The door to Joe and Lauren's house opened just as Sunny and Regan were getting out of Sunny's Prius, Regan's bicycle in his trunk. He thought maybe someone had seen them arrive and was coming out to welcome them, but from the way Joanie was speedwalking, it didn't look like she was one of the welcoming committee; indeed, she didn't seem to notice them at all.
"Joanie, wait, please!" Joe called after her as he followed.
Sunny and Regan watched them as they stopped at Joanie's truck and had a heated conversation. "I think we should give them some privacy," he said.
"I agree," Regan said. "You don't think things will get physical, do you?"
"From what I can see, if anyone's going to get physical, it'll be Joanie, but they're not dumb enough to make a scene out in the open."
As they walked toward the door, Regan said, "It looks like there's trouble in paradise."
Did Regan know about all that? Sunny was sure he didn't tell her. "I don't know," was all he could say; it was true, at least.
They stepped through the open door and saw an empty living room and kitchen, but a full balcony. His wife stood with Al, Rachel, Lauren, Al's mother and, to his pleasant surprise, Agnes; he didn't know anyone had invited her. The kids were playing badminton in the yard.
Al was the first to notice them. "Sunny!" he said, smiling. "Congratulations on your election victory."
Sunny chuckled awkwardly. "Jesus, yeah, you weren't there on election night."
"Why didn't you tell me when you saw me at the hospital?"
Sunny shrugged. "Honestly? I was just so damned happy to see you awake that I didn't think to tell you."
To his surprise, Al's face crumpled with emotion, and he stumbled forward, using the table as a hand hold, and threw his arms clumsily around him, making sure to avoid touching his sling. "Thanks, man," he said in his ear. "And thanks for helping Agnes."
Sunny patted his back, embarrassingly fighting his own tears. "It's my pleasure, buddy."
"Aw!" Lauren cooed. "You two are adorable!" She noticed Regan and brightened. "Hey, girl! Good to see you again!"
"I hope it's okay that I invited myself along," Regan said. "Sunny and I were in the same committee, and he mentioned coming today."
"Of course it is!" Lauren shuffled forward with her stick and gave her a one-armed hug. "Sorry we haven't gotten together since the Nikkei Centre visit, it's been a busy time."
"No problem, it has been for me too."
"So, you won too, I take it," Al said as he unlocked from Sunny.
"I did," Regan said, giving him a once over. "It's incredible, the last time I visited the hospital, you were on a breathing tube and no one knew if you'd make it."
Al took hold of his walker again and said, "That's what everyone tells me. Thankfully, I did."
"And I'm happy for you."
"Thank you."
Suddenly, no one knew what to say.
"Oh, right! Salads!" Rachel said, touching Lauren's arm. "I'll get them, you stay and catch up with Regan."
"Thanks, babe," Lauren said.
As she walked back into the living room, Tej turned to Sunny and asked, "How did the meeting go?"
"Oh, you know," he said, shrugging one shoulder. "I can't say much about it because they're in camera, but I will say that it's interesting being on a committee as a member of Council among civilians, able to bring their input directly to Council and vote on any motions arising from that input."
"You're in a position of power now, both of you," Lauren said, smiling. "Should we be scared?"
"Yes, you should," Regan joked.
"Congratulations, both of you," Mrs. Mackenzie said. "It's too bad I don't live in New Westminster, municipal politics have suddenly become exciting again."
"Thank you," Sunny said. "Time will tell if we'll be able to make any real change, though."
He noticed Agnes standing quietly in the corner and decided someone should introduce her to Regan (why didn't Al?) "Regan Nakamura," he said, "This is Agnes Marinville, nee Chu."
"Oh!" Regan said, stepping forward and offering her hand. "You're the one who called during our Council meeting on Monday."
"Oops," Agnes said, taking it. "Did I cause a scene?"
"Luckily, no, we'd only just started."
"So, you're a councillor too?"
"Yes. Sunny and I ran on slightly different platforms, but we were friends long before we ran for office. We volunteered at a lot of the same events."
"Sunny has three wives, didn't you know?" Tej asked. "I'm his home wife, Tori's his work wife, and Regan's his volunteering wife."
They all laughed at that, but Regan looked a little uncomfortable, and Sunny felt sorry for her; Tej's declaration had a hint of resentment in it, and it made Sunny wonder if he needed to spend more time at home, but it wasn't Regan's fault.
Sunny felt a large hand on his shoulder, and he turned and found Joe standing there, looking miserable. "Hey, buddy," he said. "You okay?"
"Hey, Sunny," Joe said. "Yeah, sorry I didn't greet you when you got here."
"It looked like you were preoccupied."
"Yeah, Joanie and I needed to talk."
Rachel emerged carrying a large bowl of a different salad in each hand, and Joe took one from her to put on the table. "Is the barbecue safe down there?" she asked him.
"Yeah, Logan's tending to it."
"Logan's turning into a responsible young man," Mrs. Mackenzie said. "I heard he helped you renovate the basement."
Joe smiled proudly. "He did. When he's graduated high school, we'll get him into BCIT to get his trades certificate. He's good at the work."
"He has a good role model," Al said.
Joe blinked in surprise and said, "Thanks, Al."
Sunny could understand Joe's surprise. It wasn't just the esteem. Those were the first words either man had said to each other in weeks. It probably wasn't a good time for Sunny to ask why Joe never visited Al at the hospital. He was pretty sure he knew the reason, anyway.
"Joe, come help me bring out the rest of the food from the fridge," Rachel said as she put the other salad bowl on the table. "We need to stock the table downstairs and make sure Logan's not burning the meat."
