As the kids were taken inside to change, Rachel was putting the final touches on the dinner table.The whole time I could feel the new girls' eyes on m....Soon the kids emerged and sat at one end of the table. I sat between my daughters -- one from my first wife and Katie and my little one. Katie sat on the other side of her. The others filled in the rest of the table. Katie leaned towards me and whispered "Happy Birthday!"We enjoyed a delicious meal that Katie and the others had spent the day. He pulled onto the road and turned down the radio's volume. "How'd you end up in the middle of nowhere?" I was at a concert and got separated from my friends."We spoke for a while and he seemed like a really nice guy. He was married and had two k**s and his Sunday afternoon ritual was to drive along the river, stop along the way and meditate by the river. I had read a little about mediation, and tried it a few times, but my mind wandered like crazy so I stopped doing it."There's a nice spot up. “So tell me honestly, can you ever forgive me for whatI did to you? I have no excuses, and even though yousaid that if you went along with it, it would be yourfault, too, I don’t accept that. This thing was allabout me, and I’m afraid I ruined a wonderfulmarriage. I would do anything to take back Saturdaynight, but I can’t, and…“Please be quiet, Candy,” I said. “You’re not gettingout of our marriage that easy. You’re going to pay. I could tell he wanted to say something. I brushed some croissant off my bikini and waited.After a few tense moments he worked up the courage. He took a deep breath and asked, "How did you really end up here? Not that your college party, love-at-first-sight tale wasn't cute."It was apropos of nothing, really, but I knew what he meant. I wondered distractedly if he'd heard a rumor. I didn't bother playing stupid. "In this world?" He nodded. "Mark. Life. Choices. It's so strange how one choice,.