Free Her Heart's Divide by Kathleen Dienne

thing this has a washable cover.”
    Our laughter left us gasping for air. Ryan lost his balance and sat down hard on the edge of the hot tub.
    Still wheezing, I noticed he was sitting on a piece of paper. “Ryan.” I pointed.
    He picked it up and read out loud:
    “Ryan and Lila—
    Thank you both for…well, everything. Thank you for believing me. Thank you for helping me function at work. And thank you for the most amazing night of my life so far. I hope it doesn’t cause you two any grief. For me, I was making love to someone who was almost my wife, and I was doing it with the help of someone I love like a brother. It might be different for you—”
    Ryan broke off reading and looked at me. I smiled and shook my head. Ryan smiled back and looked down at the note.
    “…different for you, but I hope we all feel the same way this morning.
    Allison told me to leave early and to drive slow. So that’s what I’m going to do. I suppose your version of me will be along soon. So this isn’t goodbye. It’s see you later.
    —Jack”
    There wasn’t anything to say. My husband put the note down, and I helped him up. Together we went inside the house.
    We were getting dressed when we heard the back door slam.
    “Ryan? Lila? Can I come up?”
    “Sure, man,” Ryan called out.
    We emerged from the bedroom as Jack got to the top of the stairs.
    “Man, am I glad to see you, bro,” said Jack. He and Ryan did the half handshake, half hug thing they usually did, but with a lot more back patting and shoulder punching than usual. “This is the second time today that I’ve thanked you, but I mean it just as much the second time! You’re the greatest, man.”
    He was having trouble looking at me. I solved his dilemma by asking if he wanted a drink.
    “I’d better stick with water, thanks,” he said. I tried not to laugh, remembering how someone who looked just like him had said the same thing.
    I shouldn’t have bothered. While I was putting ice in the tumblers, I heard my husband half shout. A few minutes later he started laughing. By the time I came back into the living room, the men were pretending to be calm.
    “I was just telling Ryan how strange it was to look in the orange light and see myself staring back at me. It looked wrong, though. It took me a minute to realize I wasn’t looking into a mirror. So I was seeing my hair parted on the left, the way it looks to other people,” said Jack. He was babbling. He was clearly uneasy, and he was still not looking at me. Ryan, on the other hand, was looking at me. More than that, he was smirking.
    Jack put the glass down. “Well, guys, it’s been a long couple of weeks. I’m going to mosey on back home before Alli starts thinking something went wrong. Just wanted to check in.”
    “We’ll see you tomorrow, buddy,” said Ryan.
    I stayed quiet until Jack turned to me. “I’m glad you’re home, Jack.”
    “Me too.”
    We smiled at each other, and then Jack turned and almost ran down the stairs.
    I heard the loaner car start up and crunch down the driveway. As the sound receded, I turned to Ryan. “What the heck is so funny, Ry?”
    “It seems,” drawled Ryan, “that every Jack got a rousing send-off at least once in the last week.”
    “What!”
    “You had to contend with two men feeling husbandly toward you. A week ago, he had two wives.”
    “Oh my.”
    My husband leaned toward me, his eyes bright. He flicked his tongue out and moistened his lips. “And apparently, you bought your husband a swing for his birthday last year.”
    “I did, did I?”
    “And hung it on the ceiling beam in our bedroom.” He reached out and pulled me close. “Think you might want to buy your husband a swing for his birthday?”
    “Ryan, honey,” I said fervently, “I’ll always give you everything I can.”

About the Author
    Kathleen Dienne has been a reporter, a theatrical stage manager, a ghostwriter, a sloganeer, a video game consultant and a marketing analyst.