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“It doesn’t matter. If you talk to Dad, tell him his advice worked.”

“What advice?”

She grabbed her jacket from the closet.

“Where’re you going?” I asked.

“To meet Jason.”

I watched her leave and prayed she’d have better relationships with men than I did.

JIM

“Ileft Maggie,” I say to Sam as he opens his front door.

“What?” Sam looks as if I slapped him. “Because you hate your job? That’s not a reason to leave.”

“She cheated on me.” Just saying those words is enraging and humiliating. How could she do this to me?

“She had sex with someone?” Sam asks.

“She says it didn’t go that far.”

“Who was it?”

“Some guy at the gym. Ellen knows all about it.”

“She didn’t tell me.”

“I’m sure Maggie swore her to secrecy.”

“This is crazy.” I follow Sam into his kitchen and sit at the island. He puts a bag of potato chips and a beer in front of me, the comfort food for men. “What’re you going to do?” he asks.

“No idea.”

“Where are you staying?”

“Probably the Hyatt on Main Street.”

“No, you’re not. You’re staying here, in our guest room.”

I don’t want to intrude on his life, but I also don’t want to stay at a hotel. I look around the living room. How many times had Maggie and I come over for poker games, to drink wine, or to just hang out and complain about our daughter?

“Where’s your stuff?” Sam asks.

“In the car.” He follows me to my car and then takes me to a small room off the kitchen. I’ve been in the house a million times but have never been in this room. It’s small but warm. The bed is neatly made, with a faux-fur throw at the end. There’s a television and a bookcase filled with biographies of old actors. It’s so clean it’s as if it’s ready and waiting for me. I stand awkwardly holding my suitcase as Sam shows me the bathroom and where to find extra towels. He takes my suitcase from me and drops it on the bed.

“Stay as long as you want,” he says.

“Thanks.”

Ellen calls out to Sam from their bedroom, and he goes to her. I can hear whispered conversation. He comes back, bringing Ellen with him.

“Hi,” I say to Ellen. I try not to be mad at her—I know her loyalty is to Maggie—yet this is uncomfortable for both of us.

“Hi,” she says, as if it’s perfectly normal that I’m standing in her guest room with my suitcase.

“I hope it’s okay that Sam invited me to stay.” I feel like an intruder with the two people I’m the closest to other than my wife and kid.