My Groom Walked Out, So His Brother Took His Place novel · Chapter 24 of 32

Chapter 24: Wendell's Hand

Wendell had lost weight in his face.

He stood by his truck with his hat in both hands, in a denim jacket I had never seen, and he looked about nineteen.

I had practiced this for a hundred days.

In every version I had been calm.

"Hi, Bryn," he said.

"You're early."

"I know. I wanted to see you alone first. Before Dad," Wendell said.

"Dad doesn't know you're here."

"No. I took the back roads."

I looked at him.

I had been engaged to this man for fourteen months.

I knew the way he cleared his throat before a lie, and the way he rubbed the back of his neck, and the smell of his aftershave.

None of it made me feel anything.

I felt nothing but patience.

"Five minutes," I said. "Behind the clinic. The tech opens at eight."

We walked around the building to the loading dock, where there was a bench and a tin ashtray nobody had emptied.

I did not sit.

He did, and put the hat on his knee.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"You said that in a text."

"I mean it in person. I'm so sorry. I was a coward. I should have told you in March," Wendell said.

"You should have."

"I should have told you the night before. I should have told you in a hundred ways." His voice wobbled. "You deserved so much better, and I..."

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