One Weekend Before I Asked for Divorce
Chapter 1
I noticed it first in early June.
It was a Saturday morning, and the sun had just begun to tilt across the kitchen windows.
David was loading his fishing gear into the pickup, whistling a tune I hadn’t heard him whistle in years. The sound made me freeze mid-sip, coffee mug warming my palms, a strange pulse of unease threading through me.
“Going fishing again?” I asked, leaning against the counter.
He didn’t look up, arranging his tackle box with meticulous care. “Thought I’d try Miller’s Pond today,” he said.
“Bring back something nice for dinner?” I tried to sound light, casual, the way we used to.
“We’ll see what bites,” he replied, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth—but it didn’t reach his eyes.
I watched him drive off, dust curling behind the tires, and a small, unnameable prick of anxiety settled in my chest.
Maybe it was nothing. Just the quiet of our empty house, playing tricks on me.
By the eighth consecutive weekend, it was impossible to ignore.
David left at dawn with his fishing gear, came back at sunset with an empty basket, and offered the same casual explanations: “They weren’t biting today.”
Wisconsin lakes were full of fish this time of year. Even amateur fishermen were coming home with good catches.
And yet, my husband returned empty-handed, week after week.
That evening, he stepped through the door with another barren basket, tossing it by the entryway.
“No luck again?” I asked, stirring the stew I’d made, trying to keep my voice even.
“Nah,” he said, shrugging, washing his hands at the sink. Twenty years of marriage had taught me his tells—the quick avoidance of my eyes, the way his fingers fidgeted against the towel.
“That’s strange,” I said gently. “Tom at the grocery store said everyone’s been having good luck at Miller’s Pond lately.”
David’s shoulders tensed for a split second. “Must’ve been fishing the wrong spots,” he said, quick to change the subject.
He asked about my day, about the neighbor’s new fence, the weather, our son’s promotion in Chicago. I smiled and nodded, but inside, a tight knot was growing.
Over dinner, I studied his face in the warm kitchen light.
The crow’s feet had deepened. His hair was flecked with gray.
When had we stopped talking? When had secrets started creeping between us like weeds?
“I was thinking,” I said, setting down my fork, “maybe I could join you next Saturday. Pack a lunch, make a day of it.”
His fork froze mid-air. Panic flashed in his eyes.
“Oh, you wouldn’t enjoy it, Mary,” he said quickly. “It’s just… hours of sitting. Boring stuff.”
“I don’t mind boring,” I countered softly. “We could talk. It’s been a while since we spent a day together.”
He gripped his glass until his knuckles whitened. “I just—I need the solitude, you know? To clear my head.” His hand brushed mine for a fleeting second. “It’s nothing personal. Fishing’s just my thing.”
His thing.
The words echoed like a door clicking shut.
He excused himself to shower, leaving me at the table with our half-eaten meal. My mind pieced it together—the repeated absences, the empty baskets, the nervous deflections, the insistence on being alone.
As the water ran upstairs, I picked up David’s jacket from the chair where he’d draped it.
A short, blonde hair clung to the collar—not mine.
I held it up, heart sinking, watching it shimmer in the sunlight like a thread of betrayal.
All these years together, and now this.
Who was she? How long had it been going on?
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