kamloops that she said was built in the late 1800s. I had never been north of the US border before, so it sounded interesting. Who knows what, if anything, will happen. At any rate, I'll save that for another story.

...

Fade to black...