“I don’t know. He’s soft but he’s always been really religious.”
“He likes getting down on his knees,” there was a rumble of laughter from the other end of the line.
Ruel flushed. He was not certain what the joke meant but felt that somehow it cast aspersions on his manhood. However, the prospect of a confrontation with an unseen and unidentified third party was even more humiliating. He couldn’t conceive of interrupting their conversation now, of making his presence known and revealing that he had been eavesdropping all along.
They talked about meeting for lunch the next day at the New World Hotel. They discussed what they would like to have, even their favorite wine. Numbly, Ruel realized that they had done this before. He hadn’t even known that his wife liked wine. She always had fru
