in the air. ‘No, it’s nothing like that. He’s gay now. At least, I think he is. But he’s a fabulous actor and some of the scenes we do are absolutely brilliant,’ she said, her eyes sparkling.
Helen grinned, imagining her on stage under the spotlight, where she knew her sister had always felt more at home than in her own house.
Karen took a sip of wine. ‘That’s enough chitchat. Now tell me exactly what happened and how you’re feeling.’
Helen ran through the events after Rob had picked her up from work, and the whole conversation until he left. Sadly, Karen shook her head in dismay at parts of the story and nodded her head in understanding in other places.
‘I have been thinking about it a bit at work but not all the time – it’s a great place to be when you want to keep things off your mind,’ she said. ‘And I still don’t feel upset or even tearful at the moment…’
Karen took her hand. ‘Maybe you’re in shock and it’s going to hit you later.’
‘Maybe,’ Helen mused thoughtfully. ‘But I don’t think so. You know I’ve spent seventeen years going through the after-effects of his affairs. The searing hurt after the first one and the years it took me to forgive him and get our marriage back on track. And of course, after the second one it took even longer to get over because I couldn’t believe him capable of doing it to us again. But by the time I’d suspected number three and four, well it had sadly just become matter of fact.’
Karen’s eyes filled with tears and she put her arm along Helen’s shoulder. ‘Oh, honey, you’ve had such a rough ride. I really wish there’d been something I could have done…’
‘I know you do, but there wasn’t. I was determined Rachel wasn’t going to lose one of her parents before she’d left home, like we did,’ she said. ‘And, as Dad often told me, it was the bed I’d made and I would simply have to lie in it.’
Karen raised her eyebrows, bemused at the mention of their father. ‘Yeah, but in the early days you don’t know what Dad used to call Rob when I’d told him about his little dalliances and how sometimes I practically had to sit on him to prevent him coming round here and blacking his eye for treating you so badly. He’ll be over the moon that you’ve put him out.’
Helen nodded. ‘I’ll call in to see the old devil on Sunday and tell him what’s happened,’ she said, vaguely twirling her wine glass between her fingers. ‘You know, Karen, when I was thinking about Rob this afternoon, I couldn’t help weigh him up against other women’s husbands. And I decided that apart from the infidelity, I couldn’t really accuse him of anything else. I mean he’s always worked hard and provided us with a good income, was and still is generous to a fault and took his turn with cleaning and cooking. And even during the arguments and fights that followed his affairs when I’d screamed and ranted, thumping his chest with my fists in anger, he never once retaliated. In fact, he never ever raised a hand in temper to either me or Rachel.’
‘Yeah, he has always suited your Peter Pan nickname.’ Karen sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. ‘But surely everyone has to grow up at some stage in their lives and he can’t go on chasing young girls forever, can he?’
Helen shrugged her shoulders. ‘You would think so but this Stephanie is only twenty-three and to be perfectly honest I couldn’t care less any more. The overriding emotion I’ve felt since he left last night is relief. Blessed and peaceful relief…’ She knew Karen as well as she knew herself and could tell she was mulling something over in her mind. ‘What?’ Helen asked. ‘Go on, just say it. I know you need to tell me something.’
Karen took a deep breath. ‘OK. First, I want to say how proud of you I am for being strong enough to put him out, and not go through another affair hoping he’ll come to his senses. I’m actually delighted he’s