Page 43 of His Loving Wife

“Nothing. I wasn’t trying to keep Paul a secret—”

“I know. I know that’s what you said. But it’s not what I felt. In one night, I’d come close to losing my family, which I care about more than anything in this world. Since then, we’ve been doing nothing but crumbling. And I don’t know how to put us back together. Not when I’m bottling up these feelings. When you told me Paul believed he might be Willow’s father, it put everything else I believed about us to the test.

“Thing is, I’d rather ignore you or drink myself to death than face our problems. I know we can’t live that way, but I couldn’t move on with our lives without knowing the truth.”

“I’ve told you the truth. I messed up in not telling you about Paul sooner, but since then, I’ve been nothing but honest.”

“I know.” He took out a piece of paper from his back pocket, and unfolded it, an act that added more dramatic flair than anything. “But I had to know for myself, too.”

“What is that?” Kate asked. She felt something heavy in her chest.

“I ran a paternity test on Willow.”

Kate could feel the blood racing beneath her skin, feel her eyes filling with tears.

“I had to do it. I couldn’t take not knowing anymore. And I thought maybe seeing it on paper would finally give me confidence.”

“I gave you the answers you needed,” Kate said, her voice so filled with anger it quivered. “I told you there was no way—”

“I know. The test confirms I’m her father,” Andrew cut her off. He took a step closer. “And now I believe you.”

“You should have believed me then!” Kate yelled. “I made a mistake by not telling you about Paul in the beginning, but I’ve never lied to you. I’ve never cheated on you. But for the past six months, you’ve treated me like I’ve done both. You’ve acted as though I’m not hurting about what happened. Everything you’re feeling, I’ve felt, too. And instead of leaning on you, I’ve had to suffer through all this. Alone.”

“I know. That’s why I’m telling you this now. So we can start over with a clean slate.”

“A clean slate? You tested our daughter’s paternity behind my back. You actually believed it might be a possibility. You believed this mentally ill man over me. Your wife of more than seventeen years—”

“I’m sorry. I had to do this.”

“Sorry isn’t enough. You’re the one refusing to talk to me. You’re the one who’d rather get drunk than fix what’s happening between us. You’re treating me like a villain when I’ve done nothing wrong. You say you submitted this test to protect our family, to keep us together. You’ve abandoned me!”

“I don’t want to abandon you. That’s why I’m telling you this now. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you before, but now that I know the truth, we can start moving on.”

Kate stood there, her blood still boiling, her temper still fuming. She felt bare. Embarrassed. That her own husband would treat her this way, as though she deserved to be questioned. For the first time in their marriage, Kate wasn’t sure she wanted to fix their relationship. She didn’t have the tools to do it on her own.

“We’re going to counseling.”

“Oh, come on, Kate. We don’t need counseling. We can work this out, just the two of us.”

“No, we can’t! It’s beyond that now. Standing here, looking at you, after what you just told me… it feels like I’m talking to a stranger. I don’t know how to move forward without help, and if you really want to keep this family together, you have to commit to that.”

Andrew hunched over, holding his forehead with his hands. He was silent for several minutes.

“Okay. We’ll do it. I’ll talk to a counselor. I’ll do whatever it takes to get my family back.”

Kate didn’t say anything. She simply nodded. Andrew walked over to her, putting his arms around her. She flinched.

“I’m sorry, Kate. I really am. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”

Kate clenched her eyes shut, a tear trailing down her cheek. She could still feel all of it. The sting of Andrew’s betrayal. The slap of rejection. And a renewed anger at Paul Gunter, for what his lies had done to her family.

Chapter 21

Now

There’s a small arcade in the waiting area of the restaurant; I allow the kids to explore while we wait on our food. Noah is playing a race-car game, the plastic covering his body so all I can see of him is the top of his curly head. Willow has found a group of girls her age and is leaning against the wall talking to them.

“Are they yours?”

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