Three

She knew she was getting in over her head. This scenario was looking much too familiar for her liking. She'd come this far and she was damned if she was going to go backwards in life.

Coley had put eight years between her and her former husband, Chris. Life with him was impossible to live. His cutting words, his cheating, his manipulations, he himself Coley had grown tired of. He had tried to turn their daughters against each other and against her. She was glad he was no longer a part of their life. The last she heard, he was in jail for assaulting a man in a bar near the Navy base where he was stationed. He couldn't get to her, or the girls, even if he wanted to.

This thing with Frank and other women was getting to be more than she could bear. If it wasn't Melissa, Frank's ex, it was some young girl. Coley hadn't caught him in the act, but what she was hearing was bad enough.

Coley had managed to have Melissa jailed for stalking her. Melissa wasn't even that good at stalking, because Coley had seen her on a number of occasions. She even managed to snap a picture of her with a digital camera as proof the woman was tailing her. Melissa could change cars, or clothes, or wear disguises, but Coley always knew it was her. Melissa walked with a noticeable limp, and that she couldn't hide.

Frank said he had no idea that Melissa had gone so far off the deep end as to why she would want to harm Coley in any way. He told Coley that Melissa wasn't that type of person. Coley's only response was to say that Melissa must have wanted Frank badly enough to try and get rid of any competition.

Every new allegation was met with a denial from Frank. He insisted that it was Coley that he wanted as his woman, not Melissa, or any of the others, that they meant nothing to him. Soon, Coley grew weary of all of Frank's lies. Coley knew a lie when she heard one, because Chris had told them all the time. Like Chris, Coley began to doubt Frank knew what the truth was. Lies were all he knew to tell. Did he love Coley, as he said he did? Coley doubted that.

Coley asked Frank for, and got, a cooling off period. Coley would decide if a relationship with Frank is what she really wanted. She didn't care what Frank did in the interim. He could screw around with the entire female population of the Merrimack Valley and she wouldn't care. For now, she was done with him.

She threw herself into her work, and even volunteered at the Merrimack Valley Feline Rescue Society a couple times a week. She offered to be a "feline foster parent" to a litter of kittens that were rescued near the Merrimack River in Lawrence. She thought Earnie would not be happy with this, but the old cat surprised her. She had brought home the five hapless kittens, four males and a female, and placed them in a spare bedroom to get used to their new surroundings. Earnie just sat on the back of the couch, watching the kittens amusedly. Coley wondered if he was remembering when he was a kitten, some fourteen years earlier, before he discovered PopTarts, Cheerios, and five year old twins who adored him.

Coley managed to forget to think about Frank much. She hoped that he was happy and he was doing what he pleased. At least he didn't have to sneak around behind Coley's back to have his trysts. That ought to make him happy, Coley thought.




Frank, however, was not as happy as he thought he would be. He missed Coley terribly, and knew she wouldn't take him back one second before she was ready to. He knew he had hurt her with his behavior, and he didn't understand why he felt he needed to get laid by other women, when Coley was who he really wanted in his life.

Perhaps it was because he witnessed his father cheating on his mother throughout his childhood that gave Frank the idea that that was the way women were to be treated. He knew his father, Frank Ryan, Sr., had several affairs, and at least one love child. Ryan, Sr. was a judge in the Essex County Superior court for close to forty years. He was a very selfish man who had little time for his wife and three children. He'd rather be gambling, playing the ponies, or banging one of his mistresses, than to spend time with his two daughters and his son. Unknowingly, the father passed the trait of philanderer on to his only son, and Frank acted accordingly. It was the one thing that father and son had in common.

Now, though, when Frank thought he had found someone truly special, he managed to screw it up. He found that he loved Coley, simply because she was good for him. She made him look good, because people would comment on how "Frank's changed. He's got a decent woman with him now". Why would he throw that away for meaningless sex with other women? Frank swore he didn't know. What he did know is that Coley tired of the rumors of his affairs, and she put her foot down. She asked him to leave her alone, and he complied with that request. It was hard for him, though, because he wanted to be with her very much. He knew he hurt her, and told himself that if Coley gave him another chance, he'd treat her better.




Coley had her hands full with work, and then when she came home, with her foster kittens. She'd had them several weeks, and they were getting to the age that they could be adopted. Earnie acted like the troop leader of his adopted brood, and made sure they kept in line. Coley thought that Earnie would be upset when the kittens finally left, because he'd gotten used to sharing his house with them. Coley considered adopting one of them as a companion for Earnie.

