It was a three-room house, and she kept it tidy and neat. She set her boy in a playpen, where he began piling blocks on top of each other, then asked me if I wanted a glass of ice tea. I said that sounded good, and she poured each of us a tall glass.

Sitting across a low table from each other, we each took a sip. I was formulating an opening question, but she beat me to it.

"I met Alon shortly after I moved to Tel Aviv. Ethan—that's my first husband, Ethan Hendleman—was just starting out as a doctor. He worked very long hours, including night and weekend shifts. I had come from a kibbutz and knew no one in Tel Aviv. I was lonely, out of sorts. I think he recognized that in me."

"Davidson?"

She nodded and took a quick, nervous sip from her glass.

"I didn't see it then, of course. What I saw was this tall, imposing, handsome man. The sort of man who could wrap me up in his arms, keep me warm, and protect me from anything. I was surprised he took an interest in me. It was flattering." A pause, another sip. "I didn't plan on being unfaithful to Ethan—I loved him very much—but when Alon put his hands on me, I just didn't say no."

"How long did the affair last?"

"Eighteen months, give or take. We would see each other most weeks, once or twice, on nights when Ethan was at the hospital. I betrayed my husband in our own bed." Her eyes filled up and tears hung on her eyelids before tumbling down her cheeks. She wiped her eyes with the heel of her right hand. "I'm an awful person, aren't I?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. You're just weak like the rest of us."

Her son, alerted by his mother's tears, began whining. Shulamit said a few reassuring words to him, went into the kitchen, and returned with two cookies. The smile she had on her face as she handed the cookies to her child looked forced, but the boy did not seem to notice. He quieted down, happy with his treat. She returned to her seat opposite me.

She said, "I fell in love with Alon. Or at least I thought I did. He told me he loved me, said he would leave his wife for me, but he always had reasons and excuses why now was not a good time for him to divorce her—usually something along the lines that she was not well or in an emotional state, that he felt sorry for her. Things like that. I foolishly believed every word of it."

"So you kept seeing him."

She nodded. "I couldn't be without him. That's how it felt, anyway. Eventually, I got tired of waiting. I told Ethan I had met another man, that I wanted a divorce. When I told Alon about it, I thought he would be happy, that it would prod him to break up with his wife. Instead he got very angry. He shouted, he raved, he called me names. He…" She paused and a haunted look came into her eyes.