Tag along with wife to reunion

Dear Annie: My wife’s 35th high school reunion is coming up. I was trying to think of a reason to get out of attending. But before I could come up with one, she told me I shouldn’t bother to go. She said she’d be with her two out-of-state girlfriends the entire time and I’d be bored silly.

I happen to know that only one of those girlfriends is attending the reunion, and she has a brother-in-law who graduated in that class and will be there, as well. My wife is gaga over this guy. She doesn’t know that I’ve seen how excited she is to open his Facebook messages on the reunion site. She doesn’t open anyone else’s.

I asked my wife if there was someone else she wanted to see, and she became angry and defensive. Instead of telling me to come with her and see for myself, however, she said, “Fine, I won’t go.”

I feel she is hiding something. What’s your take? – Unconvinced in Chicago

Dear Unconvinced: Reunions where classmates get together without spouses have been known to trigger affairs that otherwise would never have happened. Here’s our take: Your wife has a crush on this guy. She’d like to flirt with him and would be more comfortable doing it without you. But she isn’t willing to risk her marriage for the chance. Our advice is to attend the reunion with your wife, and be charming and personable. Let her see the other guy and get it over with so she isn’t resentful and you aren’t wondering “what might have been” for the rest of your life.