The receptionist looked up from her computer, saw my husband, and smiled. \u201cMr. Harris, welcome back.\u201d I laughed and told her we hadn\u2019t been here in forty years. Her smile suddenly disappeared. \u201cI thought Mr. Harris had stayed with us more recently.\u201d My husband quickly said she had mistaken him for someone else, but then she added, \u201cHe usually requests the same room.\u201d She handed us the keys. \u201cRoom 312.\u201d My heart stopped. That was our honeymoon room. Later, I learned the receptionist had only worked there for fifteen years, so there was no way she remembered him from our honeymoon. That night, I called June, my husband\u2019s friend\u2019s wife, and asked when the two men had last gone fishing together. Her answer made my stomach tighten. \u201cFive years ago,\u201d she said. \u201cWalt hasn\u2019t gone fishing since his hip surgery.\u201d But Robert had been telling me about those fishing trips for years. The next morning, I confronted the receptionist. She looked uncomfortable and finally whispered, \u201cYour husband asked me not to discuss his previous visits with you.\u201d Suddenly, I wondered how many times Robert had actually been here\u2014and why he had never told me.<\/p>\n
That evening, I found a folded note beneath my dinner plate. \u201cI know your husband\u2019s secret. 11 p.m. Back entrance. Come alone.\u201d My hands were shaking when I read it. At eleven, I slipped downstairs and found Luis, the young waiter, waiting outside. He told me he had seen Robert at the hotel several times over the past two years. Always with the same young woman. My heart sank. \u201cWho is she?\u201d I whispered. Luis looked toward the hotel before answering. \u201cI don\u2019t think you understand what\u2019s happening.\u201d He told me Robert never took her upstairs. They met in the garden, talked for hours, and he always gave her envelopes. Before he could explain what was inside them, I heard footsteps behind me. Robert was standing in the doorway. He looked at Luis, then at me. His face was pale. \u201cYou weren\u2019t supposed to find out like this,\u201d he said quietly. I asked him who the woman was. He didn\u2019t answer. Instead, he walked toward the old stone bench overlooking the ocean and said, \u201cThere\u2019s something I should have told you forty years ago.\u201d I followed him, my heart pounding. Then he looked at me and said, \u201cDo you remember the night you told me about the baby?\u201d … CONTINUE READING<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The receptionist looked up from her computer, saw my husband, and smiled. \u201cMr. Harris, welcome back.\u201d I laughed and told her we hadn\u2019t been here in forty… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t