Finished Tu 2/12/19
A 'one off' by the author of the Travis McGee series. I loved this story of suburban infidelity that's set in the late 1958's and written in 1958.
Suburban Connecticut (Crescent Ridge)
A three or four day sexual affair between Carl Garrett and Cindy Cable. The couples are nextdoor neighbors.
Joan is Carl's wife and Bucky is Cindy's husband.
THE PERFECT STORM:
Joan is to spend several days in the hospital with an operation somewhat like a hysterectomy. Their two teenage children are at a summer camp. Bucky owns a small plane and he crisscrossed the country for various business meetings and he will be gone for many days, and their two very young children are staying at Bucky's parents.
The first night that Joan is in the hospital, Carl goes nextdoor to check on Cindy and they have their first kiss.
They agree that it would be wrong to begin their sexual affair in their spouses homes, so Carl rents a motel room for three days in a motel off the interstate thirty miles away.
They both see Joan in the hospital, but spend the night together at the motel.
Carl works his executive job (that he hates) during the day. He is merely a humorous 'yes-man' and feels directionless and underutilized.
On the second day of the affair Cindy confesses to Carl that 'now is the time'. She feels that they are in love and it's time to tell their families and begin a new life.
Carl realizes that this is NOT what he wanted, and he sees that what he really wants is his routine family life and he begins to feel shame.
Cindy's marriage is in much worse shape and feels that her children are young enough so that they wouldn't be affected and Bucky is a 'mommy's boy', and wouldn't really miss her.
Cindy spends the days swimming in the pool. The motel manager is haughty and sees through the pretense that this is a young couple and the reason for their stay is that the interior of their house is being re-painted.
Carl continues to work but there are red flags on the job. One of his equals, calls him out about his lackadaisical attitude on the job.
Also, neighbors have noticed Cindy's absence and Bucky called late at night and got no answer on the phone. He phone a neighbor to knock on her door in the middle of the night, and got no answer. When Cindy gets on the phone with Bucky the next day, she says that she heard the banging, but thought it unsafe to answer the door in the early morning hours.
They awake on the third night together, look out the window, and Bucky is sitting on a chair by the pool.
Carl walks out of the room and they try to find a way for Cindy to leave through a window, but it can't be done. Cindy hides under the bed. Carl meets with Bucky and says he is with a woman from his office, but she has left. Bucky doesn't believe him because he's been watching the room since before dawn.
Bucky and Carl enter the room, and Cindy is discovered hiding under the bed. She is humiliated, and then Bucky begins to administer a savage beating to Carl. The room is damaged and Carl is pretty badly injured.
The motel owner calls a doctor, Dr. Kacharian who befriends Carl and is sympathetic to his predicament (up to a point).
Kach takes him to his home/ office and he stays over night. He also takes him a few miles a way to a small park with a foot bridge that he tells Carl that he can say that he fell from to explain his extensive injuries.
The next morning before Carl visits Joan in the hospital he talks with Cindy to find out what happened after he was knocked out in the motel room.
Cindy says that Bucky dragged her back to their home, forced her to strip, and then he beat her backside with a putter. She can't even sit down do to the extent of her injuries. She also overheard Bucky on a telephone call to his parents. His mother tells Bucky that he will always be welcome at his 'real home', and she will help him get custody of his two children.
Later in the day while Carl is at the hospital with Joan, he gets a call from Cindy saying that he should come to her house immediately. Joan is shocked, but still feels that all of them are 'best friends'.
Cindy is hysterical because she has learned that Bucky has crashed his small plane and was killed. When she called his parents to tell them of their son's death, his mother tells Cindy that they are aware of her affair and they will make it impossible for her to get custody of the kids.
Carl checks with a lawyer and weighs the pros and cons of Cindy's possible custody fight.
Nothing is mentioned of 'Domestic Abuse' because this concept didn't even exist in 1958.
Joan is brought home and still knows nothing of the affair.
Carl brings Joan to the small foot bride near the motel and tries to tell her the lie that he fell. He breaks down and admits to the truth.
Joan has looked down at the ground, and the novel ends as she raises her head to look him in the eye. You don't really know if their marriage can survive.
I loved the book, and I've got a Travis McGee book to read soon. 'THE DECEIVERS' and 'THE BRASS CUPCAKE' are two 'one off' novels that I've recently read and loved.
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