"Carol," he whispered.

I felt a chill move through me.

"Why aren't you asking me what I mean?"

He swallowed.

"Please. Let me explain."

"Explain what?"

He rubbed his forehead and sat down.

"I never wanted you to find out like this."

I gripped the edge of the counter.

"So there is something to find out."

Mark looked at the floor.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then he finally admitted that he and Jenna had been communicating privately.

He said it had started with conversations and that he had convinced himself he was helping her through a difficult period. He offered explanations, but none could tell me why he had met her at a hotel or why he had put his arm around her waist.

I listened without interrupting.

When he finished, I asked the only question that mattered.

"Did you have an affair with our son's wife?"

Mark's eyes filled with tears.

"I crossed lines I should never have crossed."

It wasn't the clear answer I wanted.

But it was enough to tell me that my marriage had reached a point I could no longer ignore.

I stepped away from him.

"Daniel knows."

Mark's head snapped up.

"What?"

"He saw the photographs."

His face went pale.

"You showed him?"

"He is your son, Mark. Jenna is his wife. He had a right to know what I witnessed."

Mark stood abruptly.

"Carol, you don't understand what this will do to him."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"And you understood what it would do to him when you met her?"

He had no answer.

Then he said something that made my stomach tighten.

"Jenna was going to tell him."

"When?"

"She said she wanted to speak to him after she had sorted things out."

"What things?"

Mark hesitated.

"I don't know everything she was planning to say."

I no longer knew whether to believe him.

I told him that I wasn't prepared to make any decisions about our marriage that night. I needed space, honesty, and time to think.

He tried to reach for my hand.

I moved away.

For the first time in thirty-one years, I couldn't bear the thought of him touching me.

I went into the spare bedroom and closed the door.

I barely slept.

At six the following morning, my phone rang.

It was Daniel.

"Mom, are you awake?"

"Yes, sweetheart."

"I've been thinking about what happened. I need to ask Jenna some questions."

"Are you sure you're ready?"

"No," he admitted. "But I can't keep pretending nothing has happened."

I told him I would support whatever decision he made.

After we hung up, I sat beside the window and watched the morning light spread across the garden.

A little after nine, someone knocked on my bedroom door.

It was Mark.

"Jenna called," he said.

My heart began beating faster.

"What did she want?"

"She wants to meet with both of us."

"Why?"

He looked uncomfortable.

"She says there's something we need to know. Something she should have told Daniel before the wedding."

I stared at him.

"Before the wedding?"

He nodded.

"She says it's important."

I immediately called Daniel and told him what Mark had said.