The Husband Who Lied to Me novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: The Brother Who Was in Prison

"Prison," I said.

"That's his word for it." Russ held the lobby door open with one arm. "Walk with me. If I stay in this building I'll order a steak I can't afford."

We ended up in a diner on the highway, in a booth with a torn red seat.

He ordered coffee for both of us and pushed the cream across.

My cheek still stung.

He looked at it once and said nothing, and a minute later a waitress came over with a bag of ice wrapped in a dish towel.

"I didn't ask for that," I said.

"I did."

I held it to my face.

"Where were you really?" I asked.

"Alaska. Four years on a crab boat out of Dutch Harbor. Two as a deckhand, two as the foreman." He turned his cup in his hands. "I came home last month. I was going to see my mother and keep my mouth shut."

"Why did you laugh?"

"Because she hit you in front of twenty-four people, and you said thank you."

I almost smiled.

I stopped myself.

"Nolan told me you were in prison and that I shouldn't ask," I said. "He said it would kill your mother to hear it."

"She knows exactly where I was. She sends me a card at Christmas." His jaw moved. "He kept me out of the wedding, didn't he?"

"He said you weren't allowed to leave the state."

"I wrote you a letter."

I stared at him.

"A week before the wedding," Russ said. "I sent it to your house. I never heard back, and I thought that was my answer."

"I never got a letter."

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