Say Hello, Kiss Goodbye - Jacquelyn Middleton Page 0,149
prick! Did he do it more than once?”
“Oh yeah. For three months, they snuck around, screwing in hotels, at home—”
“In your bed?”
“Apparently.”
“Jesus!” Tarquin plowed his hand through his hair and grabbed the folded blanket near their bare feet. “When did you find out?”
“January 30, 2016. I remember it like yesterday. Tyler was in Nashville for the NHL All-Star Game weekend. He was FaceTiming me before he left for the rink when his phone dinged with a text. The color drained from his face and he blurted out: ‘Ley, I had an affair.’” She exhaled heavily, her expression more resigned than sad. “I had trusted him with everything. My life…my heart! It knocked me off my feet.”
“Understandably!” Tarquin draped Leia with the blanket, covering his own bare legs and boxers as he sank down to lie beside her. “Was the text from her?” He propped himself up on an elbow.
“Yeah. Apparently, Tyler had broken it off with her the week before, but that didn’t stop her from dumping her husband. When Ty didn’t come running back, she sent that text threatening to tell me. She said she owed me the truth.”
“Revenge dressed up as concern—how considerate! And you knew this woman?”
“We chaired the wives’ Christmas toy drive together.” Leia’s lips flattened as she plucked a piece of lint off Tarquin’s white Henley. “I could barely breathe, let alone speak, but somehow I spit out, ‘How could you do this?!’ before bursting into tears. Tyler looked mortified and begged for my forgiveness, claiming ‘it was just sex, nothing more’, but that left me wondering why he’d risk our marriage over something he said meant so little.”
Tarquin fumed. “Selfish asshole!”
“He apologized over and over, but I was sobbing so hard I got a nosebleed. He tried to comfort me, but I hung up. Just the sight of him made me feel sick.” She sneered, pulling the edge of the blanket higher.
“Did he ring back?”
“Twice, but I ignored him. Eventually, he gave up because he was late for the skills competition.”
“Fuck hockey! He should’ve hopped on a plane and flown home, groveling.”
“I was glad he didn’t.” She glanced down, her fingers busy, twisting her mother’s ring. “I called Saz and cried my heart out, begged her not to tell Dad. She was furious with Ty but agreed to bite her tongue. She stayed on the phone with me until I fell asleep. Tyler wouldn’t be back in Pittsburgh until Sunday lunchtime, so I had plenty of time to mull over my options.”
“Did you leave him?”
“I did—for a week.”
That’s it? Tarquin kept his expression nonjudgmental. “Can I ask…why’d you take him back?!”
“Tarquin, I loved him. And I know that sounds lame considering what he did, but unless you’ve been in my shoes…” Leia let out a heavy breath. “Have you?”
Pandora. He fiddled with the three buttons below the neckline of his Henley. “Yeah, but it was a new relationship. I didn’t love her.”
“Well, Ty and I did love each other and had been together through high school, my mom dying, him joining the NHL—a lot of major life stuff. Neither of us wanted to call time on our marriage…all that history, you know? So, we started counseling and worked on rebuilding our broken trust. We talked about the anger and resentment I felt and why Tyler’s hunger for ‘attention and validation’ drew him into an affair, and gradually things improved—off the ice. On it, Tyler’s affair really divided the team. One day during practice, the captain started a fight with Ty. The coach hit the roof. The dispute landed in the papers, and a week later the team got rid, sending Tyler to New York on trade deadline day.”
“Jesus. And just like that you had to uproot everything?”
She nodded. “Right in the middle of the 2015-2016 season. Our five years in Pittsburgh—over. I had to quit my job at the Carnegie Museum of Art, pack up our home, find a place to live in a new city, and arrange our move—all on my own. Trades are a part of life for hockey families, but I never expected to be forced out by a sex scandal. Suddenly, everyone in hockey knew about it. Awkward, embarrassing conversations became my new normal.”
Tarquin cringed. “Your dad found out, then?”
“Yup. After he swore non-stop for the first five minutes and calmed down, I told him my side of the story. He grumbled but promised he’d respect my choice to stay. Other people weren’t as kind, but luckily, the wives and