off in the apartment; she was either asleep or not home. I was betting that she was out somewhere.
Then I had a terrific idea. I walked back through the parking lot, climbed over the fence, got in my car and drove to “The Lounge.” I went in and stayed where it was dark, and looked all around. I recognized two people, Lauren and Julie!
Julie was dancing nearly every song with different guys; she didn’t seem to have one steady guy. The two women were sitting at a table with six other women. That table was clearly the center of attention. They were all very attractive young women, and seemed to know each other well. I suspected that they were all friends and worked together, possibly all actresses.
A barmaid came and asked me about a drink, so I got a beer and continued to watch.
It was about eleven when Julie left. She left alone.
I got up and went over to the table. Several of the women looked at me.
I tapped Lauren on the shoulder. “Want to dance?”
She nodded and we went out on the floor. She said, “You just missed your wife. What are you doing here?” She seemed confused.
I smiled. “Lauren, I did you a favor at the party. Now it is your turn to help me!”
She nodded. “Okay, what do you want me to do?”
I continued to smile. “I need some information. Is Julie having an affair or seeing anyone in particular? And Lauren, I need the truth!”
She looked down her nose at me. “Honest, Brandon, if she is seeing someone, I don’t know anything about it. Why don’t you just ask her?”
When the song was over, I took Lauren back to the table.
One of the women looked at me. “Hey, cowboy, how ’bout me?”
I winked at her. “Some other time, darlin’!” I let my Texas “twang” shine through.
I left The Lounge in a hurry. I had made a mistake. I didn’t know what Julie’s car looked like. I drove to the apartment and parked out front. From the gate I could see that the lights were now on in her apartment. As I watched, they went out and it was completely dark. I stood there fifteen minutes feeling stupid, then I sat in my car as a car pulled up to the gate. It opened and I recognized the driver. It was Lauren. I was really tempted to stop her and talk to her some more. I left and went back to my hotel and sent the babysitter home.
I sat by the window and stared at the ocean. I realized that I wasn’t the greatest detective in the world, but I was positive that Julie wouldn’t cheat on me.
The next morning, I woke up lost; I had no idea what to do or where to go. My plan had completely backfired.
The kids woke up and I took them down for breakfast.
It was Johnny who gave me the idea. “Daddy, I want to see my mama!”
I pulled out my phone, punched in Julie’s speed dial number and I heard her answer. “Hello, sugar. What’s going on? You never call me in the morning.”
I smiled. “We’re here; we’re in San Diego at the hotel; we came to surprise you. When do you get off?”
She hesitated. “You’re here? But when did you get here?”
Things weren’t going like I thought they would. “We got here late last night. The kids wanted to surprise you.”
She said, “Well, I am surprised. I will see if I can get off early. I will call you when I can get off.”
I gave her the hotel and the room number and told her that we would be waiting for her.
After breakfast, I took the kids down to the ocean. This was a bad mistake; I had to hold both Johnny and Franky to keep them from drowning.
When we went back up to the room, I showered with all three of them and then turned the television on and let them watch cartoons as I took a nap.
I woke up to my phone ringing; it was Julie.
“I can get off at three. See you about three-thirty.” She hung up. I couldn’t tell if she was angry or just in a hurry.
Sure enough, right at three-thirty she knocked on the door. All four of us greeted her as she walked in. She held the baby, and bent over and kissed both Johnny and Rachael.
She looked up at me. “What are you doing here, Brandon?” There was an element of accusation in her voice.
I smiled. “We missed you, and Johnny wanted to see you, so here we are!”
She stood up. “Lauren told me that you were at the club last night.”
I continued a forced smile. “Yeah, she said that you had just left. Sorry that I missed you.”
She put the baby on the floor and got right in my face. “Are you spying on me?”
I lost my smile. “What’s wrong, Julie? Do I need to spy on you?”
She looked all around the room, then she asked, “Why didn’t you call me last night?”
I wasn’t ready for this question. “Well, I don’t know, I guess I forgot to.”
