When I walked into the house, Carla was standing by the sink, quietly washing the dishes...

welcome to the cheating Secrets Channel it was an ordinary weekday dinner I didn't have much of an appetite but my two sons were eagerly devouring their macaroni and cheese Jason 15 years old and Josh 14 years old never forgot to wash their plates both were actively involved in sports and other typical teenage activities at the far end of the table my wife Carla watched over the family dinner making sure everyone had enough of whatever they wanted it looked like a scene Norman Rockwell would have been happy to paint the boys quickly finished and went off

to play street hockey before it got dark I was finishing the last of my iced tea trying to muster the courage to speak to my wife she was standing at the sink washing dishes when I got up from my chair the next time you go to meet your lover don't wear that red dress you look like a $20 call girl walking into that motel room she didn't even turn around and as I was walking out the door I heard a porcelain plate crashed to the floor for the next 2 hours I mowed the lawn eventually

it got too dark to see anything and I had to stop I didn't want to go into the house I didn't want to meet her eyes cleaning the lawn mower took me longer than usual there was about half a liter of oil left in the can so I took care of that when I want to throw the empty oil container in the trash bin I noticed a brown paper bag tightly crumpled and shoved at the bottom of the bin inside was the a red dress and a set of red lingerie the panties were stained but

I had no reason to inspect them I already knew who had done the Dirty Work Carla was lying in bed behind a closed door that was fine because I didn't want to meet her Gaye the whole day it started off wrong I had the feeling that Carla had been cheating on me for several months since I didn't want to believe it I tried to ignore it hoping it would pass but it didn't pass it only got worse my wife is a fourth grade teacher she usually leaves for school with the boys this morning she had

a doctor's appointment and wanted to get her eyes checked so she took a sick day I leave around the same time I'm a painter for the last few weeks I've been working in an apartment complex in Harrisburg about an hour's drive from home when Carla announced she was taking a sick day I decided to discreetly do the same I've been painting houses for nearly 20 years I enjoy the work and I'm good at it I was doing it when we got got married and it helped Carla finish college I always thought my wife approved of

my choice of work but in the past few years I've noticed her making comments that suggest otherwise when she introduced me to her friends she never mentioned what I did for a living in fact she seemed to go out of her way to avoid it if someone insisted on knowing it would come out but I could tell she wasn't thrilled about it it was fine when I was paying for a college education and renting a house for us to raise the boys but now I felt like a burden to her I hated attending social events

Carla was a good teacher she earned more than I did and had better benefits the health benefits provided by her Union covered the entire family's expenses she also had a decent pension all I had was Social Security she kept herself in good shape despite being only 150 cm tall she made an impression I think it was all about her platinum hair which she kept cut very short I lingered outside waiting for her to leave when she finally did she was wearing a cute little red dress she looked good in that dress and I always told

her so however it was an odd choice for a doctor's appointment the doctor didn't have an office in a motel Carla parked the car and headed straight to room 117 knocked twice and went inside that was all I needed to see to confirm my suspicions the young desk clerk was more than happy to give me the registration card in exchange for a $100 bill I recognized the name but couldn't recall the face Jefferson Gibbons had attended several events that Carla had dragged me to he was somehow connected to the school board or the school district

I couldn't remember which one exactly Jefferson drove a BMW and left it unlocked it took me just a minute to grab his documents from the glove compartment the car was registered to Jefferson and Darlene Gibbons they lived at 321 David Drive in Lancaster that caught my attention I remembered that he was a member of the Lancaster School District board it also turned out he was married that was the highlight of my day I wandered around town for a few hours before heading home Carla was there when I arrived as cheerful as ever she was no

longer wearing the red dress I didn't stay home that night I slept in my truck behind the warehouse of the company I subcontracted for I was still sweaty from the late lawn mowing but I didn't care I really wanted some coffee and eggs and toast would go perfectly with it I was trying to kill time before heading home I wanted to make sure Carla was gone there was nothing in the house that I was attached to I gathered all my clothes and stuffed them into garbage bags I pulled out a few documents that I thought

