- Loving Wives
- The Great Escape
- Page 10
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Click hereCora was past tears, close to giving up. She finally went to her little cabin, hoping for some sleep.
The next morning, Cora was knocking on the Ruxters' door pretty early. Annie answered and invited her in for coffee and talk. But first, tears again. Cora had thought she was past tears, but, looking at Annie, seeing her sympathy and care, Cora broke down again. Annie hugged her 'til the tears stopped and then sat her down at the Ruxters' kitchen table. While Annie was getting coffee for them, Cora was looking out the window, at the beautiful Gulf of Mexico view. She almost broke down again, wondering if she could ever be happy again, wondering why she had destroyed her life, and Tim's as well.
"Here you go, honey, fresh coffee and even a donut from Mae's Donut Shop. You know they're the only donuts in Florida worth all the calories." Cora smiled and reached across the table to grip Annie's hand.
"Annie, I think I'm giving up. He won't talk to me; he barely looks at me. His rehab is really done; I've been stretching it out just to have a reason to stay with him. I don't know what to do anymore.
"You know, last night, when I couldn't sleep, I tried to think about this like a lawyer. I mean, Tim's a lawyer, a really good one I think, and he must be doing some kind of lawyer analysis about what I did, and what makes sense for him now. And I think he should be really mad and yell at me and do stuff like making me jump in the water naked, like he did back on the Waterway near Fort Lauderdale. But at some point, I mean we have so many years invested in each other and in our girls, at some point, he needs to... he needs to do something, something to start getting us back together. He needs to talk to me, get us couples counseling so he can yell at me some more, beat me with a... a stick." Cora stopped. She didn't want a beating, and she knew Tim wasn't going to beat her. He was going to leave her. She started crying again. Annie held on to her hand.
"Cora, honey, I think Tim's not doing lawyer stuff on what you did. He's a man, he's not being logical or lawyerly or rational or any of that right brain kind of stuff. He's feeling. And I'm afraid you have put him in a pretty bad place.
"Let me tell you a story, about when I was a little girl. I had a pet raccoon. He got left behind by his mama or somehow got lost, and I found him, a really little guy, and I fed him and took care of him, and he grew up in a cage my daddy built behind our house. One day, after school, I was sitting in his cage with him, eating a Hostess Twinkie. God, I loved those things. Anyway, he reached up with his little hand and tried to grab my Twinkie. I slapped him, knocked him back across the cage. Of course, I was sorry, and then I tried to give him a bite of my Twinkie. But he stayed across the cage from me. And from then on, whenever I would try to get close to him, he would run to the other side of the cage.
"Cora, I cried when I did it, but I finally opened his cage door one night after supper, just as it was getting dark. Raccoons like the dark more than the light, I think. And the next morning he was gone. I never saw him again. Cora, I hurt his feelings pretty bad, and I had to set him free." Cora was crying again. Of course, Annie's story reminded her of an old movie, with the line, "If you love something, set it free." And she knew what she had to do.
That evening, Cora fixed dinner for her and Tim, and then asked if she could talk with him. With an exasperated look, he nodded.
"Tim, first of all, I think your rehab is really over. You're running and exercising again, your blood pressure and heart rate are both great, your color is good. You have another doctor's appointment in about a month, but I think that's pretty much a formality.
"Second, I want to say, one more time, how sorry I am that I cheated on you, on our marriage. I will regret it for the rest of my life. And yes, I'm going to start counselling, to try to figure out why I fucked up so incredibly badly, and maybe figure out ways to keep that from ever happening again. And... um... well, the counseling will be in Albany. I'm flying home tomorrow. Annie is going to drive me up to Miami airport so I will be leaving here early tomorrow morning." She stopped. She looked at Tim, with what she hoped was a neutral face, but with still a glimmer, a fading glimmer, of hope as she watched his reaction.
"Cora, you know, I think that's best. I appreciate your being here to help me with rehab, and I really have tried to figure out a way to start getting past what you did. But, Jesus, Cora, five months! That's just not the woman I thought I married."
"Tim, thank you. I mean, thank you for saying you were trying. I.... Uh, can I ask one last favor before I leave?"
"What, Cora?"
"Can we sleep together tonight? Just to hold each other, I mean. Just this one more time?"
"Sure. Let me check the moorings and I'll meet you in the main cabin." Cora brushed her teeth, slipped out of her clothes and into her typical sleep wear: t-shirt and panties, and was in Tim's bed, under the cover, when he returned.
"Cora, I...."
"Tim, just... just hush. Just get into bed and let me hold you and let's go to sleep." He did get into bed, she did hold him, and they did go to sleep, but that was a long time coming. Both of them thinking: almost 40 years together, and now that was ending.
