“Yes.”
“And you didn’t call me?”
“Because I didn’t know what to say!”
Her voice grew defensive.
I stared at the wall.
Nancy and I had shared so many personal things over the years that I had never considered the possibility of her keeping something like this from me.
“Do you actually want to do it?” I asked.
She took a breath.
“I think we should at least be open-minded.”
That answer hurt more than I expected.
I wasn’t asking whether she was open-minded.
I was asking whether she understood what this proposal meant for our friendship.
For the first time in twelve years, I wondered whether I knew Nancy as well as I thought I did.
“Let me ask you something,” I said. “If Alex had suggested exchanging wives with another couple, would you have agreed?”
“I don’t know.”
“Would you have told me if that other woman were me?”