I should have my birth certificate passport and the like I quickly made a phone call Darling Gibbons yes this is Bob Terell we've met at a few school events over the last few years I can't say I remember what do you want I just wanted to let you know that your husband Jefferson spent the afternoon yesterday at a hotel and reading with my wife Carla there was silence on the other end of the line I waited for a response but none came that's all I wanted to say Mrs Gibbons I'm sorry to bother you with

this but I couldn't just leave it alone goodbye 10 minutes later I was on my way to Colorado to visit my uncle jack I didn't want to leave the boys but they were pretty cheerful and Carla could provide for for them better than I could she earned more than I did and was a better parent except when it came to marital Fidelity I didn't leave a note or anything like that I'm sure she would understand what was going on when she saw that my clothes were gone the boys finished school at 3:00 p.m. so I

called Jason about 10 minutes after that he had a cell phone that allowed incoming calls but could only dial a few preset numbers we thought it worked well Jason hi it's Dad are you on your way home yeah how are you I just wanted to let you know I moved out of the house today I'm heading to Colorado to stay with Uncle Jack for a while I felt I needed to tell you and Josh what's going on what the heck are you talking about why did you move out Jason the simplest and most considerate way

for me to answer that is to suggest you ask your mother from my perspective it would just sound like an excuse your mother decided she wanted to change I think she was looking for someone with a better job or status I'm not sure either way it turned out that I'm no longer good enough for her I'm going away for a while so she can figure out what she wants to do I'll call you as often as I can if I remember correctly Uncle Jack's Place doesn't get cell phone reception come on dad couldn't you work

this out here isn't there some kind of counseling or something it's not for me son listen your mom has a good job and she won't have any trouble taking care of you guys I'll try to call you sometime over the weekend Oh and don't tell your mom where I am or that I called you take care of Josh and try to stay calm goodbye goodbye I just crossed into the great state of Illinois Uncle Jack lived north of Ron pass it was more like New Mexico than Colorado I don't know how he made his living

or where he got his money but he didn't seem to have any problems he was married many years ago but caught his wife cheating and kicked her out when I explained my situation to him he was understanding he invited me to stay as long as I wanted he was glad to have my company Jack had a lot of land but it didn't seem suitable for much it was too rugged for farming and too spars for ranching besides the main house there were several Barns and cattle pans he had many horses which I later found out

were all for riding people would come up on weekends to go horseback riding usually only in the summer the rest of the year wasn't very pleasant on Sunday afternoon we went to Trinity Dad to have dinner and pick up some Essentials I'd forgotten to bring with me I managed to get a signal on my phone and called Jason son I just wanted to let you know that I arrived safely how are you doing not great dad I explained everything to Josh and he's really angry at mom he's not talking to her mom doesn't want to

tell us what happened she claims she doesn't know why you left I tried a couple of times to get her to say something but she just clams up Josh and I are doing our best to leave her alone as much as possible it sounds like you're handling this pretty well I'm sorry for the mess just do the best you can I can't get a signal at the ranch but Jack has a landline I'll try to call from there is there anything I could do to help you guys we'll be fine D Uncle Jack's house had

an interesting feature every building desperately needed painting I don't know how long he had lived there but I'd bet there wasn't a single paintbrush on the entire Ranch at least I felt like I could earn my key by doing something you useful there was a co-op nearby and I bought all the 25 L cans of red oxide paint they had of course it all went on Jack's account there were still a few months of good weather left and I hoped to finish most of the outbuildings the main house would have to wait until spring for

the next two weekends I couldn't get through to Jason on his cell phone I started to worry another two weeks passed with no news from the boys it had been more than a month I thought I had given Jason Jack's landline number but now I wasn't sure it had been over a month with no contact when they finally called me on the home phone Dad it's Jason Josh and I are in Santa Fe and we need a ride can you come pick us up what the heck are you doing in Santa Fe how did you

get there I can't talk right now I borrowed a guy cell phone and promised not to take long we're at the sky blue terminal how soon can you get here at least a couple of hours grab something to eat we're leaving right now 2 hours hours later the boys were sitting in the back seat of the car and we were heading north they didn't have any luggage Josh fell asleep right away I tried calling several times Jason what happened to your phone mom found out you were calling she got mad took my phone and smashed

it with a rolling pin I was going to call the home number you gave me but I decided to wait I don't know why maybe I was hoping things would get better since you're here I assumed they didn't about a month ago mom started going out at night she wouldn't come home until after midnight and she was always drunk sometimes she didn't even get up and go to work she didn't even bother to call in or anything like that was she alone at first yes then one evening about a week later she brought a guy

