We Did a Good Thing Ch. 01

"Good night, y'all," she said with an easy smile.

After Stacie was given a quick bath to rid herself of chlorine and the outdoor funk, Brenda tucked her into bed, then joined me in ours.

"Tonight was pretty nice," Brenda offered.

"I'm glad you had fun."

"I did, Todd. I've been nervous as all hell for the last couple of days because it all seems so foreign to me. I mean, you and April were married for Pete's sake. How on earth can it be possible I could even begin to befriend your ex-wife?"

"Because you both have the ability to make friends with anyone in a room. What she said earlier is completely true. We really loved each other, but not the right way, you know?"

Brenda was propped up on some pillows, drumming the fingers of her left hand on her upturned knee. "It's still weird."

"Maybe," I said. "After all of that, are you sure you still want to be my fiancée?"

Her actions answered my question as we snuggled in and made love.

July 5, 2018, 8:08am

I heard Brenda padding up behind me as I turned the bacon in the skillet.

"Smells yummy." She sighed deeply, hugging me from behind.

"French toast is coming next."

"Seriously, Todd. You trying to spoil me and my daughter?"

"Yeah. For sure."

"Well, stop it," she whispered, encouraging me to turn toward her. She kissed me. Morning breath and disheveled hair and all, she was the most beautiful and delicious thing I could ever imagine.

"I'll stop if you'll stop."

"Stop what?" she asked.

"Stop saying my daughter and start saying ours ."

She blinked in a little confusion.

"If it's okay with you, I want to adopt her as soon as we get married. I don't want her to be my stepchild. I hope she might grow to think of me as her dad," I said, "not her stepdad."

She choked on a sob. "Todd?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"Are you sure?"

"More than sure," I whispered. "I'm certain. If you and I are committed, then I am doubly so. You two are a package deal, you know? I love you both."

"God, Todd," she said with a smile.

I grinned. "Funny rhyme."

"Stop it. No jokes! You're serious?"

"More serious than a heart attack."

"The bacon!" she yelped seeing smoke behind me.

"Speaking of heart attacks!" I laughed, scooping out the crispy strips and moving the pan to an unlit spot to cool.

I deposited the last of the rashers then slid the skillet back to the lit burner.

"Help me out," I said. "Scramble three eggs with a quarter-teaspoon each of ground nutmeg and cinnamon, and a half-teaspoon of vanilla," I requested, pointing toward two jars, a bottle, and a microplane.

"You been holding out on me? Are you a chef or something?"

"Hardly. This is my mom's recipe."

After she prepared it, I dipped a few slices of thick-cut slightly stale bread in the mixture and deposited them into the same skillet that'd cooked the bacon.

"Shush. Don't tell anyone." I grinned, frying the toast in the bacon remnants.

"Oh. My. Word. I know I'm being selfish, but I hope it doesn't wake⁠—"

"What are you making?" Stacie asked.

Brenda grinned. "Too late."

"French toast and bacon, kiddo," I answered.

"Yummy!"

The first piece with some bacon went onto her plate. She didn't even add syrup until after her first bite.

The rest went onto two plates, then Brenda and I sat with Stacie.

Once we'd all eaten and dressed for our day, I headed into the office.

Brenda, by that point, was working with me on a lot of things as a freelance contractor of sorts, and I had every intention of making her a legal partner as soon as I could manage it. She impressed my senior staff which she joined as a peer. Even though she usually worked out of the home office, she did phenomenal work.

Every so often, she'd take Stacie to daycare and join me in my office. We'd struck a very nice work/life balance.

Late October, 2018

Our big day was approaching, and we'd finished most of the plans and preparations. We were aiming for a small, intimate ceremony, not a gala by any stretch. We wanted it simple, and followed by a fantastic party, all attended only by our closest friends and family.

We were giddy with anticipation. We'd deliberately chosen the Friday after Thanksgiving for the ceremony because we knew we'd need a respite. Since most places would be closed on the holiday, it'd force us to idle ourselves the day before the wedding.

"Are you at all worried?" Brenda asked one night after we settled into bed.

"Hell, no." I chuckled. "I am so looking forward to it."

"Not what I mean. Do you worry at all about me? That … it could happen again? That I might do the same thing to you?"

"Brenda, why would you ask me that?"

"Because something horrible happened to you. All I know is, in a few weeks, we'll be at the same point in our journey as you were at before. I know you're a smart man, and I know you have to be wondering if it might happen again. Please, baby, be honest with me."

"Come on. You know that whole thing isn't something I like to talk about."

"I understand. But I want … no, I need to know you still trust me. You've completely compartmentalized that part of your history. I feel like you're hiding it from me."

