My Groom Walked Out, So His Brother Took His Place novel · Chapter 10 of 32
Chapter 10: Fourth of July
By the Fourth of July the whole county knew two things about me.
One was that I'd married the wrong brother.
The other was that I was sleeping with him, because Jude's truck was parked at the east barn at night and in the morning it was not.
We never talked about it.
By day we were polite, and in public we were Mr. and Mrs. Stehling.
After dark, the hall between our rooms was a short walk.
On the morning of the parade, Alvin's assistant brought me a typed page on a clipboard.
I read it standing in the barn aisle, in my good boots and a white blouse.
REMARKS FOR THE STEHLING FLOAT, it said.
Thank you, Fredericksburg. My family and I have had a hard season. My brother-in-law Wendell has been dealing with a serious health matter, and we ask for your prayers and your privacy.
It went on to a paragraph about Hill Country values.
I read it twice.
"A health matter," I said.
"The senator thought it would put the rumors to bed," the assistant said. "People are very curious."
"Wendell isn't sick."
"It's a family matter, Mrs. Stehling," she said.
"It's a lie."
She flushed. "I only type them."
"I know you do."
I folded the page and put it in my back pocket.
Jude stood at the end of the aisle, saddling a gelding, and had not turned his head.
But his hands had stopped moving.
The Fredericksburg parade came down Main Street at ten, a mile of limestone storefronts hung with bunting.
Our float was a flatbed with hay bales, a red-white-and-blue banner, and a podium.
Alvin stood at the front, waving at the crowd with both hands.
Jude and I stood at the back, side by side, in our matching smiles.
People clapped.
Some cheered, some took pictures, and a few of the older women held their hands to their chests.
A girl in the third row held up a handmade sign that read BRYN + JUDE.
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