She kept up her patter as she showed her the house, three bedrooms, nice big lot, small patio. "Excuse me for just a moment while we confer, will you?" she said to the realtor, before grabbing me into the living room. "Look honey, a fireplace." She wasn't going to be distracted. She backed me against the mantle. "What the fuck is going on here?" "Really, Beck, isn't it obvious? We're house hunting. I don't want to start married life in an apartment. Besides, when we have kids we're gonna need the space." I don't think she heard much past married life, before she launched into my arms. I scraped the back of my head on the stone mantle, and didn't care at all. Then she cried. Then she giggled. Then she got serious. "Where's my ring?" "I haven't got it yet. I thought we'd pick it out together." The realtor came looking for us, and heard the last. She laughed. "What did I tell you, dear. Clueless. I swear, if we didn't guide them, the species would disappear. Are you up to lookin

"Please, girls, I'm begging here. This is his place of business as well as mine, and he has the right to conduct it as he sees fit. If you push it, he'll have grounds for a restraining order, and that would be bad. He's so upset he told me he's going to sell his half of the business, if I don't buy it he'll go to someone else." "We can't afford that, Cindy. Not now. We've just gotten to the edge of being really successful. He's the idea man, the brains behind the business. I just sell whatever he comes up with. It would ruin us, Cindy. Think about the kids." I heard more mumbling, then silence. He called. "They've left. You can come out of the office now." "I don't think so. As long as I'm in here I'm in an asshole free zone. Go back to work, try to figure out what you're going to do. And ask Aida to come in, please." He was starting to beg again when I hung up. ... "It been an interesting few days. Care to hear about it?" she said, as she sat. Curiosity got the better of me,

I let them sweat before I gave them my proposal. "I'll forgo legal recourse for certain considerations. First, my wife is never to know of this meeting. Second, reprimand her, demote her, do whatever you want except fire her. I need her to have a job during the divorce. Do what you want with the asshole, but in my opinion, this doesn't seem like the first time to me. What if it had been a major donor or the wife or daughter of one? In my opinion, he's a disaster waiting to happen. There again, an opinion, do what you want. Agreed? Good. Of course, we can't write this up, but I've taped this conversation. Here." I pulled out the recorder and gave them the tape. I neglected to mention the other recorder still going. "Now, if I make trouble for you, you can play the tape. And one more thing. You have a volunteer, Cindy Waller. She helped my wife conduct her affair and covered for her. It might be good if she wasn't associated with you any longer." They looked like bobble heads, shaki

It was wood, stone and glass, with a high ceiling and lots of natural light. After I explained he was all for it, if we could do it on a Monday, his slowest sales day. He gave me a case of wines I hadn't tasted it yet, just for an opinion. Many of his wines had names linked to the area. Millrace Red was named for the old grist mill on the edge of his property. Yankee Orchard White was named for a friends' apple orchard. A transplanted New Yorker, he specialized in rare and new varieties. Juice from his Pink Lady apples were mixed with a medium white, and it was really smooth, tasting like fresh apples with just a hint of grape. It had been a long day, and I needed to unwind. As it happened, I had to go right by the bar on the way home. Forgetting how I was dressed, I walked in. There was silence for a minute, then the laughter and ribbing started. "Where you been? A funeral?" Laughed Fat Bob, the first guy I'd talked to when I found the place. We'd become pretty good friends, to t

"Hey! I was watching that.""It's boring as shit, Suit. Besides, I'm your guest here."She settled on some show about four girls and a secret they shared. I lasted five minutes."If you're going to watch stuff that turns your brain to mush, I'm going to bed before I get infected. Good night, Amanda."I could still hear the tv blaring when I drifted off to sleep. The next morning she woke me up, banging on my door."Breakfast, sleepyhead," she said, parroting me from the day before, "eat it while it's hot."Sausage, home fries and grits. I was still getting used to them, not being from the South. I will admit they were growing on me."You don't keep much food around do you?" she asked as I ate."Single guy, not home much, no reason to," I said, around a bite of sausage.She stacked the dishes when I was done."Do you need a ride tonight?" I asked, as I walked out the door."I'm off tonight," she said, "but d