I decided she was, indeed, entitled to know. No secrets. That it happened wasn't something I hid from her. I'd told her about it when we first met. The details, however, I'd kept to myself. Until that night.

"She wasn't at all like April," I said.

"Tell me what happened. Please. I want to understand."

"Her name was Cassidy Hudson," I began. "I get a bitter taste in my mouth just saying it.

"I met her at a trade show almost four years ago. She was a sales representative for a company which sold my firm one hell of a nice software package. I stood in the background while she delivered her pitch to some prospective clients. It took her maybe ten minutes to convey, in such a clear and concise manner, an enormous amount of detail. She was very … capable.

"Anyway, after the group left, I took the opportunity to get my own overview on any upcoming updates to the software suite.

"I didn't even realize until a queue had formed behind me that we hadn't been talking about it at all. We'd only been chatting. Just a … chat.

"We agreed to meet at the end of the day to continue our conversation. We went out for dinner and drinks.

"We got engaged after a couple of years together. But, Brenda, like I said, she was different than April. You've already heard that story. I was so totally and completely head over heels for Cassidy, I could hardly contain myself. I was beyond excited."

"Are you excited like that now? With us?"

"I'll need to explain it. But no, I'm not. It's different."

"Okay," she said cautiously.

"The week before the wedding, everything was lined up. A venue, an officiant, a band, a caterer, photographers, the cake was ordered, it was all sailing along quite nicely.

"The ceremony was to be on a Saturday. The Tuesday before, Dale, Benny, and I went to the menswear shop to make sure our suits were all tailored and ready. When we showed up, they discovered the tailor had accidentally returned them to the wrong store. They'd sent them to a store near City Center.

"We went to the shop which had them. They had to make sure our coats' sleeves were perfect before they added the buttons to the cuffs, and Benny wanted the hem of his slacks brought in like a quarter of an inch or something. You know him. He's a perfectionist. The manager swore up and down they'd be ready and back at the shop here in Katy the next day. I was nervous already, he knew it, and assured me everything would work out. Turned out I would never put the suit on again. We'd paid for them, but I don't think any of us ever picked them up.

"Anyway, we wrapped things up at the shop in about an hour, and we decided to have lunch at a deli nearby.

"We went into the restaurant, and I happened to see Cassidy sitting at a table with some guy. It wasn't really a surprise because she worked like four blocks away, and I assumed she was having lunch with a client or a coworker or something.

"I figured after I ordered, I would go over and say hello, but while we're standing in line, I see her reach across the table and take the guy's hand and bring it to her face. She was looking at him with doe eyes when he stroked her jawline. She sort of tilted her head into it, then he leaned over and kissed her. Open lipped and everything. Twice. When she reached out and stroked his upper arm, that's when I saw she wasn't wearing her engagement ring.

"I thought, maybe it wasn't Cassidy. I tried to convince myself it wasn't. Then she smiled at him in a certain way. That particular smile was unmistakable, and it was directed at someone other than me."

"Oh, Todd," Brenda whispered.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017, 1:18pm
The year before.

I stepped out of the queue. I needed barely a dozen strides to get to their table.

"What the hell is going on, Cassidy?" My sudden appearance visibly startled her.

The man sitting next to her flinched visibly when she yanked her hand away. I imagine he saw I was a little more than agitated. He stood from the table and situated himself between her and me.

"Hey, pal, don't speak to the lady that way," he said.

I was astounded he had the gall to push me back a step. Not forcefully as if trying to make me stumble or send me flying, but obviously insistent. I spent a few seconds trying to decide which side of his jaw was the glassiest as I clenched both of my fists, prepping either of them to crack whichever side I chose to break first.

"Where is it, Cassidy?!" I barked.

"Buddy, I'm not going to give you another warning. Step away. Now !" the man commanded.

"Where is the ring ?" I demanded over his shoulder.

The pressure the man was exerting against my shoulders immediately vanished. I almost fell forward, suddenly off balance when he removed his hands. He stepped back and pivoted to face her.

"Cassidy, why aren't you wearing the ring?!" I yelped, already choking up.

I was crushed. I was blindsided. I was angry. I was suddenly … nullified.

"I want it back. Where is it?"

"Todd, calm down! Please !"

"Calm down?" I cried. "Calm down ?"

It was at that moment I felt Dale's hands on my shoulders from behind me. He didn't speak. He only held me where I stood.

"What is this? Who the hell are you people?" the man demanded, scanning everyone, suddenly in the middle of a very awkward and outnumbered situation.

The woman was doing the same, seeing faces of varying familiarity. I no longer assumed mine was the most important to her.

"Go ahead, Cassidy, tell him. Tell him who I am," I said, drilling holes into her skull with my stare.

She didn't. She looked panicked.

