Kristi was out walking Tucker, her golden lab, when she saw Peter storm out of Megan's house. She heard the angry raised voices, before she saw him, but couldn't make out what they were saying.
She had never seen them fight, which was part of why she never understood their divorce. The more she didn't know the more she wanted to know. Their history nagged at her. She imagined many scenarios. Dan always grew impatient with her when she mentioned them. Men were so different from women.
She didn't know if Peter saw her standing on the side of the road. Not that it mattered; she was walking her dog, not spying. She considered knocking on Megan's door to see if she was okay. However, as much as it killed her to admit it, Megan wanted to keep her relationship or lack of relationship with Peter private. As her friend, she had to respect that.
She felt honored that she was the only one who knew the details about Megan's relationship with Evan. Somehow Megan had no problems sharing that part of her life. She'd have to wait until morning to see if Megan was alright.
Kristi had reason to want Megan to stay stress free. She would be Megan's labor coach, so her health and welfare fell to her responsibility. They had set up a plan for when Megan went into labor which included using Rick and Alice to help watch the kids. Megan's kids would stay with Peter and Dan would leave work for theirs.
Dan may work more than most husbands, but when it was important, he was there. He knew how important it was for Kristi to be with her friend. It surprised Kristi when Dan commented that Peter was glad to hear she would be with Megan. The two men surprised her they discussed it. It seemed to her they spoke about sports more than anything. The fact that Peter cared who was with Megan took her aback. He was always so indifferent anytime she mentioned Megan. Although, she thought, his anger tonight showed something other than indifference. Maybe his indifference was to hide his true feelings. She wondered if he actually cared about Megan, perhaps more than anyone realized.
If only she heard what they were arguing about. She better not mention any of this to Dan. He'd be angry. Dan was always after her to mind her business from the time she met Megan and later Peter.
When they first moved to town, they were renting the house next to Megan for the off season. Kristi with her little ones met Megan with her two-year-old twins. The children played in the adjoining front yards while they became friends. When the house across the street went on the market, she and Dan grabbed it. They hired Alex and started renovations.
She met Peter as he was pushing the twins in their double stroller. Kristi recognized the toddlers and introduced herself. She remembered thinking, so this is the ex-husband. She suggested he come bring the children over to play, but he preferred they play on the beach. She could tell he didn't want to be so close to his old house. When Dan came down to the beach, the men hit it off and developed a friendship much like hers and Megan's.
She remembered watching Peter that first day they met. She wanted to find a reason not to like him. He was good looking, with no annoying features. He was kind and polite and wonderful with his children. She couldn't see any reason Megan wouldn't want to stay married to him. Maybe he was too good to be true, she thought as she listened to him telling Dan about his research. That was the beginning of her strong desire to know what happened.
Most of the summer renters were families, but occasionally there would be a group of young adults. Kristi remembered one such group a few years back. Drinking was a main activity for the group. They were loud on a typical night, but one night they were beyond loud. It was late when the screaming started. It woke her up.
"Go ahead leave, bitch."
"Fine I will, You cheating..."
"Let go of me."
"You deserve each other..."
The yelling ended with a slamming car door and tires spinning on gravel as a car sped away. She had trouble getting back to sleep, and she wondered if Megan and Peter ended things with a fight like that. Did the neighbors hear? Did he touch her roughly, remembering the scream of 'let go of me'? Somehow she couldn't imagine them yelling, but all the same she wondered what happened. Did they just decide they didn't love each other enough? She wanted - needed to know.
The next day she asked Megan if she heard the commotion with the renters. "Yes, I was tempted to call the police."
"I can't imagine fighting like that for everyone to hear."
"No, me either, but they sounded drunk. Alcohol is bad for a relationship and add jealousy and you have a mess."
Kristi wondered if alcohol and jealousy played a part in ruining her friends' marriage.
When she went in from walking the dog and seeing Peter leave, Dan said, "You were gone awhile."
"It wasn't too cold. I walked around the bigger loop." She had while she thought about what she'd witnessed.
"I'm about ready to turn in. You coming?"
"Soon." She gave him a hug and a quick kiss.
"That was nice." He smiled and grabbed her by the waist and kissed her passionately. "You sure you don't want to come up now."
Giggling she said, "In a minute."
She went into the kitchen to clean up the after dinner mess - Dan's coffee cup, her teacup, and the kid's dessert dishes. Wiping down the counter one last time, she tried to imagine anything breaking her and Dan up. Sure they argued from time to time, but they always made up. The only thing for her, which would be unforgivable, was another woman. Maybe that's what happened. This was not the first time she considered it. Megan jumped in bed with Evan pretty quick. Could she have? No, Kristi couldn't imagine. Although she couldn't imagine a standup guy like Peter doing that either. The only thing that factored in was that they were young. They were divorced by twenty-five which was the age Kristi was when she met Dan. She walked up the stairs. There was a promise to follow through with.