Show Me A Good Loser...

Rocky was in the kitchen fixing dinner when I walked in at 5:45, just like she normally would have been. She glided over to me and gave me a quick kiss and hug, and I could tell that she was freshly showered and had changed out of her professional attire. I'll admit that my first thought was, "Why is this happening to me again?"

After a few minutes of idle chit-chat during the meal, I told her about stopping at her office to take her to lunch. She quickly looked down at her plate, and I could see her steeling herself to look back my way. I'm might not have picked up on the move had I not been expecting it.

"Oh, yeah, I ran down to the local KFC for a boxed meal. I wish I knew you were stopping by. I would have made you take me someplace expensive," she replied glibly.

"Well-played," I thought to myself, wondering how long she had been lying to me.

Two days later, she called me during the afternoon and told me she had to work late a couple of hours that evening. Under normal circumstances, I would have gone home and started dinner. Now, I drove over to the shop where she worked and staked out the parking lot a few minutes before closing time.

It was 5:02 when she walked out of the office, got into her car and drove off. So much for working late. I tried to follow her at a discreet distance, but I'm no gumshoe. I got tied up in the rush hour traffic and I lost her.

The next day I called the same PI I had used to follow Traci. Two agonizing weeks later, he had a full report for me.

We were in the middle of another mostly quiet dinner, when I figured the time was right.

"Why, Rocky?" I asked quietly.

She choked... on a forkful of mashed potatoes.

"Because she needed help, Tal, and I knew you wouldn't let me do it if I asked," Rocky said.

"That part I get, Rock, but why did you feel it was okay at all to lie to me? You know how things went down with she and I."

She cringed visibly. I guess she really hadn't given thought to that.

"I-I-I...

"Oh, my God, Tal. You had me followed. You didn't trust me..."

"No, you don't get to turn this around on me, Rocky. You betrayed my trust. You. Betrayed. My. Trust. I never thought you... you would do that to me."

I put my fork down, got up and walked out the door. I heard Rocky sobbing as I left.

I was sitting in one of my favorite little bars with a glass of Coke in front of me when my father walked in, as pissed off as he was the time I wrecked the family Ford when I was 16.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" my father hissed at me in fury. "That woman saved you. Hell, she's helping to save your slut of an ex-wife."

"I get that part, Dad, and I know she's one hell of a woman. But she picked the absolute worst way to do things. If I can't trust her, I don't need her. I'm not going through that again."

"You need to talk to her, instead of sitting here getting drunk," he said, still fuming.

I slid my glass over to him. He looked at it, lifted it to his face and took a taste.

"Ycch! That's Coke. You come to a bar and drink Coke? I always worried about you spending so much time with your mother when you were growing up."

"Need to think, Dad, not get drunk," I said. "I love the woman, but she violated my trust big-time, and the last time I gave a woman a second chance didn't work out too well for me."

"You have a right to be mad, very mad, but this wasn't about cheating. That's a big consideration. Think really hard before you do something stupid," he said before getting up and leaving.

I walked into the house about midnight. Rocky was sitting up waiting for me. I could see the tracks of tears streaked on her face.

"I screwed up badly, Tal. I'm embarrassed beyond belief to think I could have hurt you like that. I just never put two plus two together. I was just worried about her and was trying to help. My mom and your mom have been helping as well," she said in a jumble of words as I approached her.

I wasn't sure exactly what I felt at that moment. I sat across from her in the living room and let her talk.

"I guess her boyfriend has been beating on her for the last few months, but she's been too embarrassed to say anything to anybody. I totally get that. That was me, totally. You're too embarrassed to say anything, part of it because you're afraid it's something you caused.

"She eventually went to her mother for help, and her mother went to your mother. Your mother knew about my history, and she came to me. I made her promise not to say anything to you because I know how you feel about Traci. But she needed help, Tal... my help.

"I should have gone about it in a different way, though. I was stupid and inconsiderate, even though I meant well."

"You violated my trust, Rocky. I love you, but this kind of thing can't ever happen again. I can't take it," I warned.

"I know I screwed up badly, my love. It will never happen again. I promise," she said quietly.

"So now that I have a good mad going, how about I go visit Traci's buddy and explain how things are going to be from now on?" I asked.