The next morning, when Tim awoke, Cora was already up, her carry-on packed. She was standing in the galley, drinking a cup of coffee, thinking about the night before. She had awoken in the middle of the night, to go to the head. When she crawled back into bed, Tim was lying on his back and she was tempted, really, really tempted, to pull the covers back and see what might develop. She remembered the sex they had after she had jumped naked into the water up near Ft. Lauderdale. But she knew that had been just sex. If they were to have sex now, it would have to be making love. She knew that was not fair to either of them, and she turned away, curled up on her side, and eventually fell asleep again.
"Cora, I guess this is good-bye." She jumped a little; she hadn't heard Tim walk up behind her. She turned to look at him, in his running shorts and shirt, ready to go for his run after she left. The perfect metaphor, she thought, for him going on with a life without her.
"One last hug?" she asked.
"Of course, and I want you to know I'm sorry also, that we've come to this."
"Thank you, Tim, I appreciate that. I know this is all on me, and...."
"Stop, let's not rehash now, okay? I do want to leave you with a thought. I'm trying very hard to see you as an angel." Cora's eyes almost popped out of her head. What? What was he saying?
"You appeared on my boat, truly out of the blue, just in time to save me when I had a heart attack. If you had not appeared, I would have died. And then you supervised my recovery so I'm basically as good as new. That sounds like an angel to me." Cora looked at him, wondering when she would see him again. At a daughter's wedding? In divorce court?
"Tim, you're a sweet man. I will always love you, and miss you." She turned away, toward Annie's car, crying again. Never really past the tears, she thought, as she and Annie drove away.
Tim watched them drive away, dry eyed. He started his morning run, thinking he would never understand what had caused Cora's cheating. He would continue to miss the Cora he thought he had known, but not the cheating Cora she actually was. And, he told himself, he was living in a beautiful place, on a beautiful boat. He had his health back; he could sail for Key West tomorrow. Life was open for him.
When he finished his run, he did his stretches and reboarded The Great Escape for some breakfast. As he walked though the lounge, he saw his cellphone message light was blinking. He pushed the buttons and listened to his message.
"Uhh, Tim, I hope you're doing okay. This is Lucinda Otter. Umm, I'm calling to, uh, see how you're doing and, uhh, to, uhh, give you some news. I'm not sure if it's good news or bad news. If you have a minute, would you call me? I, um, I miss you. This is Lucinda. Bye."
End.
I know, I know: it's not the kind of end LW readers demand. But it's the end of this story. I could add an epilogue, but that's not real life. In real life, your life has lots of stories, and in Tim Peterson's life, this story has ended.
I look forward to the comments LW readers love to leave: the helpful ones, the (frankly) stupid ones, almost all of them entertaining. Thank you for reading. Tanglosax
- COMMENTS
No revenge?
I still feel there should be legal recourse against someone that intentionally destroys a marriage
A well written and entertaining storey, a few errors as pointed out below and early on you refer toTim as Todd, but in spite of that I enjoyed it especially boating part. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The story isn’t quite finished with that titbit you left from Lucinda at the end. As a couple,of authors on here used to say FTDS 😊
So glad you didn't turn him into a sissy wimp cuck taking the cheating skank slut back. Would have ruined the story. That being said he should never have let her get on his boat in the first place, He should have bitch slapped her and sent her packing. Not buying the heart attack either. Top notch runner, way too rare to just toss in this story. She was a liar and betrayer from the beginning and he should never believe those were the only times. She was a self-absorbed bitch to the end, even trying to lecture him. Whore should have been burned but you let her off. Too bad, made the story a 1 instead of a 4.
Excellent story....A couple of noticeable points:
1) When he had his first confrontation with Cora he called her love interest Doctor asshole.... however in the picture and video he didn't recognize the man nor did he know who sent the evidence, so how did he know it was a doctor?
2) This story takes place in less than a year and at the beginning they had been together over 25 years.....A bit later in the story it was stated 28 years then 30 years. At the end of the story when they separated it was then 40 years???
The story was worth a *5* rating in my opinion however I felt you gave up a bit at the end and personally I would like to have a conclusion (Part 2) or a sequel.
Thank you for your story.
Wonderfully conceived. The one imbalance in the narrative was that he never had to fess up to his own detour from fidelity after learning of hers. She had gotten together with Mark for 2 hours once a week for 5 months. In turn, he bedded Lucinda from Long Island Sound to the Potomac. with regular sex almost daily and overnighting together for the duration. So he doubtless exceeded her number of sexual encounters get-togethers with Mark by multiples. Something worthy of factoring into any discussion of them getting back together as a couple.