Though she was advised not to, Coley gave the kittens names so she could keep them straight in her head. She named the four males after NASCAR drivers, as was Earnie (though Coley couldn't see calling a cat "Earnhardt", so she called him Earnie, instead). So, Terry, Bobby, Gordon, and Little E (a black cat like Earnie) and their sister, Tally (after Talladega Superspeedway), had the run of the house. Coley had litter box trained them and trained them not to climb on furniture and curtains.

She tried not to become attached, but that proved impossible. When she had to give them back so that they could be adopted out, Coley decided to adopt Tally for herself.

Earnie was a little depressed when his little group disappeared one day. Coley noticed that he was looking for them. So when Tally was cleared to be adopted by Coley and she brought her home, Earnie's eyes literally lit up. It was the most lively Coley had seen her old cat in years. She wondered why she didn't get a companion for him years ago. And Tally was perfect for Earnie.

Needless to say, Coley didn't ask for any more foster kittens. She got attached too easily.



It was the same when she thought about Frank. Coley found that she had become attached to Frank, because he had a special place in her heart. Yeah, he hurt me, she thought, but I think he deserves another chance. She knew that she might be making a mistake, but she didn't care. She liked the way she felt when she was with him, and how he treated her when he wasn't distracted by the "scenery".

It took her nearly a month to make that call to Frank telling him of her decision. Coley was afraid that he'd found someone else while she was trying to decide if a relationship with him was worth it. It'd serve me right, Coley thought one day while playing with Tally on the floor of the living room, if he did find someone who wasn't as picky as I am.

When she finally made the call, Frank was home. Coley told him everything she'd been thinking about before he even had a chance to speak. When she was finished, Frank said,

"I've missed you, too, Coley. God, you have no idea how much!"

"I want you to get tested," Coley said quickly, afraid he'd say no.

"Of course I will, Coley. You deserve to be reassured I haven't gotten anything I could pass on to you."

"I need to see the results…"

"Coley," Frank said softly, "don't worry. I'll get you what you ask."

"I know you will," Coley said. "But it had to be said. I had to ask."

Frank told her that he knew that, and that she wanted to be assured that he was clean, and that he wouldn't stray from her again. "I learned my lesson," he told her.

I hope so, Frank, Coley thought. I certainly hope so.




It took Frank a couple of weeks to comply with Coley's request. When he called his personal physician, he was told he couldn't get an appointment for two to three weeks. Frank took the first appointment available, during the second week of February. He wanted to get this out of the way so he could be with Coley again.

In the meantime, he talked to Coley on the phone, and came over a couple of times for dinner. He got a cool reception from Coley's big male cat, while the little female, who was still a kitten, seemed to like him. He learned that the male cat's name was Earnie and he was fourteen years old; the kitten's name was Tally and she was almost 5 months old. Coley got Tally through her work with the Merrimack Valley Feline Rescue group.

Frank didn't want to ease his way back into Coley's life, but Coley insisted that until he got his tests done, there would be no sexual contact between them. Frank wasn't sure he liked that very much, but if that is what Coley wanted, then he felt he had no choice.

Or, did he?




Frank saw the girl in the bar he frequented. She couldn't be much more than twenty-five. She was a barmaid, and she was a knockout. He chatted her up and learned her name was Heather, and that she was a student at Northern Essex Community College.

Heather seemed to be really interested in the much older man who came into the bar a few times a week. She didn't even care that he was older than her father. She decided that if he wanted to get with her, she'd make herself available.

That night came a couple of weeks after she started at the bar. She had come in early to pick up her paycheck, and he was there. He motioned her over and they started talking. Soon, the talk became sexually charged and it was she who suggested he come to her place. She lived alone, she told Frank, so no one would be there to bother them.

She found out that Frank was a wildcat in bed. He pleasured her expertly, satisfied her more than men her own age, and took her as hard as she asked. She had a few tricks up her sleeve, and blew him away with her seduction skills.

They had two months of a wild affair, one that no one knew about. She liked the secrecy, the stealth of meeting him for a hot night of fucking. She liked keeping her secret life. She liked the fact that they could screw like rabbits and she wouldn't get pregnant. He'd been, in his words, "all fixed up".

