Julia was a very happy woman.
The blackmail was over. No more phone calls telling her where to go and what to do. Now she picked her own times and her own men and she acted discreetly.
She knew now that though Jimmy was a nice man he would never amount to anything in bed. He gave her security. A lot of other men gave her delight.
She was singing to herself while she worked in the kitchen when she heard a car pull up in the front yard. She automatically looked at the clock.
Jimmy wasn't due home for another four hours. She wondered who was visiting her. She went to the back door and looked out the screen.
She didn't recognize him at first. A tall, dark-headed man was getting out of his car. She looked closer.
"Why, it's Bobby Merrit," she said out loud. "I wonder what he wants?"
She took off her apron and smoothed out her short skirt. She opened the door as he came up on the porch.
"Bobby," she said. "It's good to see you. But Jimmy's not here. He won't be home for another few hours. You might still catch him at the plant."
"It wasn't Jimmy I wanted to see," he said.
"Oh?" she asked.
"No," he said. "I want to talk to you."
She stepped back and allowed him to come into the kitchen. He really looked bad. He wasn't the same Bobby she'd always known.
"Would you like some coffee?" she asked.
"Please," he said.
She made the coffee while he sat down at the kitchen table. She sat down across from him and pushed a cup of coffee to his side of the table.
"What's the matter?" she asked. "You really look terrible."
"I feel that way," he said. He paused and took a long sip of coffee.
"Look. You're Carolyn's best friend. Maybe I can talk to you."
"You're worried about Carolyn?" Julia asked.
"I think she's having an affair," Bobby said.
Julia somehow kept a straight face. An affair was so backward. If he only knew how many men his sweet wife had really been fucking.
"What makes you say that?" Julia asked.
"It's just the way she's acting," he said. "I don't know. Odd hours and such. I don't seem to relate well with her any longer."
"I don't think so," Julia said casually.
"Well I do," he said.
"Maybe you're just trying to give yourself an excuse to play around,"
Julia suggested.
He almost choked on his coffee and Julia knew she had struck a nerve.