“What do you think Charlene is thinking, Deirdre?”

Deirdre’s heart sank. There was no way around it—Charlene had been screwing another man.

She raised her head and met his gaze with pity.

“Oh-kay. Why are you looking at me like that?”

Deirdre churned her thoughts a while longer before deciding to tell it as it was. “This is going to come off as painful to you, but I think you deserve to know at least something. I think… Charlene has another man.”

“What gave you that idea?” Brendan replied. The emotion in his tone was unreadable.

“I called you this afternoon, right? A few minutes before that, I smelled… well, a man’s sweat. And then Mrs. Engel told me the way Charlene walked was off. When you square all of those together, the conclusion, well, wrote itself… you know?”

It took her a lot of courage just to hesitantly express her suspicion. She even mentally steeled herself to watch Brendan break down in shock. And yet, to her surprise, the man simply chuckled.

“I see, I see!”