Squash Blossom

There is no sex in this story.

***

"Are you going to be able to keep yourself busy while I am gone?"

"Don't I always? Karen and I are planning on hitting Readinger's and Green Dragon this week. I hope you have enough on the credit card to handle it."

"As long as you stay away from diamonds, emeralds, and rubies we should be all right." We got a little laugh at that.

Both of our kids were gone and, as empty-nesters, we were doing pretty well. Marsha had never worked. We discussed the possibility of her working after the kids left and came up empty-handed. She was happy with just keeping the house up and going to yard sales and flea markets. Her kindle was full of thousands of ebooks.

Her friend, Karen, collected cookie cutters, trivets, and flat irons. Marsha was only interested in old jewelry. She had a large hand-carved walnut chest that she kept all her treasures in. The value was not in the gemstones but the design and craftsmanship of the pieces. She did a lot of research and knew what she was doing. The chest was the most important thing in her life. Each piece had its history.

This week I was in Albuquerque. It was a routine trip and everything was on schedule. It was Tuesday evening and I was waiting for a table at the Holiday Inn Express.

"Excuse me! Are you eating alone?" It was another clone. He dressed like me, he looked like me, and he acted like me. All traveling businessmen are clones.

"Yeah! As usual. Would you care to join me?"

"Absolutely. Kevin Martin, Kelso Plastics."

I took his hand. "John Terrell, Neilson Machine."

We chatted lightly while perusing the menu. "How long are you here for Kevin?"

"Short trip this time. I fly back to Philly in the morning. I like it when I can get finished early."

"Interesting. I am out of Philly also, but I am afraid I will have to finish out the week."

"What do you do, John?."

"I sell, install, and maintain candy-making equipment. I work out of King of Prussia for a company in the Netherlands."

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah. I make a good living. Put two kids through school and have a nice place in West Chester."

"Damn. What a coincidence. I live in Downingtown. Hell, we're neighbors and I had to go to New Mexico to meet you."

"You married, Kevin?"

"No. I've been widowed for about ten years, but I do have a steady girlfriend. Your self?

"Married twenty-three years and looking for twenty-three more."

"Oh, John. Let me show you what I found today. My girl collects fancy jewelry. Every trip I make I bring something back for her. I went a little overboard this time, but it is quite nice."

I suddenly became very interested in what he had to show me. He pulled a purple Crown Royal bag from his jacket pocket and carefully dumped a silver squash blossom necklace on the table.

"It is Cerrillos turquoise, which fairly unique. She is going to go nuts over this. It was a bit pricey, but she is worth it."

"Must be a pretty special lady. How long have you been with her?"

"Almost three years now."

"Is marriage on the table here?"

"No! That's the sad part. She is already married and doesn't seem to be interested in changing that. I am still working on her and maybe if I keep trying I will get lucky."

"I assume you two have been intimate."

"Yeah. For two years now. We are even able to squeeze in a few overnighters occasionally."

"Her husband is okay with this?"

"Heavens no! She is scared to death that he is going to find out. I guess that is what makes the relationship so exciting."

"Kevin, you are a braver man than I am. I could never do something like that."

"Believe me, she is worth it."

Kevin and I finished our meals and said our goodbyes. He never made the connection between me and his girlfriend. I didn't ask for his card because I didn't want to give him mine.

I flew the red-eye home Friday. Marsha did the grocery shopping Saturday mornings so she wasn't there when I got in. I unpacked from my trip and just on a whim, I decided to check the jewelry box. It had three drawers in the front and a lift-up lid. Underneath the bottom drawer was a false bottom. The squash blossom necklace was still wrapped in the Crown Royal bag, carefully tucked into the secret place. Along with it was a beautiful emerald cut ruby ring that I had never seen before. I put everything back just as Marsha walked in the door.

There was no doubt that as soon as Marsha saw me, she knew. Neither one of us said anything other than the usual glad to be home, glad to have you home, banter. I spent the morning catching up with yard work, and the afternoon catching up with my sleep. Marsha stayed out of my way the whole day.

