Page 23 of Two Wrongs

“Is that why—“ she starts to ask.

“Why I gave in to what I’ve wanted?” I finish her sentence.

Wren nods.

A strand of hair has fallen loose from her messy bun, and I tuck it behind her ear. “Because we are both feeling betrayed and hurt. Both of us have sacrificed a lot for his happiness, and I feel so angry with him. I hate that feeling. The disappointment is crushing me. Then all of a sudden there you were. I know this is wrong, that what we did, what I’d like to do can cause so much more damage, but I’m drowning in this feeling. That’s new for me. I’m a simple man, Wren. I don’t want what I can’t have, before you that is. And for him I was willing to overlook that. But then I found out what he did, and I started to wonder why we both had to hurt because he chose himself over the people who love him.”

She looks away, but I catch a tear trailing down her cheek. I reach out and squeeze her hand. “Don’t do that. Don’t hide.”

“Why did he do this?” she asks.

“I wish I knew.”

She wipes the tears from her face. “What are you wanting me to do?”

“We can’t be together, not long term, but we can be there for each other now.”

“How would that work?” she asks me.

“Did you think about Liam last night? Did it hurt as bad?” I think I know the answer, but I can’t be sure until she says the words.

“No, and I don’t know how I feel about that. I think I’m numb,” she admits.

I can see it, the weight resting on her. I feel it too. “Come stay with me.”

She shakes her head. “How would that even work? We both have work tomorrow. Liam is going to be there, and when you see him again you’re going to regret this. I know what I get out of this. An escape, and even if he never finds out, a little bit of revenge. I know you don’t want to hear that, but what he did cut me deep. I can’t use you like that. I’d be no better than him if I did.”

For years I’ve treated her like she was too young and immature to have gotten married. I blamed her for my son’s choices, because I saw he was stalled in life. Maybe if he hadn’t married right out of high school, I thought, he might have found a path and made something more out of his life than I had mine.

The truth is, she is more emotionally mature than me, and I’m nineteen years older than she is. And now I have to admit Liam’s problems weren’t that he committed to her too young, but that he never fully committed to her at all. If he loved her completely, the way I fear I would if we had the freedom to fall, then he’d move mountains to please her.

“You’re right,” I agree. “I’ll admit, I’m disappointed, but also relieved because you’re making the choice I’m not strong enough to make. Promise me, when the divorce is final and all the strings to Harriston are cut, you’ll leave. You can’t become the person you’re meant to be stuck here in the past.”

“Is that why you’ve always been mean? You made it clear you wanted me to leave Liam.”

I shake my head, and realize I’m sending mixed signals. “It wasn’t really about Liam. I love my son, but I hated watching you throw away your future. I’ve been mad at him for pushing you to do that. If he loved you, he’d have gone with you.”

A single tear slips down her cheek, and she scrubs it away with the back of her hand. “I think it’s pretty safe to say he didn’t really love me.”

* * *

Charlie spendsthe morning watching me. I know he suspects something happened between Wren and I over the weekend, because he hasn’t once asked me about Brandi. That’s not normal for him. Charlie’s never been one to respect my privacy.

He grows more suspicious as the morning passes and Liam still hasn’t shown up for work. We’re both stomping around each other. Tensions are high, and when lunch time rolls around he snaps. “Have you even gone and checked on him, or have you been too busy chasing after his wife?”

I throw the wrench in my hand, and it bashes into the tool box denting it. “What crawled up your ass?”

“How did things go Saturday night with Brandi?” he asks.

“I think you already know, don’t you?”

“God fucking dammit, Griff! We talked about this. All you had to do was go home with the age appropriate woman who wasn’t your daughter-in-law, not fuck Wren in the storage closet.”

My teeth clench hard and grind against each other. “Is everyone in town talking about it?” I don’t give a shit what they said about me, but Wren doesn’t deserve to be gossiped about behind her back. It’s bad enough people have started talking about Liam’s affair. She doesn’t need this too.

“Let me ask you a question, did you make sure Brandi left before you dragged Wren off like a caveman?”

I remember throwing money for a cab on the table in front of her. Then the only thing I saw was that frat boy pawing at Wren. Jealousy, like I’d never experienced before washed over me, and I couldn’t think beyond getting her alone.

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