John Lyndhurst hunched across the steering wheel, peering out through the windscreen, in a vain bid to see through the black sheet of rain which seemed to swallow up the road, then spew it out again metre by metre.   Just enough at a time to allow the red Mitsubishi Magna to crawl along at a funereal pace.

On the seat beside him lay a small bouquet of red roses and a large box of Cabaret chocolates.   A peace offering for Maggie.   A means to set things straight after the hellish row they’d had the night before.

“This will get me back into her good books…I hope!” John thought, as he drove the Magna up to the front of the house, a little surprised that the house was not lit up, although it was well after 7:00 PM.

“Maggie?” John called as he entered the house.   He expected to hear the answering, “I’m in here.”   But to his surprise, there was no reply.

Slowly John worked his way through the house, calling out, “Maggie?” every few seconds, until reaching the master bedroom on the second floor.

“Oh Mag…” he began, opening the bedroom door.   He stopped in mid word, seeing that the room was empty.

“That’s funny,” he thought starting to close the door again.   Until he spotted the rectangle of white.   He had almost missed seeing the envelope against the white sheets of the unmade bed.

“Dear John,” began the letter.   He couldn’t help smiling to himself.   It was a childish little game of theirs.   What they jokingly called Maggie’s “Dear John Letters” that she sent to him when he was away overnight on business, or left on the bed, or stuck to the refrigerator with small fridge magnets when she would be out when he returned home from work.

“I’ve decided to leave you,” he read on, quickly losing his smile.   “Holy shit!” he thought.   “I’ve had as much as I can take of the constant fighting with that shrewish daughter of yours….”

He sighed heavily and thought, “I’ve got to admit the last eighteen months, since the wedding, have been like a long-running war.”   The row the night before had been just the latest in an endless series of arguments.   Not that it was Maggie’s fault.   She had done everything possible to make a good impression with John Junior and Tina.   But they had refused to accept her as their new mother.