"Cass?" the man uttered through an inhale.

Hearing him say a nickname I thought was my sole privilege to use made my fists, and my stomach, tighten even more. I was seething. She was silent.

"Cassidy ? What is … is he saying … are you engaged to him?" the man yelped, suddenly appearing weak, his resolve to defend her having totally evaporated.

"She was until thirty seconds ago ," I hissed through my teeth, not taking my eyes off her. "Give me the ring. You don't deserve it. Give it back to me right now !"

I think she noticed how the restaurant had grown almost completely silent. The only sounds I heard came from the distant kitchen. Dozens of people were staring at the table at which a woman, seated alone, watched four men standing near looking at her in various states of anger, embarrassment, or shock.

I saw Cassidy's eyes surveying the room as she wordlessly removed her pocketbook from her purse, opened it, removed then held toward me the ring I'd offered her more than a year earlier.

I couldn't make my arms move. I was paralyzed by the absolutely debilitating gut punch of betrayal. She held in her open palm the instantly debased, devalued, worthless gold band and chunk of compressed carbon I'd spent more than ten thousand dollars on. I'd have swatted it out of her hand if I'd had the strength. I didn't want it, but it was far more important to me that she didn't have it. Benny wordlessly took it from her and put it in his front pocket.

"I … I can't believe this," the stranger shakily said to her. "I don't ever want to speak to you again."

He removed from the floor the cloth napkin which had fallen from his lap on confronting me. He tossed it on his plate, then briskly departed.

Cassidy began sobbing. I saw her lips form the words I'm sorry .

"Come on, Todd. We should go," Benny said, nudging my shoulder barely enough to break my trance.

"Brenda, I've never before or since gotten shit-faced drunk, but I was completely numb by three that afternoon. All of us were. April and Penny had to come pick us up from the bar when the bartenders stopped serving us. I was the one who drove, and I asked a bartender to lock up my keys the minute we got there. That should tell you how far gone we were before they cut us off."

She remained silent, stroking my arm and chest, holding me to her as I relived the pain and felt the emotions anew. Bringing it all back to the surface made it feel like it'd just happened. My throat was thickened, and I fought the urge to sob, swallowing it in.

"Oh, Brenda, the plots I devised! The plans I made! I wanted revenge! I wanted to destroy her! With the means I have at my disposal, I could have!"

"But … you didn't."

"I considered assigning everyone I employ to dig up as much dirt as they could on her and that man and trash them both with it … but Benny talked me out of it."

"How?"

"He told me if I so much as jotted a single tittle or dug into a single thing about her, he'd leave the firm and never talk to me again."

"Why? He's your best friend. I mean, didn't he understand?"

"Oh, he understood alright. He saw it all happen right in front of him. Dale, too.

"He said he couldn't work for or be friends with someone who'd stoop lower than Cassidy had. And the other guy? Dale made me realize the guy probably felt as angry and betrayed as I did. Since she was hiding the ring, he couldn't have known she was seeing anyone, let alone engaged to be married in four days. Given what he said when he left her at the table, he obviously thought they were exclusive."

"I know you. Deep down, you're an honorable and reasonable man. I bet if you bumped into him on the street tomorrow, you'd offer to buy him a beer and commiserate with him."

"Yeah. Probably," I admitted.

"Was that the end of it?"

"No. She blew up my phone with texts and voicemails hoping to patch things up. She was definitely upset, but I could tell she wasn't exactly … repentant? When I finally manned up enough to answer one of her calls, I told her how, in my view, the entire foundation of marriage is based on mutual respect and trust, and I wasn't going to invest energy attempting to repair what she alone had destroyed.

"I mean, she knew what she was doing. She was hiding the ring. It wasn't an accidental indiscretion. It was premeditated. I figured it wouldn't have been any different with the wedding band she'd have been wearing four days later. So, no. I sent her sailing."

Brenda held me in her arms, comforting me. I don't know how she did it. I don't know how she'd put her own past behind her. My trauma was purely emotional, while hers was that plus a physical nearly fatal assault. I held my breath to prevent Brenda from hearing it stagger, still fighting back tears of recall.

"You're mine, and I've got you," she whispered softly, tenderly stroking my ear, holding me to her shoulder under the blankets. "I thought I'd never trust another man until I met you."

Her tender words and her soft touches calmed me and allowed me to relax. I fell asleep in her arms but awakened to an empty bed. Her side had already been made, a departure from our norm because neither of us would remake half a bed if the other was still in it. I mean, who would?

I noticed one sheet of yellow ruled paper from a legal pad on her nightstand. There were handwritten words, and the engagement ring I'd given her was situated on its upper left corner.

My heart began to sink when I saw it.