Chapter 8: How Long

I crossed the street with a gray folder against my chest and nothing to say.

Shane watched me come.

He did not start the truck and he did not get out.

I opened the passenger door, climbed in and shut it.

Behind us on the lawn Dalton was still shouting, and Stephanie's voice rose above his.

"How long?" I asked.

Shane kept his hands on the wheel.

"A year in January," he said.

"A year."

"I went to the Hargrove Christmas party to drop off a check."

He stopped and started again.

"I came in the back way, and I saw them in the pantry."

His jaw moved.

"They weren't doing anything I could swear to in a court. They didn't have to be."

"And you stood there."

"I stood there until I couldn't see it anymore. Then I walked out."

"And after that?"

"After that I watched him for a month and hoped I'd been wrong."

I looked at the dashboard, at a plastic cup holder with a single pen in it.

"You were at my table the week after," I said. "At my birthday dinner. You brought me a bottle of wine."

"I did."

"You passed the bread to him."

"I did that too," he said.

My voice rose in spite of me.

"You carried my bouquet down the aisle, Shane."

He said nothing.

"You knew what he was, and you knew what she was."

I breathed in.

"You walked my flowers to his assistant, and you did not even look at me."

Keep reading free with an account. Start My Best Friend Ripped Off My Veil, So I Took Back Every Dollar from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.