home they were both pretty wasted they went straight to Mom's room and started making a lot of noise you know what I mean right I get what you mean what else happened about an hour later Josh and I went outside and let the air out of his car tires we crossed the street to Mr Simpson's house and he let us sleep in his guest room Mr Simpson and we watched the guy when he came out the next morning he was Furious it took the mechanic more than an hour to get there and fix all the

tires mom stood on the porch in her robe for a while we went straight to school when we got home that day Mom didn't say anything about it to us did that happen often only one more time the next night she brought home another guy and we did the same thing except this time we cut the valve stamps you had to get the car towed he was really angry Mr Simpson got a huge kick out of it after that she never brought any other guys home well it seems like you guys handled it pretty well

she kept going out lost in her thoughts and usually didn't come back until the next morning sometimes she drove home and sometimes guys just dropped her off I don't know where she left her car oh yeah one really strange thing I almost forgot she bought five or six red dresses and every time she went out she wore one of them at least Josh and I could sleep and eat at home we got a lot of calls from the school and the school district asking where she was most of the time she was asleep a couple

of days ago she was sort of fired there were some Union rules that prevented them from doing it officially but they didn't let her come to work anymore I'm not really sure how it all went down I'm sorry about all of this if I had known this would happen I would never have left you there so how did you end up here last night around midnight some guy dropped her off at home and kicked her out of his car she got up stumbled to the porch and collapsed we didn't know if she was dead or

not her dress was torn and she looked awful that's when I decided it was time for us to leave I told Josh to call 911 and took a card from her wallet I went to the computer and booked tickets for a flight from Philadelphia to Santa Fe and left the tickets at the counter I wasn't sure if they would give tickets to a couple of kids I almost bought tickets to Denver but changed my mind at the last minute it looks like it all worked out we had a thing on our feet a little what

do you mean the ambulance arrived and one of the guys called the police as soon as he saw mom they asked if anyone else was home the police showed up just as they were loading mom into the ambulance it turned out she had a mix of alcohol and cocaine in her system I didn't know Mom was using cocaine I didn't know either son they asked a lot of questions especially about the car that dropped her off but we didn't know much a little while later a female officer came over to us she was from family

services and asked where you were I told her you were in Colorado and that you had sent us the tickets with the saddest expression I told her we had no way to get to the airport and needed an adult to get us through security she made a few phone calls and eventually took us to the ticket counter I think it was an easy way out for her and everything worked out great for us after the boys settled in Jack and I stayed up until midnight discussing the situation I had assumed Carlo would start the divorce

process after I left but it seemed I was wrong of course I never imagined she would turn into a complete mess I think she had a lot of unfulfilled desires and was happy to have the chance to express them I'm not really good at understanding why people do what they do jack didn't have a computer so the next morning I had to use his phone eventually I found a lawyer in Reading who was more than willing to prepare the divorce papers for me when I mentioned Carla's name he made it clear that he was aware

of her situation I think these guys are usually in the loop about what's happening at the police station he said that her actions over the past few weeks would be easy to document which would simplify the divorce process I had to send the lawyer a money order for $2,000 that threw me off a bit but Uncle Jack promised to support me financially if needed the lawyer suggested that he would try to get child support from Carla since she earned more than I did of course since she had lost her job that would complicate things I

had to contact the boys school and they were very understanding about the situation I think everyone in the school system was aware of the escapades of my loving wife they agreed without any issues to send all the school records and even copies of the birth certificates I told the boys they could take make it easy until the documents arrived the next few months went smoothly Carla signed the divorce papers but without child support she lost her teaching credentials and had to find another job I don't know what she ended up doing but I'm sure it

wasn't as prestigious as her teaching position all I had to do was wait another 3 months Jason and Josh were both doing well at their new school every morning they eagerly went to the bus stop Jack and I refused to drive them we told them it was a car character building exercise a little sunshine must touch every life I think I've embellished that saying a bit what I mean is that sooner or later something good will happen to all of us for me that happened in the last week of May Jack assigned me to deliver

two horses to a guy in Cloud coft about a 5H hour drive from here I set out very early hoping to return the same day that part of my plan didn't work out too well I had no trouble with the delivery I never liked Tony an empty trailer but it was necessary I was about 10 minutes away from Alam mordo when I encountered a roadblock a truck full of illegal immigrants had overturned and all the law enforcement and border patrol officers were coming the area they were stopping and inspecting every vehicle especially trailers and trucks

