Shadows in the Dark

Chapter 7

By dinner on Monday the entire Point knew Will Drake, MD was the one having the affair with the divorcee. Not quite everyone, because the Drake's had returned to Massachusetts. Nora would be back at their cottage with Lana on Wednesday night, but Will had surgery all day Friday. As an orthopedic surgeon, he split his week between the office and the operating room.

With the Drake's gone, lips were wagging and no one worried about who might overhear. For years there was speculation as to how a nice man could stay married to his cranky wife and so an affair answered the burning question. Only two people tried to defend the Drake's, but it fell on deaf ears. The jury was out and Will was guilty, but in the court of popular opinion Nora was to blame.

Rose Howe lived next door to the Drake's and although Lana and Bethany were not best friends, they played together. Rose and Nora had sat together over iced tea plenty of times. Since Rose was easy to talk to, she often found herself a confidant.

Nora had shared with Rose the trials and tribulations of their quest for a second child. While others judged them as being too career minded and making poor Lana an only child, Rose knew it was farther from the truth. Despite their trials and personality differences, Will and Nora had a strong marriage. Too often Rose had witnessed Will tame Nora with a few words or a loving touch.

Todd Evans knew Will didn't go to Wendy's apartment for sex. He'd been the one who asked him to see her. He felt guilty and tried to convince Judy and his mother, but both had already rendered their verdicts. Did he know for sure Wendy hadn't seduced Will? Of course, he didn't, but his gut told him Wendy was a nice girl.

Thankfully for Todd, Wendy's ankle was quickly on the mend and when she appeared to start work on Monday, she wasn't even limping. 

"It's right as rain. I promise I'll be more careful."

Relief washed over Todd. Her injury wouldn't cause him any headaches, but also his business hadn't suffered from the rumor mill. It was actually the reverse, because Point residents appeared to be buying fish just to get a look at the English woman who was rumored to have turned Will Drake's head.

Nora Drake had hardly arrived back on The Point Wednesday night when Rose rushed over to see her. Nora smiled, because she was always glad to see her neighbor.

Rose skipped the pleasantries. "I need to talk to you. Put Lana to bed. I'll wait here. Bethany has gone home to her parents."

Nora didn't know what Rose wanted, but naturally felt dread. She was a pessimist, so she always jumped to the worst conclusions. Nothing could have prepared Nora to learn the rumors about her husband.

"When did he go see the woman?" Nora asked.

"Saturday evening, but I'm certain it was a mistake," Rose assured her.

"We... we had words and he left. Did I drive him into the arms of another woman?" she cried. "How could he?"

She swung from sad to angry like a pendulum and Rose wished she hadn't told her. "You need to ask him. Maybe it was a mistake or there's a perfectly good explanation or..."

"There is no good explanation!"

Her anger was back. She was mortified her marriage was the subject of rumors. No one could know what went on in a marriage just by looking in from the outside.

Nora packed Lana into the car and left the next morning. She wouldn' stay around to be the subject of all those ugly rumors. When Will came home from work on Thursday night, it surprised him to see his wife wasn't in Maine.

"What's the matter?"

"Did you go to the English woman's apartment? Apparently it's all anyone has been talking about all week." She spat her words in anger.

"What? This is crazy! Todd asked me to. I went as a favor. She hurt her ankle and he was afraid, because she was working for him at the time she fell. It was just a minor sprain in the end, but... but he was afraid it was broken." The story came out like a man begging for his life.

"Her ankle? You looked at her ankle!" Nora said in disbelief.

"Yes, nothing more. She thanked me and I left."

"How did she thank you?" Nora asked, still holding on to her anger.

"I believe she said 'thank you'."

Will was always calm when Nora was known to fly off the handle.

"Everyone is talking about us. I just know they all think I'm not good enough for you. The nice man with the bitchy wife..."

"Nora stop! No one knows you and loves you like I do. The rest of the world can go to hell." He took his wife in his arms. "What we need to do is show a united front. I have no problem letting our neighbors know I love my wife."

Nora believed Will, but she still didn't trust the divorcee. Divorced women were trouble and she would make sure that one stayed away from her husband.