She whirled around, both hands grabbing at me. “So that is what this is all about. I forgot to call you and now you forget to call me. Mister, that don’t cut the mustard with me. I want to know what you are doing here, and I want to know now. Tell me, Brandon!”
I turned my back to her. “I guess you don’t like our surprise. We can go home. You can go back to work.”
She stepped over the baby and went to the door. “Fine, do it!” She slammed the door as she left.
I wasn’t going to give up that easy; neither was I going home.
Those thoughts lasted about three hours. I had the kids down at the restaurant when the tears began to flood my eyes. I would tell Julie the truth if I had to.
When I got the kids back up into our room, I turned the television on for them and I went in the bathroom and closed the door. I sat on the toilet and called Julie.
She answered very softly, “Hello!”
I said, “I am sorry. The truth is, I thought that you were having an affair and I wanted to catch you. Again, I am sorry, I will take the kids and go home tomorrow morning.”
She was silent, then she finally spoke. “Brandon, I love you and the kids. I want to be mama to your kids. I don’t know why you might think that I was seeing someone, but I am not. I don’t want you to go home; I want to see you again.”
I sighed. “We are still here. Come back.”
Thirty minutes later, she was back. Her face was streaked with tears. So was mine. We hugged and kissed, and then she hugged each of the kids again.
I said, “Johnny really did want to come see you!”
Julie hugged Johnny as he squirmed to get away from her; he wanted to watch more television. I told the kids, “You can watch for fifteen minutes, then you have to go to bed.”
Rachael looked at the room clock. “Dad, please let us stay up, please!”
I looked at Julie, led her over to my bed, and we sat down on it. I whispered, “Can you spend the night?”
She smiled. “I have a bag in the car. Leave Rachael in charge and let’s go get it.”
I said, “Rachael, okay, you can stay up for a while. You watch your brothers. We are going to get your mother’s suitcase.”
She nodded and waved her hand bye. She never took her eyes off the television.
Julie and I hurried down to the parking lot, got her bag and went back up to the room. Fortunately for us, the kids were fine when we got back. We both put our pajamas on and then put the kids to bed. Julie and I sat up for several hours rekindling our love.
Julie was able to finagle Friday off, and the five of us went sightseeing all day long. We were a family again, what a nice feeling!
As happens to all good things, they come to an end. Sunday afternoon, we boarded the plane and headed back to Dallas. That is, all of us but Julie. She had to stay and work.
Julie worked for three more weeks, and we didn’t see her. She was supposedly working Saturdays to speed things up.
Jacky came to see me a week later, on Wednesday. She was upset; she and Larry had just had a fight, and he had left angry. She needed a lot of attention. Thursday morning, she c
ame to my house. She had on red short shorts, high heels, and an intensely white tank top. She would have stuck out in any crowd. It was just my opinion, but she was clearly the most beautiful woman in the world. She had a smile to die for. She had just enough Arabic blood in her that she had a look of sensuality about her. She had long brunette hair and intense green eyes. I had never seen such beautiful eyes before. I was more than slightly intimidated by her. When she kissed me, I nearly swooned.
We sat out in the back yard and she talked mostly about Larry. He had threatened divorce, and Jacky was sick of his childish antics. She was thinking about filing for divorce herself.
Her next question severely stunned me. “Have you ever thought about leaving Julie?”
My head was swimming. I grabbed it with both hands. “Jacky, I love Julie, I couldn’t leave her; she is going to be the mother to my children.” I was rambling, so shut up.
Jacky had a big smile on her face. “I didn’t mean to upset you, Brandon. I just wanted to know how you felt about me!”
I tried to smile. “I care a lot about you, Jacky. I enjoy being with you. What else do you want from me?”
Her smile got bigger, if that was possible. “Brandon, I could love you. I would like for you and your kids to come to the compound and meet my kids. You don’t have to love me back, just be here for me. That is all I ask.”
It sounded simple, but I knew it wasn’t. In fact, I hoped that I was smart enough to know that I was making a terrible mistake. But I replied, “I would love to go to your compound. Could Julie come too?”
This wasn’t the answer that Jacky was looking for, but she nodded. “Sure, if that is what you