finally confessed to her husband. It seemed the only way to get herself beyond what was troubling her.
"He listened. He was terribly upset. And after we talked, he just went into himself. I thought he was punishing me for what I'd done, and I knew I deserved it. What I did was wrong. But I thought he'd get past it, we'd both get past it and that would be the end of it. Only, a week later he was dead. And now..." Charlie glanced at the door of Time on My Side. "We know, don't we? We know what. We just don't know who. Let's go home, Beth."
Bethany Franklin was reluctant to believe the worst of Eric
Lawton. She pointed out to Charlie that Charlie's own search had turned up nothing and that, for all she knew, Eric had been squirreling away Christmas presents for her. Or birthday presents. Or Valentine's presents. Some people buy things when they see them, Bethany pointed out, and just hang on to them till the appropriate day.
But that hardly explained the pictures, Charlie said. He'd "bought" his family at Time on My Side. And what did that mean?
That he had another family somewhere, she decided. Beyond his earlier marriage to Paula, beyond his daughter Janie, and beyond herself.
For the next two days, Charlie fought off a relapse of the flu and used her bed time to sort out who among Eric's limited number of friends might be able and willing to tell her the truth about her husband's private life. She decided that Terry Stewart would be the man: Eric's attorney, his regular tennis partner, and his buddy from their days in kindergarten. If there was a hidden side to Eric Lawton, Terry Stewart had to know it.
Before she could phone him and make an arrangement to see him, however, she received her first hint of what Eric's second life might be. One of his colleagues came to call, a woman Charlie had never met, had never even heard of. She was named Sharon Pasternak ("No relation," she said with a smile when she introduced herself at the front door), and she apologized for stopping by without phoning. She wondered if she could have a look through Eric's work papers, she said. The two of them had been assembling a report for the board of directors, and Eric had taken most of the paperwork home to put it together in a logical fashion.
"I know it's awfully soon after... well, you know. And I'd wait if I could, honestly," Sharon Pasternak said as Charlie admitted her into the house. "But the board meets next month and since I'll be putting this together by myself now... I'm really sorry to have to come around... But I need to get going on it." She looked earnest, regretful about having even to say Eric's name, not wishing to cause his widow further grief. She made all the right noises. On the other hand, she also said she was a molecular biologist, which prompted Charlie to ask herself why one of Biosyn's scientists and its director of sales would be writing a report together.
Cautiously, all her senses on alert, Charlie showed Sharon Pasternak to Eric's study where, on his desk, his briefcase lay. Sharon flashed her a smile, said, "May I... Is it all right if I sit here?" and put one hand on Eric's swivel chair. "It might take a while." She gestured around the room. "He's got so many files."
"Sure," Charlie said as pleasantly as she could. "Take your time. I have to go through all of this eventually, but you can take whatever relates to..." She made the pause deliberate. "To your work."
Sharon flushed and dropped her gaze. She said, "Thanks so much," and she lifted her head when she went on with, "I'm so sorry about... everything, Mrs. Lawton. He was a good man. He was such a good man." Her eyes bored meaningfully into Charlie's, fastening upon her for far too long.
So this was it, Charlie thought in reaction. This was how it played out when you came face-to-face with the object of your husband's secret passion. Except Sharon Pasternak wasn't Eric's type. Plump, a head of no-nonsense dark hair, a smattering of makeup, ankles too thick. She wasn't his type. Yet, it had to be asked: What was Eric Lawton's type? Who was his type? Did his wife even know?
Charlie went to her bedroom and closed the curtains. She lay in the darkness and