Supper was Chinese take out. I ask her how her flea market hunting went and she asks how my New Mexico trip was. We both lied to each other. It was an uneventful evening in front of the TV. Sunday morning Marsha said she was going to visit our eldest daughter, Claire, in Allentown. I was going to clean the garage.

I didn't get the garage cleaned, but I did get all of the finances straightened out. To keep the girls from having to burden themselves with too many college loans, we refinanced the house. It was now underwater. Arranging everything else was no problem. I spend the evening inspecting and reevaluating my wardrobe. I was mentally preparing for something, but I didn't know what.

Before going to bed, I checked the jewelry chest again. The necklace and the ring were gone.

I was asleep in front of the TV when Marsha got home. She covered me with a quilt and went to bed by her self.

I made the drive to King of Prussia in a daze. Luckily I had driven it so many times over the last fifteen years that it was like I was on autopilot. I finished all my paperwork concerning the Albuquerque trip and headed up to the main office. Thirty minutes later, I had a reassignment to Scheveningen. The home office was anxious to get me. I would be heading up the manuals and publications division. I probably could have done the job here in the states, but I could do it better there. I had a week before I would leave.

My actual workload for the rest of the week was light. All I had to do was bring my replacement up to speed and close out all my old projects. At home, I spend most of the evenings on my computer. Normally I would have to justify overtime work to the wife, but now she didn't seem to care. It was not commented on. On a few nights, we did watch TV together, but that was about it. I was dreading a confrontation of some type, but it never came.

It was an interesting situation. She knew that I knew what she was doing. I knew what she was doing and knew that she knew I knew. And yet, neither of us would talk about it. Oddly enough, I didn't care. I wasn't angry.

I spent Wednesday afternoon at the lawyers' office. I was giving Marsha the house, and half of the savings and checking accounts. The total of everything was just over twenty thousand. If she sold the house the real estate commission would eat up all of the equity. I figured that she could keep the house if she could get Kevin to move in with her. If he didn't move in with her, it would probably go back to the bank. I would not let her have any of my IRA or any claim to my company retirement plan.

As all this was going on, I was amazed that I was still holding my cool. I was not angry, vengeful, or bitter. I felt a bit relieved. I don't know why. I did, however, feel the need for a little evil satisfaction.

My plane was leaving out of Philly early Monday morning. I arranged for my brother, Carl, to come down from Pottsville, to take me to the airport Sunday evening. I was planning on treating them to supper at the Airport Marriot. I reserved two rooms so that we could all stay overnight.

Thursday, Marsha told me she was going to Lancaster with Karen to hit some antique shops. It gave me time to finish my packing and preparations. I was extremely selective, so unless she was very curious, she would never notice that I was leaving. She never asked me why I wasn't at work.

They had a goodbye party for me at work on Friday. It was nice to feel appreciated. Marsha and I went to Red Lobster Friday night. The tension was still there, but we managed to get through the meal. Still no confrontation on either side.

Saturday, Marsha did her regular shopping and I started working on the lawn. It would be the last time, so I figured out how I could make it last the whole day. I didn't stop for lunch. My wife brought me a cold beer and a sandwich. After a light supper, I fell asleep on the recliner.

Sunday morning, Marsha left early to spend the day with our youngest daughter, Lena, in Lebanon. It was time to finalize everything. Carl and his wife, Norma, showing up just after noon. I loaded all my stuff and then brought down Masha's treasured Jewelry Chest. The Squash Blossom necklace and the ruby ring were still missing. Carl would keep the box at his place until I told him otherwise.

Just before leaving, I called Kevin Martin.

"Kevin! Hi. This is John Terrell. How are you doing?"

There was a momentary pause. "Er. Fine John. Yourself?"

"Kevin, I just wanted to give you a quick update on the Cub Cadet, lawn tractor. It's a bit old, but still runs well most of the time. If you have a hard time starting it, just take out the plugs and give them a cleaning. It should be good to go then. You shouldn't have problems with anything else."

