The Hidden Heiress: Married to My Ex's Brother novel · Chapter 16 of 32

Chapter 16: Flowers

"Etta."

He said it softly.

"Move, Lance. I have a boat to run."

"Just give me two minutes."

"You've had five years of two minutes."

He stepped into the middle of the gangway so I'd have to go around him.

The roses rustled in their paper.

"I didn't sleep," he said. "I drove back last night. I've been here since four."

"Port security must love you."

"I needed to see you before anybody else did."

Behind me the first commuters were coming down the ramp from the terminal.

The woman in scrubs. The man with the bike helmet. A dozen more behind them, coffee in hand, slowing down.

They knew his face now. Everybody in Seattle did.

"Here's the thing," Lance said. "I made a mistake. A huge one. I know that."

"You married somebody, Lance. That's not a mistake. It's a ceremony."

"My mother pushed me. You know what she's like. You saw her yesterday."

"I saw you yesterday. In the doorway. With your mouth open."

He held out the roses.

I didn't take them.

He kept holding them anyway, his arms getting tired.

"I'll divorce Liza," he said.

Somebody on the ramp said, "Oh, come on."

"I mean it. I'll file this week. It was never real with her. It was always you."

"It was always me," I said. "For three years in her car."

He flinched.

"Etta, listen. He walked out on you. My brother. In front of everyone. I would never do that."

"No. You'd do it behind a door."

"That's not fair."

"You told your friends I was slow." My voice was very calm. I'd learned that on the speaker. "You told them I was a broke girl with a pretty face. You told them you didn't bring home deckhands."

"I didn't mean..."

"You meant every word. That's why it was funny to you."

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