.

to go back inside, but that was as far as he would go.

      When Rachel got home later that day, she found that Ted had moved out. In their bedroom, she stared in shocked disbelief at the empty racks in their closet. By seizing a moment when no one else was in the house, he’d avoided what was sure to be a difficult scene. And he’d left her with the task of dealing with Nick and Kendall when they came home and found their father had cleared out.

      She stood with a torrent of emotion roiling in her chest. It was one thing for Ted to tire of her as a wife and to want to avoid all the sticky stuff that women dished out to cheating husbands, but it was sneaky and cowardly to walk out on Nick and Kendall without at least taking a moment to sit down and reassure them that they’d still have a father even though he was no longer in the house with them. By leaving this way, it looked like he was abandoning them along with their mother. That was sure to be the way the kids would feel.

      Fury, like nothing she’d ever felt, rose in her. How dare he! Since Friday, when she’d caught him red-handed, she’d managed to keep her emotions under control. Except for a few bewildered tears and some agonizing self-examination, she’d tried to handle his infidelity without unraveling emotionally. She’d told herself that for the sake of the kids she couldn’t afford to fall apart.

      But the kids weren’t here right now, she thought, stalking across the room. And she was tired of behaving like the only grown-up in this farce. Stopping at Ted’s armoire, she jerked the doors open. Empty. In the bathroom, she discovered he’d even cleaned out all his toiletries. Moving like a woman possessed, she dashed down the stairs, swept up her purse and car keys and stormed out to her car. It was an hour’s drive to the lake cabin. Chest heaving with rage, she backed out and, with a squeal of tires, drove off to confront him.

      Forty minutes later, she was still fuming as she pulled up in front of the cabin. Parking behind the small Porsche she recognized as Francine’s, she got out of her car, deliberately blocking the Porsche. Unlike the scene at the restaurant, this time, if Francine wanted to escape an uncomfortable confrontation, she was out of luck. She couldn’t move her car until Rachel was finished. And if the door was locked, Rachel planned to use her keys and walk right in. She didn’t give a damn if she found them naked and having sex. In fact, she wished exactly that would happen. Catching them in an embarrassing situation would give her unholy satisfaction.

      She took the four porch steps in two quick strides and, without knocking, tried the unlocked door and went inside. There was an immediate let-down when she didn’t see them right away in the great room, all of which was visible from the front door. The thought of barging into the bedroom where they might actually be having sex was suddenly too disgusting. But as she stood with some of her anger fading, she heard their voices. They were in the hot tub.

      She was flooded with a fresh wave of fury. Ted hated the hot tub. It had been her idea to install it when they’d remodeled the cabin. Ted hadn’t wanted it, had argued against it. The lake was great for fishing and boating, and a swimming pool was impractical in the wooded location, but she’d finally persuaded him that a hot tub was relaxing, even therapeutic after the hours both spent in stressful occupations. It could also be romantic, she’d suggested. That had been around the time she’d sensed Ted’s interest in Wendy at the health club. The hot tub had been one of the little gambits she’d dreamed up to add some spice to their love life. It hadn’t worked for them, she thought, now moving through the cabin to the deck, but apparently it had worked for Ted and Francine.

      They actually were naked.

      Spotting Rachel, Francine shrieked. Ted turned. His jaw dropped, but surprise quickly changed to irritation. He stood up, scowling, and grabbed two robes lying within reach. Moving in front of Francine, he managed to shield her as she scrambled into it, giving Rachel only a glimpse of her in the buff. Then he climbed out without any obvious haste. Rachel avoided more than a glimpse of his shriveled penis by looking beyond him while he donned a robe. Francine hovered warily just behind him, looking as if she thought Rachel might be armed.

      Later, in telling Marta about it, Rachel had found some humor in the situation, but she felt no inclination to laugh now. She knew suddenly with a sick, sad resignation that her marriage was truly over. It would not be possible to get beyond actually seeing Ted with Francine this way.

      “What do you mean by barging in here like this, Rachel?” Thanks to Walter, his left eye was puffy and half closed, making his outrage seem almost comical. She could not tell if his nose was broken, but she could always hope.

      “Isn’t it obvious, Ted? I’m mad as hell and you’re going to hear about it whether you like it or not.”

      “For God’s sake!” he said in disgust. “What does it take to convince you? Didn’t you hear anything I said this morning? I’m in love with Francine. She loves me and we want to be together. We’re going to be together whether you like it or not. Go home and get a life.”

      Rachel mastered an urge to leap over the hot tub and scratch his other eye out. “I’m not here because I want anything from you, you thoughtless bastard! I’m here because of the sneaky way you packed up and left. Why didn’t you wait until Nick and Kendall came home so you could at least try to reassure them? Don’t you give a damn about your kids anymore? Is…is this—” she threw her arm out to include the house, the deck, the hot tub, Francine “—all you care about now?”

      He looked irritated and anything but repentant. “I was planning on calling them later tonight.”

      Fresh from a romp in the hot tub, he was still too dazzled to feel any guilt, Rachel thought. “Are you sure you can spare the time?” she asked sarcastically.

      “Give it a rest, Rachel.” He stuck his feet into rubber slides and reached for his Rolex. “I still love my kids and I’ll explain how this happened.”

      “How exactly will you explain it, Ted?” she asked, seeing that she wasn’t getting through to him. “Like you explained it to me? One day you and Francine were friends and the next you were having sex together? I think they’ve got that part already, thanks to the scene in our home this morning. And Nick, for one, is mad as hell over it. Kendall is simply bewildered.”

      “It’ll take some getting used to, but they’ll be okay with it,” he said, dismissing almost casually something that was going to turn his children’s lives upside down. “That is, unless you go behind my back and paint me as evil incarnate.”

      “You know better than that, Ted.”

      His face was tight, his eyes hard. “These things happen a lot, Rachel. Probably half Nick and Kendy’s friends are part of blended families.”

      “Blended families,” she repeated. “That has such a benign sound, doesn’t it? But I know from dealing with those kids every day that there’s pain and depression and jealousy jockeying for position in ‘blended families.”’ She used her fingers to make quotation marks. “And you don’t have a clue, Ted. So, don’t try to spin the effect of what you’re doing to me. It’s going to be devastating for Nick and Kendy. Even the most amicable divorces do terrible damage to the children involved.”

      Ted let out an exasperated breath. “You sound like you’re reading some kind of research paper, Rachel. You’re exaggerating, as usual. You see only the screwed-up kids in your job. Nick and Kendy will be fine.”

      Was he really so obtuse? She stared at him, her husband of eighteen years. He seemed totally unaffected by her attempt to bring him to his senses. When had it happened that this man whom she’d known more intimately than any other had become a stranger? “And what if they aren’t, Ted?”

      “Ted…” Francine finally spoke, touching his arm. “Any discussion about your kids is between you and Rachel. It doesn’t concern me. Why don’t I—”

      “Excuse me?” Rachel gave her an incredulous look. “You claim to be in love with Ted and the two of you want to be together, but you have no concern about the future of his children?”

      “I don’t know anything about kids,” Francine said, looking