And as suddenly as it began, it seemed to end.

He didn't come to the bar much anymore, and didn't call her. She figured it was over and went on with her life. She began dating a man closer to her own age, though Frank had spoiled her.

One night a couple of months after her thing with Frank ended, he came into the bar with a beautiful woman on his arm. Heather couldn't help but wonder where she had seen the woman before, as she was as familiar as her own face.

Heather screwed up her courage, and greeted Frank like an old friend and frequent customer. Frank was cordial and introduced his companion as Nicola Carpentier. Ms. Carpentier was an editor at the Eagle-Tribune, and Heather assumed, Frank's new love.

"I can't help but wonder if we've met before," Heather said to Coley. "You look real familiar to me."

"I don't know where," Coley said, suspecting that Frank had slept with the girl. "Are you from Lawrence?"

"No," Heather said. "I grew up in Haverhill. I just go to school in Lawrence. Northern Essex Community College."

"I lived in Haverhill until about a year ago," Coley said. "I'm in Andover now."

"That must be it," Heather said. "I may have just seen you around town or something."

"Could be," Coley said. "Haverhill is a pretty close-knit town."

They talked for a few more minutes, then Coley went with Frank to the restaurant upstairs from the bar. Heather didn't see either of them again that evening.

After work, Heather went back to her apartment near campus. She picked up her mail and saw a letter from a high school friend attending college in Louisiana.

"I wonder what's new in Miki's world," Heather said aloud as she tore open the envelope.

It was the normal chit chat about life at college, classes, majors, and off campus activities. Miki had mentioned that she finally settled on a major, Broadcast Communications. She said that she chose that because her mom was in the newspaper business, and Miki had always been fascinated by her mom's job. She went on to explain that her mom worked for the Eagle-Tribune, and mentioned her mother by name.

Nicola Carpentier.

"Oh, my God!" Heather gasped as she dropped Miki's letter.



"You've slept with that girl at the bar, haven't you?" Coley asked. It wasn't accusatory, just a straightforward question. She and Frank were waiting to be seated upstairs from the bar.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Frank asked, surprised.

"Oh, I don't know, Frank," Coley said, starting to get pissed off at yet another lie from Frank, "just the way she seemed so familiar with you."

"Coley," Frank sighed, "I go to that bar all the time, Heather works there. Why wouldn't she know me?"

"Frank, you told me that you wanted to be with me, and only me. Not some girl young enough to be your granddaughter," said Coley.

"I didn't sleep with that girl, Coley!"

"He doth protests too much!" Coley said angrily. Then, "Take me home."

Frank sighed audibly. How could Coley figure that out just by having a five minute conversation with Heather? What Frank still failed to realize is that Coley's ex was a serial liar and a man who cheated on her. Coley, quite simply, knew the signs.

He took her home. Coley got out of the car and walked to her door. She fumbled in her pocket for her keys, unable to focus because she had started crying.

Suddenly, Frank was behind her. "Coley, listen to me..." he was saying.

Coley whipped around so suddenly that Frank was caught off guard. "No, Frank," she said, tears streaming down her face, "I'm done listening. You have lied to me once again!"

"Coley, no honey, listen..."

"Good night, Frank." Coley found her keys, opened the door and slipped inside, leaving Frank outside in the cold.



He walked back to his car, cursing himself. He couldn't figure out how Coley found out about his fling with Heather. Was she spying on him, have someone trailing him? It boggled his mind how his secrets became known to her.

You're going to lose Coley for good doing this shit, Frank thought angrily. She wasn't supposed to know about his affair with Heather, dammit!

He drove home, wondering why he was bound and determined to ruin a good thing.



Coley was miserable. She lay on her bed, her eyes red from crying, wondering what she was doing to drive Frank to women who were around her own daughters age.

Tally lay on the pillow on the other side of the bed. She looked concerned. Earnie was on the floor, wondering what was going on up on the bed, and why wasn't Coley going to pick him up?

Coley didn't understand what was so great about that young girl at the bar. Just that she was young was all that she could come up with. And why a girl who was roughly Miki and Maddy's age? She was feeling disgusted with Frank. What did a twenty year old girl see in a man pushing sixty years of age?

I should just try and find someone else, Coley thought sadly. I gave Frank a chance. I should let him do whatever the hell he wants and walk away.

She sighed loudly. Like that would be easy to do.