Rafe was right when he’d said Aunt Vi was prone to hysterics. Her dramatics were enough to make Sara cautious about believing her claim.
But Rafe stiffened at the words. Leaning in close, he placed his hand over hers. “What happened?” he asked gently.
Suddenly Sara remembered Angel’s description of Rafe’s father’s affair. Obviously Aunt Vi’s claim hit a nerve. As much as Rafe complained about his family, he clearly loved them, too.
“Pirro disappears out at night.” Aunt Vi sniffled.
“Where does he go?” Rafe asked.
She shrugged. “Each time it’s a different story. Tonight he said poker, but I called the other wives, and their husbands are home!”
Rafe patted her hand in reassurance. “I’m sure there’s a good explanation. Maybe he went for a walk. Maybe he wants to have a cigar, and he knows you get upset when he smokes.”
She shook her head. “He’s gone too long for it to be one of those things. It’s another woman. I just know it!”
“Maybe he’s out on the boat. Just last night he drove it past my house, hoping I’d be around for a game of chess.” As he spoke, Rafe raised his gaze and locked eyes with Sara.
They both remembered what they were doing at that same moment last night.
What she wanted to repeat again.
Her heart pounded harder in her chest.
From his deep, steady gaze, Sara had the distinct sense he wanted the same thing. Despite his protestation to the contrary.
“He’s not out playing chess.” Aunt Vi recaptured his attention.
The woman’s breathing became rapid again, and Sara feared she was gearing up for another wail.
“Listen, I know things are strained with Angel and Nick separated, but that has nothing to do with you and Uncle Pirro.”
Aunt Vi shook her head. “I drove him to leave me, and now he’s sleeping with another woman!”
She wailed, convincing Sara that some things were inevitable.
“Impossible. Pirro would never cheat on you with another woman.”
Aunt Vi sat up in her seat. “I know that! He wouldn’t cheat, cheat. Not in the way you mean.”
“What other way is there?” Rafe asked.
Sara wondered the same thing.
“Didn’t you hear? I said he’s sleeping with another woman!”
Rafe narrowed his gaze. “I’m sorry, but I’m still confused.”
His aunt glanced down, not meeting his gaze. “This isn’t easy for me to say out loud, but if you’re going to help me you need to know.” She drew a deep breath. “I’m a nymphomaniac,” she said in a stage whisper.
Rafe choked and began coughing uncontrollably.
Was he laughing? Or beside himself, Sara wondered. She bit the inside of her cheek and somehow remained silent.
“Do you need water?” Aunt Vi asked, patting him on the back.
“I’m fine,” he managed.
“Then pull yourself together and help me. I said I’m a nympho!” She pressed a tissue to the inside of her eyes, blotting tears. “I’ve been reading all about it on the computer, and I think I might be a sex addict like David Duchovny. I should be put away in one of those rehab places. Oh, poor Pirro!”
Rafe pinched the bridge of his nose. Why couldn’t she have called one of her own kids for this? Because he was a cop, he reminded himself, reinforcing the notion that no good deed went unpunished.
He kept his gaze on his lap, afraid that if he looked at Sara, he’d burst out laughing. His aunt didn’t find this amusing. For some crazy reason, she believed the things she was saying. “I think you’re watching too much Dr. Phil,” Rafe told her.
She twisted a tissue between her hands, shredding it to pieces. “Your uncle Ralph, my first husband, bless his soul, he was insatiable. It was a little tough at first, but that’s what I’m used to! Pirro and I have so much in common, and I know he tries to keep up with me, but he doesn’t have the stamina my Ralph had. So I think he goes looking for downtime elsewhere.”
You having trouble with your pecker? Because there are pills you can take for that. Pirro here can hook you up! Ernie’s words from this morning repeated themselves in his mind. If Pirro didn’t have the stamina to keep up with his wife, it made sense that he’d turn to Viagra or something like it. Again, more information than Rafe wanted or needed to know about his relatives. And if Pirro needed a pill just to keep up with one woman, why in the world would he go looking for another?
God help him, Rafe still wasn’t following his aunt’s logic. “Keep explaining,” he said to her.
“I saw that Agnes Parker coveting him in church last Sunday. Church of all places!”
Rafe resigned himself to her rambling until he could make sense of what she needed from him.
“You see, my Ralph was friends with her first husband and I know she’s frigid, so he wouldn’t have to worry about her wanting sex from him, too! He’s going to her instead of being home in bed with me!” She started to wail again.
Sara cleared her throat, and Rafe met her gaze. Amusement and pity flickered across her face. “May be Rafe could follow him next time he leaves, see where he’s going?” Sara offered, speaking for the first time.
Rafe swallowed hard. Following Pirro. His head was so filled with unmentionable images, he’d never have thought of it himself.
“Would you mind?” Aunt Vi asked.
He shot Sara a grateful glance. She’d given him a solution and a way out of here. “Next time he leaves, call me. Day or night. I’ll follow him and see what’s going on.”
“You’re the best!” Aunt Vi hugged him tight, reminding him of why he loved her.
She had daughters, and so he and his brother were the sons she’d never had. She’d gone with his mother and father to his football and baseball games and to his graduations. She’d spent hours baking with his mother, and she’d often been there when he came home from school, sneaking him cookies before dinner even when his mother had said no.
The warm memories caught him off guard, and he hugged her tighter. “Don’t worry,” he reassured her, meaning it.
Though he didn’t want to think about her sex life, he’d do his best to help ease her mind. Despite Rafe’s experience with his father’s affair, he still couldn’t believe Pirro would cheat on Aunt Vi—with or without sex, the man was loyal. He thought the sun rose and set on his wife.