I never found out exactly what happened but by the time I got through the checkpoint I had to pee like a mule about a mile down the road I pulled over by a billboard and finally felt relieved Leed the big problem was that I had an audience I returned to the truck and grabbed two bottles of water from the cooler the older of the two girls snatched them and handed one to the little girl who was about 4 years old the older one looked to be in her late 20s they were dirty tired thirsty and

hungry I could see they were scared so I didn't say anything the older girl had long dark hair thick eyebrows dark eyes and a golden complexion the younger one wasn't exact miniature version I turned toward the truck and motioned for them to follow me I knew it was illegal but I didn't care they hesitated a bit but cautiously made their way to the passenger door the older one never took her eyes off me we drove for about an hour before I needed gas before filling up the tank I pointed to the restroom on the side

of the station they managed to go into the lady's room and come out before I finished refueling when I paid the bill I grabbed a couple of pre-made sandwiches and two bottles of Coca-Cola I was right they were as hungry as they were thirsty in Las Vegas New Mexico there was a large Supermarket I decided to stop there before heading onto the highway toward the pass my two guests stuck close as I approached the greeter within a few minutes I had a shopping assistant an elderly lady who spoke Mexican I suppose it would be more

accurate to say she spoke Spanish but as far as I understand there's a difference I quickly explained what I needed and we headed straight to the children's section in 15 minutes we had a great collection of underwear pants shirts and socks for the little one the older girl or rather woman took a bit more time I kept my distance from the younger one while they picked out panties bras and everyday clothes for her then we went to the shoe department and bought comfortable sneakers for both of them our last stop was the health and beauty

section where we picked up toothbrushes Combs and some feminine products she seemed embarrassed embarrassed by the last purchase but she took them anyway I thank the store assistant who helped with the shopping she smiled and hugged me I don't think that's standard procedure the bill was still under $200 so I was happy I decided to stay overnight it had been a long day and I thought the ladies could use a warm shower and a soft bed I rented a room with two beds we laid out all their new clothes on the bed and before leaving

I pointed them to the shower I called Jack and he advised me not to rush back I didn't mention my passengers we would find out in the morning I wasn't sure if he needed a cook and a housekeeper but he was planning to hire them anyway I couldn't help but smile to myself about an hour later I decided it was time to head back I ordered a full dinner for three when I returned to the room they were clean and fresh my name is Bob the smile I got in response to this little introduction was

worth every penny I spent at Sam Walton's my ra she said pointing to herself she smiled again and pointed to the little girl patina then she pointed to me and said Bob God it felt like a comedic version of an old tarzen movie I couldn't help but laugh and within seconds the three of us were digging into the meal the chicken and sides disappeared in no time by then I was as hungry as they were naturally we didn't have much to talk about after we finished eating I pointed to one of the beds heads and

lay down on the other I wanted to take a shower but decided against it I slept on top of the covers fully dressed Myra seemed to appreciate that she and patina slept in their new clothes I was hesitant to go to a restaurant so the next morning I had a couple of McMuffins from a fast food place for breakfast we got back to the ranch before noon Well Jack decided it was no big deal the ranch house had plenty of rooms so there was no problem finding space for Myra and patina Jack spoke a little

Spanish and quickly found out that patina was Myra's daughter and that her husband had died she had been trying to reach her brother who worked as a mason in Alabama when the truck overturned most people stayed there Myra decided it was better to try to slip away from the scene I think that turned out to be the right decision on her part Jack prepared lunch for all of us and told Myra that from now on she would have to do the cooking herself she seemed to like that and so did I jack wasn't a very

good cook when the boys came home from school they seemed happy to see Myra they were very pleased with the dinner she made for us I didn't know what the dish was but it was delicious she gave Jack a grocery list in Spanish for what she needed in the kitchen that wouldn't be a problem in Trinidad it looked like I would have to learn some Spanish while teaching her English I could teach her words but her grammar might end up as bad as mine Myra quickly settled into the routine she did the laundry cleaned cooked

and managed the household Jack was happy that he didn't have to do those things anymore plus she was picking up English quickly now I understand where the term Spanglish comes from by using a little of both languages she learned to express herself quite well since patina spent a lot of time with the boys and watching TV she learned much faster than her mother sometimes she had to explain things to Myra which her mother found quite helpful patina was supposed to start school next year so we were glad to see she was doing well my divorce