"You would do that for her?" Rocky asked in surprise.

"A real man doesn't hit a woman, even if she deserves it, which in her case..."

Backed by Rocky, my mother and her mother, Traci pressed charges against her boyfriend, a 30-year-old former college football player. He wound up serving time in jail. Traci wound up working with a therapist for several months.

Although I wasn't completely happy about Rocky befriending Traci, it only got worse in the following years when Lydia and her husband had a son and then a daughter. The two women bonded closer over the grandchildren, both of whom adored Grandma Rocky and Grandma Traci. Rocky had absolutely no problem inviting Traci over anytime the kids were visiting.

"You do realize she's my ex-wife?" I said to Rocky one day after everybody went home following a day at our house.

"Yeah, but she's not the same person anymore she was when she was cheating on you, and it would be cruel not to let her enjoy the grandkids," she responded.

"You know you're a much better person than I am, right?" I asked.

"Yes, I know that," she flippantly responded.

******

I guess Rocky just couldn't let it be. We had decided to have a small Fourth of July party a few years later; nothing big, just Lydia and her family and a few friends, about 20 people total. Of course, Traci was at the party. She was the lone unattached woman.

The lone unattached man at the party was a co-worker of mine, Reg Wickersham. Reg was technically my subordinate. We had worked together for about 10 years. He was about the same age as me. His wife had died about five years ago.

I didn't invite Reg. Rocky did. Let's just say I was dubious when I found out.

"You didn't think I'd be able to add two plus two. Why do you women always feel like you have to help out the poor male of the species?"

"You've been telling me how lonely Reg is for the last few years. I think he and Traci would be good together. I keep telling you she's changed. I promise I won't push him, Tal. Just let it play out... and try to be a little more welcoming to her. She's my friend. You don't have to be friends with her, but try to be a little less rude. She is your daughter's mother, and your grandkids' grandmother."

I dropped my eyes. She was right.

The party was fun. I watched from a safe distance as Reg and Traci seemed to hit it off. Toward the end of the day, Reg asked me if we could talk... alone. I grabbed a bottle of Woodford Reserve bourbon, two glasses and led him inside the house to our den. I poured us both three fingers.

"The floor is yours, Reg," I said. "What's up?"

Reg came to this country from Scotland about 20 years ago. Although his accent has mellowed some, when he gets stressed, he sounds full Sean Connery. He was there now.

"I know this is weird, Tal, but can I ask you what happened with you and Traci. I mean, you've never really talked about it, and while I don't want to pry, I guess I'm trying to figure out if I even want to get involved... you know, ask her out."

I gave him the Reader's Digest version of our marriage and divorce. Then I went one further and told him he should speak to my wife to perhaps get a more complete view of who this version of Traci was.

"Yeah, maybe I should talk to Rocky. After all, it's more than a little strange that your wife is such good friends with your ex-wife," he said.

"You wouldn't be too weirded out if I dated her, would you?"

"Talk to Rocky. If you like what you hear, I would be more than good with you going out with Traci," I said.

Two nights later, Rocky told me she was meeting Reg for a drink to discuss Traci.

Eighteen months later, Rocky was matron of honor and I was best man when Traci and Reg tied the knot.

"Well, I had to do something to keep that bitch away from my husband," Rocky joked when the four of us were discussing how this all came about.

Lydia and her family were thrilled with the marriage. So were Reg's two kids and their families. Traci happily inherited four more grandkids. It was quite the extravaganza when our families got together, which usually happened at least once a month.

Epilogue:

Rocky and I celebrated our 25th anniversary the same way we celebrated the previous 24, sitting at the bar of what used to be called The Unicorn. Molly and her husband, with a little help from a silent investor, bought the place from its previous owners about 15 years ago, and for some reason renamed the place, "Molly's." Huh. Go figure.

It has remained one of our go-to places, in addition to the place where both of our lives got back on track... thanks to a little help from a young bartender who just couldn't not mess with two broken people.

When the opportunity to purchase the place came up, Molly and her husband, Jimbo, were just a little short of the money they needed to secure a loan. Rocky and I jumped at the chance to help.

"Yeah, that could work," I said to a smiling Molly and Jimbo.