Page 117 of Leave

John looked back and forth between us. “Why now, though? Why tonight? I… I don’t understand why you never told us before.”

“I didn’t want to tell anyone,” Nolan whispered. “Don’t you think I know how that looks, being a man saying a woman half my size raped me? Multiple times?”

His father paled. “Multiple…”

“It wasn’t just once,” Nolan said, but he didn’t elaborate beyond that.

John’s expression was impossible to parse. Pain, mostly, but was it because someone had hurt his son? That his daughter-in-law wasn’t who he thought she was? Or that Nolan had just tossed a grenade into his younger brother’s wedding, his older brother’s marriage, and the whole goddamned family? Did he believe Nolan? Or Leann?

He finally exhaled and glanced toward the door. “I think we need to let everyone calm down and catch their breath. And then we need to discuss this as a family.”

Nolan nodded. “Okay.”

His dad studied him a moment longer. Then he headed for the door.

He’d just put his hand on it to push it open when Nolan said, “Dad?”

John turned around, eyebrows up.

Nolan gulped. “Do you believe me?”

John held his gaze for a painfully long moment before he whispered, “I don’t know what to believe right now.”

With that, he left the restroom, and Nolan and I were once again alone.

Nolan sagged against the sink, looking for all the world like he might cry, throw up, or just collapse. Beyond the door, there were voices. Some shouting. Some just talking. Leann was stillsobbing and screaming, but that sound was getting quieter. Farther away, hopefully.

When the noise had come down a bit, I poked my head out. From the voices I could still hear—mostly hushed now—everyone had moved into the sanctuary. Someone else was crying. Sophia, I thought. That made me wince; this poor woman’s wedding was being torpedoed. She had to be devastated.

I returned to Nolan. “I’m going to step out and get a bead on things, okay? See if we should leave, or…” Or what, I had no idea.

He nodded, his gaze fixed on nothing.

“Will you be okay for a minute?”

Another nod. Then he dabbed at his nose again before reaching for a paper towel dispenser. “I’ll be fine.”

I hesitated, but then I left the men’s room.

Sophia was in a pew, sobbing so hard she was almost choking. Her fiancé and one of the other bridesmaids were trying like hell to console her, and her mom was bringing her some water. Both Matt and his mother-in-law looked at me, and their expressions hardened.

I didn’t see Leann or Andrew anywhere. Thank God.

I did find Nolan’s parents, and I discreetly pulled them aside. “Listen, maybe for right now, it’s best if he and I get out of here.”

John frowned. “If we need to get the police involved…”

“I can give you the address of our hotel and our rental car information. And you have both of our cell phone numbers.” I sighed, shaking my head. “We’re not going anywhere. I just think it might be best if everyone has some space.”

Carol winced and dabbed her eyes. “I just don’t understand why he’d say such an awful thing.”

I gritted my teeth. Now was not the time to fight this particular fight.

John glanced around the room. Then he took out his phone, pulled something up, and handed it to me. “I want your hotel name and room number.” As I took it and started typing, he added, “If either of you try to take off—this is my son, but I won’t hesitate to—”

“We won’t go anywhere,” I said over the sound of Carol starting to cry. John put his arm around her shoulders, and no one spoke as she sobbed quietly and I typed out our hotel information. Handing the phone back, I said, “We’re going to head out. Our phones will be on. We won’t leave. I promise.”

I hated that I had to act like we were fugitives or something. That Nolan should be regarded as a suspect. Because he hadn’t done a goddamned thing wrong, and this whole conversation made me ill.

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