"I cannot believe my mother," said Laurie.
"Huh?" Dan looked up as she entered the room. "What's she been up to? I thought she'd been pretty agreeable since coming to stay with us."
"She has been!" she declared. "And that's what's so unbelievable. She's always on my case about something. It doesn't make any sense that she's barely seen me since coming here and she's only harped on me...like, six times!"
"I can't see how that's a bad thing," he replied with a chuckle. "Shouldn't you be glad she's got something else to occupy her?"
"Yeah, I guess it's nice that she isn't bugging me all the time but think about it! What could she possibly have going on?" she asked.
"She has friends here, doesn't she?"
"I guess...but it's been such a long time, I don't even think she's really close with any of them anymore." Laurie shook her head. "I just can't make sense of it. What, or who, is keeping her so busy?"
"You don't think she's dating someone, do you? Is that what you're worried about?"
"I..." She paused, her expression growing very troubled. "I don't know. It doesn't seem possible, I mean...she doesn't know many people here anymore, just her old friends. I don't know how she would have found a new boyfriend by now, especially since she hasn't dated anyone in years."
"Then she probably isn't," he replied, "and you're just worrying for nothing." He smiled, leaning down to kiss her cheek. "You've got enough to stress about right now anyway, don't worry about whatever your mom's up to. Especially not when she's actually leaving you alone for once."
She responded by giving him a real kiss before saying, "Thanks. I know I shouldn't worry so much but...it's just one of those things, you know? I'm worried because she isn't being annoying. It's such a blessing it has to be a curse."
"She could just be out shopping all the time or something," he said.
"She has a hard time shopping without buying out the whole store, and I haven't noticed her bringing home a half-dozen bags," she replied.
"Then maybe she's trying to surprise you with something? Maybe she's out planning the wedding without you."
"She's not so good at surprises. She likes taking credit for things too much, so I think she'd have broken down and told me by now. I just don't know...nothing I can think of seems right, but there's no reason for her to be out by herself so much unless she isn't by herself."
Dan nodded, and tried to think of anything that might ease Laurie's mind, but he didn't have a good answer for what Sally was doing. He hadn't even noticed her absence, but now that Laurie mentioned it, it did seem odd, and he could understand why she was so perplexed. "I really have no idea," he finally said.
"You don't think she's..." She trailed off, biting her lip. "I mean, it's ridiculous and all, but what if...what if she's been seeing Eddie? I mean..."
"You're right about that being ridiculous, at least. You know they don't have the most positive relationship. Do you really think your mom would go after someone like him, even now?" he asked. "And anyway, I don't think she'd even have a chance if she wanted to. He and Walter still seem to be doing fine, and I just can't see him betraying Walter like that."
"Yeah," she said, and she looked relieved. "He's not that much of a scumbag. At least, I don't think he is."
"I'm sure he isn't. I don't think you have anything to worry about where Eddie's concerned, and I'm sure whatever your mom's up to, it isn't anything too scandalous."
For the time being, Laurie seemed to be calmed down, and Dan really did believe that they had nothing to worry about. But that only lasted for a few hours, and then he got a phone call from none other than Walter.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, already able to tell that there was something off in his friend's voice.
Walter paused. "You said before if I ever needed to talk about my...relationship that you would talk."
"Yeah?" A sense of dread washed over Dan. "Is something wrong with Eddie?"
"I don't know. Probably not." His voice was stiff; talking about this sort of thing did not come easy to him. "He's just been...occupied. With somebody."
"You think he's cheating?"
"No..." Another long pause. "He has a reason to be talking to her. Laurie's mother. But I still feel..."
"What's his reason?"
"Can't tell you. It's personal. But it's a good reason, I just feel...off about everything. When they talk on the phone about the past, he sounds so happy."
Though he wasn't saying much, Dan got the gist of what he meant. He was a little jealous of the way Eddie talked to Sally, even if he believed the man had a good reason to do it. Normally, Dan wouldn't hesitate to tell him that there was nothing to worry about, but with the conversation he had had with Laurie on his mind, he wasn't sure at all. Eddie had been seeing Sally, and even if Walter said it was for a good reason, it wasn't a reason he knew, and that made it hard to judge the situation.
"But you don't have any reason to suspect he's cheating?" he asked at last.
"No," replied Walter. "Nothing like that. Just don't know how to handle my own jealousy, wanted to talk to you about it. I know I'm being stupid."
"You're not being stupid. But if you don't think he's cheating and you know he has a good reason to talk to her, then I don't think there's anything more going on between them. I don't think you need to worry so much about it." Even as he said it, he didn't know if he believed it.
"Sorry for bothering you."
"Hey, hey, it's no bother. Like I said before, you can talk to me any time you need to, even if it's just to talk. Is that all you wanted to talk about now?" he asked.
"Yeah," replied Walter, and then said his goodbyes and hung up.
When Dan was left alone with his thoughts, he tried to process all that he had heard that day. Laurie turned out to be right in her assumption that Sally was spending her time with Eddie, but according to Walter, there had a been a good reason for that and nothing to indicate anything romantic was going on there. He didn't know what to think about that, or if he could even tell Laurie about it. Walter probably wouldn't want him to, and if it wasn't anything to worry about, then it really was Sally's business if she told Laurie or not.
For now, he supposed he would keep it to himself, but he would be keeping a closer eye out for how everyone behaved after learning this. He hoped that his suspicions were just paranoia and that Walter and Laurie really had nothing to worry about.