Sunny stared after them as they left. Was she leading Joe away before he or Al said anything to each other to kill their first good feelings in months? Or was she going to ask him in private how his talk with Joanie went? He wished he could listen in.
"That really should be my responsibility," Lauren said, tapping her boot with her walking stick. "Rachel's been a saint today."
"The operative word being today," Al said.
"That's cheeky of you!" Lauren exclaimed, chuckling and poking him with her stick. "You're lucky she didn't leave you at the hospital."
They ate well. Sunny sat with Tej and Regan at the downstairs table with Joe and the kids, since the patio was larger than the balcony, and the mobility-challenged Lauren and Al needed to avoid stairs as much as possible, so they sat with Rachel, Agnes and Mrs. Mackenzie with barely any room to spare.
When the kids went back to playing badminton, Sunny leaned in and said, "I wanted to wait to ask you until we were out of the hearing of Al's mother, but what happened with Joanie?"
"Is it because she doesn't know about the two of you?" Regan asked.
Joe choked on what he was drinking and coughed for a few seconds before he asked, "You know?"
Regan shrugged sheepishly and said, "Lauren and I had a heart to heart a few weeks ago, before you moved back home."
"Well, I guess there's no point being discreet, then," Joe said in disgust. "She basically told me she wants some space. She's started dating someone new and wants to give it a chance before she figures out where our relationship is going."
"Jesus, is it Patrick?" Tej asked in disbelief. "When I was showing him the house on Thursday, he asked me if Joanie was seeing anyone. I didn't mention you by name, but I did say she was seeing someone."
Joe looked down at the table and sighed. "It's up to her if she wants to see someone new, but I can't help feeling she's only doing this because I hurt her."
Sunny had a feeling he knew how Joe hurt her, but wouldn't say anything about it at this table. "She certainly looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here," he said.
"I don't know how Mrs. Mackenzie wrangled a ride out of her," Tej said.
"She's a good person," Joe said. "Of course she'd give her a ride if she asked. Hell, she put herself in danger to save Logan and she was off duty at the time." Joe shook his head, and to Sunny's horror he saw the big man's eyes were wet. He suddenly stood, mumbled, "Excuse me," and stormed into the basement suite.
Regan's eyes were wide behind her cat's eye glasses. "Shiiiiiit," she said, drawing out the word. "Poor guy."
"It's not very surprising, though," Sunny said. "When you open up a marriage like that, you're setting yourself up for heartbreak."
Tej looked away from him and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. She was nervous about something, he could tell, but what?
"Honestly," Regan said, "I think it's a miracle Lauren and Joe have stayed together, knowing what I know. Marriages have broken up over less. I've seen firsthand disastrous, even violent, outcomes of affairs."
"Don't I know it," Agnes said as she emerged from the sliding door to the patio.
"Oh, hey, have a seat," Sunny said, pointing to the chair Joe just vacated.
"Thanks," she said, sitting. "I had to get away from Mrs. Mackenzie, she was questioning me relentlessly about what she heard about Patrick and Joanie, and I couldn't meet the others' eyes because everybody looked like they wanted to bolt but couldn't out of politeness, or infirmity, I suppose. I finally decided to be rude and said I had to talk to you about my divorce process, and it's kind of true, anyway."
"Good for you. Have you heard from Mandeep about the deposition?"
Agnes shook her head. "Not yet."
"What deposition?" Regan asked. "Was Patrick violent to you?"
"Not to me, but the rest is confidential."
"Oh, sorry. Say no more." Regan made a zipping of lips motion.
"Did you see Joe when you came down?" Tej asked.
"No, I didn't," Agnes said, puzzled. "Why?"
"I think he's upset," she replied and, to Sunny's surprise, she rose and went through the sliding door into the basement suite.
Regan raised her eyebrows at him. "Does Tej normally go consoling him?"
Sunny shrugged. "I don't remember him ever needing consolation. Actually, wait, when we were thirteen, he was sad about being separated from us for high school. Lauren hugged him and..." And the two of them got together and eventually married, he was going to say.
Agnes and Regan both stared at him. Sunny removed his napkin and placed it on the table. "Excuse me," he said, standing and going into the basement suite.
He looked for her, and didn't see her at first, because she was out of his sight line, but the further he went down the hallway, the easier it was to see the open bathroom door.
Maybe Joe had been in there, splashing his face with cold water and getting himself together. Maybe Tej had knocked on the door to see if he was okay. Maybe Joe had opened the door to her, looking like he'd suffered a death in the family. Maybe Tej had offered him consolation. That was the only explanation he would accept as he saw them in each other's arms, as he saw his wife raise her face to him, as he saw Joe inch his a little closer...
Joe looked up, saw him standing there, and immediately he released Tej and backed away. Tej whipped around, saw him, and smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear, staring down at her feet.
"You okay, Joe?" Sunny asked, because he couldn't make himself say anything else.
Joe cleared his throat and said, "Yeah, thanks."
"We just hugged," Tej said. "That's all."
Sunny nodded as if her statement was the most profound thing he'd ever heard. "Sure. Sure. I know."
Later, though, after they left, after he brought Regan home and after he and his family had dinner and retired to bed, Tej said, "Sunny, there's something I want to discuss with you."
Then she told him something that would change his life forever.
Thanks for reading this far! If you liked what you read so far, hit "Vote" to send this title up the ranks. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
Let's fast forward to Monday, and Al meeting the first of his new half-siblings, by clicking "Continue reading."