from Carlo was finally finalized a couple of days later she sent a few boxes with clothes for the boys and other items including the original birth certificates there was nothing of mine in the boxes there was no note no letter nothing of that sort I was curious about what she was doing but not enough to ask any questions Myra asked Jack why I was so happy he explained it to her in Spanish and she left the room with a big smile on her face I think that was a good n since Myra had her brother's

address and cell phone number she was able to call him he regretted not being able to see her but was glad she was okay the call seemed to help her feel more grounded the boys were becoming experts at handling the horses after everything was painted we spent a lot of time sprucing up the house we did things Jack had never had time for instead of just being a rundown old cowboy Ranch the place started to look more like a resort several people who boarded their horses with Jack asked if they could stay at the ranch

instead of in a motel in town we had plenty of empty rooms and Myra thought it would be nice if she could help out with that she said it with a light laugh but Jack actually thought it was a good idea the price included dinner and breakfast with the ranch hands as well as the room Jack had to get a license and install fire safety equipment but a month later Myra had her own bed and breakfast operation a few weeks after that a small article about the ranch appeared in the Santa Fe newspaper and before

you knew it lazy Jacks became a popular spot for tourists Jack had to buy more horses so the tourists would have something to ride he also had to buy a computer which the boy set up in no time thank goodness for Direct TV and satellite internet service business slowed down a bit over the winter Jack added four more rooms to the house Myra bought a new Viking stove and Jason got his driver's permit I spent a lot of time painting sanding staining and just working I was glad that Jack and the boys handled most of

the work with the horses in the evenings the boys worked on the ranch's website Josh had already booked a table for next spring and was also teaching patina how to read we had to open accounts with all the major credit card companies we were so busy during the slow season that we started to worry about the upcoming year whenever she could Myra would sit with me we didn't talk much but it was always nice to have her nearby she made sure I always had coffee or whatever else I was drinking at the time we got

better at communicating but I was a slow learner and a bit awkward in conversation Jason tried a few times to nudge me toward being more friendly with Myra but I didn't quite manage it it was just before Christmas when she made the decision for me Bob I think it's time for patina to have her own bed in her own room do you agree I think so yes that's a good idea we should have done it sooner good I'm glad you see it that way today I'm going to move my things into your room but I

need a dresser could you move the second dresser from paa's room into your room it's too heavy for me to move of course I can move it for you Myra I don't want to offend you but there's only one bed in my room that's fine don't worry I don't take up much space I was surprised by how well she spoke English I thought that perhaps some part of this conversation had been planned in advance I suspected either my friendly host or my scheming sons in any case she made her point and I was flattered I

was very careful not to do anything that might offend her I certainly didn't want her to think I would take advantage of her or her situation I think she understood that herself I would love to impress you with stories of how wonderfully I courted Myra and convinced her to be mine but I can't I think I fell in love with her from the moment I saw her but I couldn't bring myself to admit aded to her or to myself it was a relief to find out that she felt the same way and had the courage

to do what I couldn't we got married on Christmas it was just family and a few local friends the following year was fantastic for lazy Jacks we had so many bookings that we had to turn some away Myra hired a young girl to help in the kitchen and Jason took an interest in her I think that's a good sign sadly Jack passed away at the end of the summer he left everything to my and me not just the ranch but also mineral rights worth over a million dollars the boys were doing great and patino was

growing like a weed life was wonderful when Carla left the Palmer confectionary Factory it was cold and damp she had worked the midnight to 8:00 a.m. shift attaching eyes to chocolate Easter bunnies in one hand she carried a large bag and in the other an envelope with her paycheck as she walked into the local diner for breakfast for the h 100th time she pulled a worn copy of People Magazine from her bag and it automatically opened to page 48 she stirred cream in her coffee while gazing at a photo of her younger son Josh helping

Julia Roberts onto a Palamino horse on the next page the owner of lazy Jack Ranch Bob Terrell and his wife Myra stood on the porch of their beautiful ranch home with Cameron Diaz before finishing her meal she would read the entire article as she did every week after putting the magazine aside she checked to see if she had enough money the thrift stores were set to open in 20 minutes maybe this week would be a lucky one although Carla already had 16 red dresses she always felt the need for one more there can never be

too many red dresses thank you for listening Until the End see you in the next episode of cheating Secrets take care of yourself and your loved ones goodbye