Saved by the bell, a great story that looked to be falling off the tracks but was saved by the last chapter
Good story. Glad no marital reconciliation. Really tired of the wife serially apologizing and hoping to be forgiven and taken back. Irritated at the daughters for not accepting dad's new life and encouraging Mon to let him go.
He really doesn't need all the details of the affair. That she cheated, lied and had no regrets in the process, along with the complete violation of trust is enough to leave her. She didn't tell him about the third man and did not admit to a complete lack of guilt in the process. She clearly was on the fence of continue to cheat in the
future. She used lack of communication as an excuse to cheat because she got a thrill from it. I'd been married about 18 years when my wife dumped me for a guy she's been screwing for 6 months. I also found out she was a part time escort. NO CLUE. What I do know is that I was DEVASTATED. My trust was shattered. I never cared about her motivations. She was a lying whore and that's the long and the short of it.; I was 52 and she 41 and still a stunner. Also, later, a psychologist pointed out she was a closet narcissist,
He, in reality, would have put her off the boat immediately. Thus, I disagree with the authors point of view as he wrote below.
Medical. , CPR has to result in a viable BP in 5-7 min or brain damage is irreparable. Her CPR was uselessly ineffective. I've had LAD stenosis and, believe me, there are concerning symptoms before the chest pain.
Recovery from the stent is about 10 days.
I'm not a sailor but the aspects of boating were fascinating!!!!!
A lot of criticism to be sure but on the plus side THIS WAS A REALLY GOOD STORY ******5 STARS!!!
Great writing and good plot. Nice ending in that the lifesaving effort is appreciated but doesn't fix the broken trust.
What's the harm in telling us what happens after the phone call?
I did think this was your strongest story yet. Realized characters who fit in their environment. I bought in and got immersed in the story. I found some value in every person, which in turn, makes the story believable and relatable. Thanks for sharing!
To Anonymous who commented on my post. What I thought I made clear is that almost thirty years is a long time, and things that people may do in their early ‘20’s are likely the result of different motivations than what people do in their late ‘40’s, even when it comes to sex. Anyone who has been married for three or more decades can, I think, appreciate this. The husband did not know about the earlier affair, so there was no reason for him to conclude that his wife was a lifelong cheating slut. The earlier event may also have faded in memory for the wife. For almost three decades there was no problem. Who knows what motivated the later affair; Cora apparently had no clue. It is too easy to brand her as a cheating slut as if the only other option was a perfect angel. Cora knew she wasn’t an angel, but hoped that she was better than the alternative. Neither Cora nor Tim, in my reading, were really sure, but Tim’s misgivings were such that he could not live with her, at least for now, and perhaps forever. Both needed serious therapy. The lack of certainty is what I really liked about this ultimately sad story.
5 stars from Xluckylee for a realistic story. Sometimes we don't get a happy ending.
1. if someone is breating and their heart id beating DO NOT DO CPR
2. if someone need CPR to survive they wont last an hour getting it intermittently before receiving medical care without serious brain damage
Anon in previous post. The forgiveness trope is even worse than that. Authors use it as a kind of plot point that shows MC has truly gone through adversity and moved on. In reality, the two are completely irrelevant. You are perfectly able to move on without forgiving, or even talking again to the cheater. Time, distance and new relationships gradually fade that person from your mind. Anyone who has experienced it knows what I'm talking about. They literally never cross your mind unless someone brings them up. They are completely irrelevant to your life.
So this fabled forgiveness, serves no real purpose other than lessening the cheater's guilt, if they have that at all. And that will be fading with time too. Authors are so used to their tropes, that don't even care if they make sense in the context of their story. It's fine to Not Forgive. No righteous fire will come from the sky to burn you. You don't owe anything to people who have betrayed you. Presenting it some kind of moral obligation is one of the most baffling things I see in these stories.
Tim was a faithful partner and deserves the same.
She is a 304 who cheated on him to start their marriage and could have just told him and ended it then.
Having a full blown affair involves so much disrespect ,planning, lies
A lot of pages for so little closure but it's a method.
Of course Lucinda may want to sail with him again.
Ambul You don't make any sense. The reason cheating breaks trust is because the cheated can't get guarantees it won't happen again in the future. Not because they don't get guarantees it won't happen in the next couple years and everything after that is fine, knock yourself out slut. This wife fucked around as NEWLYWED. The definition of a slut who shouldn't be married for anyone with common sense without cuckold tendencies. And has a full blown affair years later confirming it. Newsflash. You don't need to be perfect in order to not betray your marriage vows. Twice. In full blown affairs that literally can't be called mistakes by definition. Unless you are inclined to count every single time she met her lover and fucked him as one.....
Bravo for a well-told story. But I liked even more that you ended the story realistically.