"Okay, John. Why are you telling me this?"

"Just trying to help. I gotta go, Kevin. Have a good weekend."

Carl and Norma couldn't help laughing.

"John, what the hell was that. Was that the same guy who is screwing your wife?"

"Sure was. Can you imagine the conversations that phone call will generate? This is going to be fun."

Monday morning, bright and early, I was off to my new home and grinning all the way. I still

couldn't figure out why I wasn't upset about the whole situation. I thought it was all a bit funny. As the wheels of the plane broke ground, I felt a big relief sweep over my body.

In no time, I was up and running in my new Scheveningen office. I rented a small cottage in Wassenaar and was riding a new ten-speed bike to and from work. The company arranged for my new drivers' license, but I preferred the bike. If the weather was bad, I could take the bus. After two weeks I called Carl. I didn't know who else to contact.

"John, Marsha was upset of course, but I got the feeling she had been anticipating something."

"Things had been tense the last few weeks before I left. We never talked about it, but we both knew it was coming. When did you talk to her?"

"She called me last Tuesday. I think she was looking for her jewelry box, but she didn't come right out and say so. She kept ranting on about you having to call her to straighten things out. She got the divorce papers and got a lawyer to look them over. They are going to make a counteroffer or something like that. I know that she said she didn't want the house."

"My lawyer has a power of attorney that I already signed so that she can either sell it or give it back to the bank. I don't care because I don't want or expect to get anything out of it. I'll have him send it to her lawyer."

"It was a funny conversation that we had. She didn't apologize or anything and didn't seem to feel the need to defend what she did, at least not to me. I didn't detect any guilt or remorse. I thought breakups like this were supposed to be highly emotional affairs. You two are a pair of cold fish."

"Carl, I can't explain it. I don't understand myself."

"Oh, one last thing. She did say that they was no way she would agree to the divorce until she gets her jewelry back."

"If you get to speak to her again, tell her that there is no way she will get her jewelry back until the divorce is final."

Needless to say, the divorce proceedings did not go well. We fought over the terms for six months. She wanted half of my IRA and half of my company retirement. She wanted me to pay the mortgage on the house that she refused to sell or move out of. She wanted alimony, big alimony. What pissed her off was that I refused to give back her Jewelry and that Kevin Martin had decided that there was too much drama and decided to move on.

I had avoided any contact with my daughters since the whole thing started. I decided it was time to call Claire.

"Dad, Lena, and I spend a whole weekend with mom. She told us everything. We understand why you left and neither of us blames you for any of this. She is a total wreck, but she is too proud to let you know that. She doesn't want the house. She is being a bitch about the divorce because she doesn't want it at all. We convinced her that it was inevitable, but she is having a hard time accepting that."

"What can I do? I am not going back to the way things were."

"I don't think anybody expects that. She is lost, however, since her boyfriend seemed to disappear. She has no job skills and no prospects for employment. She is not making the mortgage payments and is having to go through the money you left her just to keep the utilities on. Lena has offered to let her move in with her temporarily. You have to throw her a bone, dad."

It was not difficult for the lawyer to arrange with the bank to take back the house. It cost me a few grand, but it was worth it. Carl contacted 'two men and a truck' and had Marsha moved to Lebanon before the end of the week. The biggest problem was the excess furniture that he ended up having to sell off for pennies on the dollar. I agreed to provide Marsha with fair alimony and she dropped all the other crap demands. The final sticking point was the return of her precious jewelry chest. I agreed to it, but only with one final stipulation.

After paying a hefty VAT fee, I was able to claim the last package that I would ever get from my wife. I carefully unwrapped it as I sat on my back patio. Inside the purple Crown Royal bag was the beautiful Squash Blossom necklace. I didn't need it or want it, but I felt it was symbolic. I spread it out on the table in front of me and picked up my phone.

"Carl! Give Marsha her jewelry chest back."