Liz was his girlfriend. Not only that, they were living together. Stunned by the news, Garret confronted Liz, but he soon felt like the world’s biggest shmuck. She vehemently denied she was still involved with Allen. How dare Garret accuse her of such a thing? Didn’t he trust her? What was wrong with him, anyway? He had found himself apologizing for insulting her. “It was her typical fashion to put it back on me—to attack me, and somehow make it my fault. It was really weird. But somehow, she convinced me that he was her ex.”
He tried not to think about the fact he’d never been to her place, never seen for himself that she lived alone with her children. “It was a long time before she invited me over.” She had been so indignant at Garret’s accusation, that he figured Allen had to be lying. Liz convinced him that Allen was nothing more than a jealous ex-boyfriend who was trying to make trouble. A few weeks after his email exchange with Allen, Liz sent Garret a text, announcing that she couldn’t see him anymore because Allen was moving back in with her. While Garret was not exactly heartbroken, he was disappointed and admittedly a little sad when Liz dumped him. He was sorry to see her go, but he accepted that it was over.
“Just after New Year, I got a text from her, wanting to know if we could meet for lunch and talk.” They met near Garret’s apartment, at the Red Robin Restaurant. Liz told him she’d fought with Allen, kicked the guy out, and this time it was over for good. Garret was happy to hear she missed him and wanted to try again. At the time, he didn’t question anything she told him. He wanted to trust her, and he didn’t think he had jealous tendencies, but Liz implied that he could be quite irrational and paranoid. She never let him forget his accusations about Allen Motts. Garret was sorry he had been so quick to believe the guy when he’d claimed Liz was two-timing them. The last thing Garret wanted was to come off as an insecure jerk. But another questionable situation arose about nine months into their relationship in the early summer of 2011 when he was still living in his Omaha apartment.
Though he’d never met any of Liz’s friends, she sometimes brought her sister, Marcy, along to swim in the pool. While her kids swam and splashed about in the water, Liz stretched out on a chaise lounge. She wore sunglasses to protect her eyes, but she let her skin bake until her tan turned brown. The bikini she wore testified to the fact she was in great shape. It was fun to have Liz and her kids there, and it never occurred to him that they came for the pool. Liz was his girlfriend, and she was there to visit him. Why shouldn’t she enjoy the pool when she came to see him?
Then one afternoon he was alone when he decided to take a dip. He rounded the corner with his towel rolled up under his arm and stopped short. He had hoped there wouldn’t be many people using the pool, and he certainly did not expect to see this one. It was Marcy, relaxing in the sun, drying off after a swim. She seemed surprised to see him and a little flustered as she explained that Liz had gone to pick up fast food at a nearby restaurant.
Garret was irritated when he realized that his girlfriend had come to use his pool but hadn’t even bothered to say hello to him. “I was pissed while I was sitting there, waiting for her to get back.” Liz soon returned, but she was not alone. Garret was shocked to see she had a guy with her. “At that point, I felt sick to my stomach.” Liz didn’t appear embarrassed that Garret had caught them. She didn’t apologize or bother to introduce him to the man she’d invited to swim. She chatted and laughed with the guy, ignoring Garret. “She never paid any attention to me. It was like I was invisible.”
Anyone observing the group would have assumed that Liz and Garret were strangers to each other. The interlopers proceeded to picnic by the pool as if they were in a public place. Liz didn’t offer food to Garret. The scent of the greasy takeout fare mingled with the sharp odor of chlorine, and