An Unforeseen Turn of Events

Chapter Fourteen

Nothing like a good run in the early morning to clear up my head, Christine thought as she breathed in the cool, crisp morning air.

She wore her black and white spandex outfit as she jogged to the local park. Her ponytail swayed from side to side.

She passed the elderly gardener tending to his flowers. His eyes lit up as she ran past him. He tipped his hat and displayed his toothless grin.

"Beautiful! I need to work on my garden!" she called out to him. To her surprise, he blew her a kiss and bowed his head.

Christine blushed. My, is he getting more forward! I guess a widower in his nineties is entitled to do whatever he wants.

As she ran, she felt her abs.

I did eat a third slice of pizza last night. Gotta keep working out. More than ever since I'm in my forties.

Recalling dinner last night, her thoughts turned to Daniel. Her muscles tensed up. Christine stopped and put her hands to her knees, exhausted. She shook out her arms and legs and walked back home.

"We need to talk," she told him as he was putting on his jacket with his briefcase nearby.

Before he could say anything, she added, "Your secrecy is upsetting me more than finding out the truth. Daniel, I can't go on like this."

Reaching for his briefcase, he paused and stared at her. "You're absolutely right. I thought about it all last night."

He put his briefcase down again and that's when Christine noticed her husband looked like he lost a little more weight. She felt like crying but held back—they needed to talk.

They sat in the living room, Christine on the couch and Daniel in a chair. They said nothing for a few minutes until Christine met his eyes. "You have to understand you're killing me with this secrecy."

"I know. I know," he said, lowering his eyes to the ground. "I am expecting a call from the doctor today and I'll tell you everything tonight, I promise. . . I realize I'm only making it worse by not telling you. He looked up at her. "Why do I keep hurting the people I love most?"

Christine's demeanor softened. "Sometimes, it's necessary to tell your family bad news. When you got laid off for three weeks, I remember it took you a week to tell me. Every morning you went to unemployment with your briefcase. Honey, I have to know what's going on. That's a big part of marriage. Sure, this is scary, but you just can't sugarcoat everything. Especially about something like this," she whispered.

Daniel got up to embrace and kiss his wife on the lips. "I don't know what I'd do without you." He gently put his hands on her shoulders and stared lovingly into her eyes, "I love you, Christine."

"I love you too. We're in this together. I do my best to concentrate at work, but it's getting harder for me to continue everyday life with this damn mystery hanging over my head."

"Of course, of course, I understand. I'm not being fair to you. You, Tim, or Trudy...The last thing in the world I would want to do is hurt you and the twins in any way. The three of you are my life."

Christine felt her eyes moistening, feeling very lucky to have such a husband who cares.

Daniel picked up his briefcase and she kissed him and said, "We'll talk tonight. I promise. Have a good day, sweetheart. I love you."

As she watched him get into his Toyota Camry, Christine felt very lucky, pondering what she ever did to deserve such a good man. Gratitude washed over her so much that she failed to ponder on his increasingly frail frame.

And for the twins, whom he adopted and raised as his own. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. I can't stay mad at him for long.

Christine closed her eyes and sighed. As she climbed the steps to shower before heading off to work, she prayed that her husband's health should be good.