Divorced! Now what?

Chapter 57

Bethany POV



I stayed the night with my Dad. It was a great night. We talked till nearly midnight about Mum and Cynthia and life in general. He told me he had suspected Bret and Cynthia but never had proof, so he kept quiet and now regrets not at least getting a PI to follow them around when they went abroad. I kept telling my Dad that he could not keep feeling guilty over the past, and it took a lot of convincing for him to accept that I did not hold any grudges and that what had happened was over with, and we needed to move on forward. I hope that Dad does not become jaded over it and that he will give up on all women. They are not all bad, just a few that are never happy no matter what they get; they will always want more, and a few men I know are like that too, so we cannot judge them all by the bad few.

'Morning, Dad.' I said as he crawled out of bed. I had stayed on the couch; a spare bed had yet to be purchased, and I suggested not bothering. I was more than happy to sleep on the couch. He grumbled for a while but caved in, saying that once he was more settled, he would continue to set up the apartment. However, I think he should buy a bed for one spare room and make the other his office. I was hoping he would have workmates over at some point, and fingers crossed, he might find another woman to keep him warm at night. He was still young enough to have needs, even if Mother did not fulfill them often enough.

'That smells good,' he said as he started to set the table for bacon and eggs. We had a couple of hours before we needed to leave. I had told Theo that we would make our own way over there. I wanted to spend more time with my Dad before I had to share him with the others. My mobile rang as we started to eat.

'Hello?' 

'Bethany, it is Detective Marshall. I'd like to see you for a few moments.

'I am at my Dad's place at the moment. Could you come there? We have a couple of hours before we are heading out.'

'Perfectly, see you in ten minutes.' Dad and I looked at each other, neither saying a word; it was not worth speculating about. With Dad being a detective, I was glad he was there to listen to what the man had to say.

The knock on the door was right on time. We had finished eating and were cleaning up the kitchen when the knock sounded.

'Come.' I heard Dad say as I put the last of the dishes in the dishwasher.

'Morning, the pot is still hot. Would you care for a coffee?' I offered when the man came into view.

'Thank you for the offer, but I have a lot on my plate today, and I wanted to give you a quick update before moving on to my next task of the day.

'Come to the lounge room.' Dad guided the man to the other room, and I followed behind them.

'First, I wish to inform you that I have arrested Bret for bigamy and released him on bail, pending further investigation.'

'What type of investigation?' Dad interrupted.

'As you know, Bob, we are looking into a ring of women that are falsely marrying men and extorting money out of them. We are still working on a few loose ends. Bret is on bail and will be aiding our inquiries, and depending on how he assists us, whether we will put in a good word for his bigamy.' He looked at me with sad eyes and I wondered what was about to come.

'You know I will help in any way I can.' Dad offered, and I knew he had already given the police a lot of good information. 

'Bethany, I am sorry to tell you this, but your marriage to Bret was bigamy. Bret was already married to Cynthia when he married you.'

'What!?' Dad growled out in shock. I was too stunned to say anything at that moment.

'They got married in Vegas while still in college.

'I remember that trip. I had exams and could not join them on the trip. I wondered why they suddenly started acting weird around me.' 

'Are you okay, Bethany?' Dad asked, rubbing circles on my back.

'Yes, Dad, I told you I am over the whole thing, and I mean it, though it is a shock. Bret had pulled away from our marriage a long time before I caught them in the act, and I think I was relieved in the end that I caught them and could put the marriage behind me. I had been blaming myself for so long, and it was not anything I had done. I am ready to find a man who deserves me. But Detective, why was it not flagged before we were married? It should have shown he was already married.'

'Bret's date of birth was incorrect on your marriage certificate and no one picked it up, so you are not accountable in any way. However, Bret knew he had married Cynthia and tried to say it was a fake marriage, and many who marry in Vegas think the same, but it was a real marriage, just like any other wedding celebrant. Each of those places in Vegas is real, and the judge won't accept ignorance. Your divorce will be wiped clean as you were not legally married, and any mark against your name will be cleared.'

The detective chatted a bit longer before leaving for his next job. Dad held me tight, and I sobbed for a little while. I do not know why I was crying. Maybe it was because of the years wasted on a fake marriage, or maybe it was a relief that I could be really free. I am no longer considered a divorced woman, so I should be happy, not in tears. 

We left for Hank's place. I took some of my pies with me, and Dad was more than pleased. He loved those little mixed pies I made. We talked all the way to his home and pulled up in the driveway, seeing many cars parked outside. I wondered if they were all here for sports day. That would be cool. Dad loves a crowd behind the team, cheering them on.

Dad knocked on the door, and we waited. A woman I had seen Theo with a couple of times answered the door, and my stomach dropped. Why would he have his girlfriend here? Was she also into sports? Was she going to be in the room with us and all over him? 

'Hi, you must be Bethany and Bob. Come on in.' We followed the woman to the kitchen, where another of the women I had seen Theo with was there with an older, kind-looking woman. 

Theo came rushing in from down the hallway and met us in the kitchen doorway.

'Hi, Bethany and Bob. Let me introduce you to the family. This is my Mother, Kitty, sister Felicity, another sister, Margret, and baby sister Cindy, and that over there is Sam Felicity's fiancé.' A group, 'Hi' was given, and I felt odd at that moment, as I noticed I was the only girl in a game shirt.

'Hi, these I baked earlier. Dad loves to have these around half the time. If you could put them in the oven around twelve, they would be warm enough by half-time.' I handed the pies to Kitty, and she turned her nose up at them; I don't think it was against them.

'No need to bring food. We have made plenty.' Kitty said, and I saw Dad's face drop. I could tell he was already regretting being there.

'Wait till you see the den. Dad finished renovating it recently. You will be the first to christen it.' Theo led the way before the women could complain. I was feeling a little lost at that moment. A lot had happened that day, and meeting two ladies I thought were his girlfriends were sisters made me feel like a jealous fool, and who was I to feel that way? In some ways, I was relieved that they were not his girlfriends. One was because I wouldn't say I liked the thought of having to share the bed with them. The other was because I was starting to have feelings for him, and being jealous only made me realize how deep I was beginning to get. Having been made a fool of by Bret and Cynthia, I did not want a man with many other girlfriends; I wanted to be unique for a change and love.

We followed Theo down the stairs to what must have been a cellar and walked into a dream come true. The room had sports paraphernalia everywhere and a massive screen with the sports channel blaring out of the sound system. I felt like I had just come home. It was all I had dreamed my sports den would look like, even a huge fridge, microwave, and mini toaster oven. I think I am in love.

'Hank, this is sports heaven. Did you do all of this?' I asked as Dad walked around the place, looking at all the pictures on the wall.

'Yep, I finished it yesterday. You like it?' He looked really pleased with the results, and what was not to like?

'Definitely, you have all my favorite teams on the walls.' Dad walked around looking at all the posters.

'Take a seat, and we can start our day,' Hank said and pointed to some single and double chairs. I waited for Dad to choose a seat, pulled out the paperwork we had done for today's games, placed it on a small table, and dragged it closer to him. Then I grabbed a cushion and sat by my father's feet, resting my back on his legs, as I looked up at the screen and the team chat before it commenced.

'You ready for a beer?' Theo asked as he handed one to his father.

'Yes, please,' Dad answered for both of us. We started talking about the game and the statistics of whether we were going to win or not, and I completely forgot about the woman upstairs, how uncomfortable I had been, and how worried the ladies thought I would be joining them when I first arrived.

Chapter 58 - Divorced! Now what?