EXONERATION (INTERFERENCE) by Kimberly Schwartzmiller Page B

panties and shoved them in my purse and then slipped into my shoes. “I have to go. You can come by and see her Wednesday. But, this…” I said, pointing to his bed, “Us…that’s over.”
    He stepped toward me with a grin, waiting for my blush. “Is it?”
    His smile didn’t work this time. I was angry all over again. I didn’t want to hurt anymore and I certainly didn’t want to put my daughter through the hell he’d put me through. “I told you, it was closure. It’s over!” 
    I started out the door and he said, “Rebecca, it’s only the beginning!”
    I turned back toward him, “You said that before, and then you left. You lied! You will not hurt my daughter the way you hurt me! I won’t allow it!” The anger was evident in my eyes.
    “I would never hurt…I didn’t mean to hurt you! How many times do I have to apologize? I didn’t want to leave!”
    “But, you did! You left me. You killed me!” I looked him square in the eye and said, “You won’t do that to her! She’s never going to know who you really are. Never!”  
    He grabbed my arm as my hand reached the doorknob. “I’m her father! She’s mine whether you like it or not! I will have some say in how she’s raised!
    “If you care about her, then you’ll let this go. You can be the long lost uncle or something.”
    “I’m her father!”
    I looked him in the eyes and said, “Parker’s her father! You can see her Wednesday from noon to five.”
    I walked out, leaving him standing there obviously angry, but he let me go. And although I didn’t want to talk anymore, I didn’t want to leave, either.
     
    I went home and cried for two hours and then forced myself to move on. I had work to do. I couldn’t allow myself to let Shane be a constant invasion of my thoughts anymore. I had Shannon to think about. I made up my mind to try and work at my marriage from now on. I wasn’t going to tell Parker about my time with Shane. I knew I had cheated on my husband, but I had myself convinced that it was closure…that it was owed to me. I vowed, from now on, to be a better wife. I thought I might even give Parker the son he seemed to so desperately want.
     
    I got caught up on all my accounts by the next afternoon, emailing the last one to my father at four pm. After that, I didn’t know what to do with myself. The house was clean, and I had no one to look after or to cook for. I wandered around for a couple hours, feeling lost and alone.
    I went outside and thought I’d start cleaning up the yard for spring, but it was still too wet to rake. I looked around, wondering what I should do with myself. I hated feeling so lonely. Shannon had managed to keep me busy over the last six years. She had kept me too busy to cry over Shane, but as I looked around at the dead leaves, the dead plants left over from last summer, I realized that’s how I’d felt for years…dead. He brought me back to life, brought back the pain of an old wound that never healed, but had managed to lay dormant beneath the surface.
    I walked inside, leaving the door open and found myself sitting down on the bottom step of the staircase…and I cried.
    “Rebecca…” Shane said softly from the doorway, not daring to come inside, but wanting to comfort me.
    I looked up and suddenly I didn’t care that I was married, I didn’t care that he’d left me, I loved him. He was here and I found myself running to him and throwing myself into his arms, sobbing.
    He picked me up and kicked the door shut with his foot. “Where?” he whispered.
    “Upstairs,” I said, holding onto him for dear life.
    He carried me upstairs, kissing me all the way. He started to walk in to Parker’s room.
    “No, not here. Down there on the right,” I pointed.
    He looked at me strangely for a second, but continued on to my room.
    This time, we wasted no time. There was an urgency…a need, and we both felt it. When we were both sated and exhausted, he pulled me close, refusing to let