Chapter 1

“The more I learn about people the more I like my dog.” Mark Twain

Jimmy---When people ask how I found out my wife was cheating on me I always say, “My dog told me!” but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

I was married to Suzy four years when I discovered she was cheating.

I am the hotel manager of a nice family-owned hotel located on the space coast of Florida. I started working at this hotel when I was in high school. Now 12 years later I run the place. I love it! My dream is to one day own a hotel just like this.

I met my wife Suzy while I was in Junior college taking classes in hotel management. She was studying Secretarial Science. We dated a year then married. She got a job working for an engineering company that builds things that go to the International Space Station. We bought a house and decided to put off having kids for a few years.

Our house has a big back yard, and I wanted a dog. Suzy liked dogs so there were no objections from her, but she let me know in no uncertain terms it would be my dog. She would play with it, but I would be responsible for its care.

I made it known at work that I was in the market for a dog and one of my employees said he had the perfect pet for me. His female Mini Schnauzer had given birth to a litter of puppies, and he was selling them. He went on and on about how this breed would be perfect for me. I decided to have a look and one day when the pups were weened, I followed him to his house.

There in his backyard sat his wife playing with 5 little 8-week-old pups. They were all busy wrestling with each other and did not seem to pay me any attention. That is until this one little black puppy saw me. He left his brothers and sisters and came directly to me. He cried until I picked him up. I played with him a few minutes then sat him down, he was not having it! He cried until I picked him up again.

“Looks like he picked you,” said my friends’ wife.

That settled it. I bought the little fellow and took him home with me. I played with him that evening and then made him a bed on the patio. That did not work. He cried and howled until I had to let him inside the house. He slept on one of my old shirts next to the bed for a few months then when he was old enough to jump up on the bed, he slept at my feet.

My wife was moving up at work! She was made Executive Assistant to the CEO of the company. This guy, Paul Jennings, is not only the CEO but he is an engineer and is the head of the design department. He’s about 50 years old and married with three kids, ages 7, 10 and 12 years old. He married late in life to the daughter of the founder of the company. That guy is dead now and Paul’s wife is the sole owner. This company has made millions working with NASA developing all sorts of tools and devices that go into space. Now they are working on ‘The Moon Project’. That’s what Suzy goes on and on about.

“Paul is so smart! He will be remembered in history like Einstein.” I doubt it.

Paul is a graduate of the University of Florida and a big fan and supporter of the football team. I had seen his office when I attended a Christmas party held at the company. He was definitely a big fan of Florida football. Everything he had in that office came from the Fan Shop at the University.

Back to how I caught my wife cheating.

I came home from work one day and went to find Cisco. That’s my dog, named after the head of the space station on the series Deep Space Nine, ‘The Cisco’.

He likes playing in the back yard sometimes during the day and I had installed a ‘doggy door’ so he could come and go as he liked. Today he met me with something in his mouth. When I took it from him, I suspected my wife was cheating with her boss and at my house!

What Cisco had brought me was a pair of University of Florida boxer shorts! They were blue with little orange alligators all over them. Shit! I love Suzy but I am not going to put up with a cheater!

But what if there is some logical explanation? Or maybe she has a clever lie prepared about how Paul’s underwear ended up in Cisco’s possession? I need to make sure before I make a big mistake.