Page 72 of The Truth in My Lies (Secrets of Suburbi 1)

And for just one moment, I didn’t care either. I wrapped my arms around him, pressing the side of my face against his strong chest. I just wanted to feel safe. “Why are you still wearing that ridiculous mustache?” I mumbled into his chest.

He laughed. “You said your husband was dangerous. I wanted to be untraceable.”

I reluctantly stepped away from the safety of his arms. “The mustache won’t help. Or the baseball cap.” He actually did look good in the baseball cap, though. For just a moment I could see our future. Cheering at a Phillies game, embracing after a home run.

But first I had to take care of my past. “You need to go before he comes down.”

“Actually, I was hoping to distract him for a while. Talk shop.”

I stared at him.

“You know…what hedges he wants trimmed. That kinda thing.”

“So your plan was to wear a fake mustache and tell him that you’re Ben Jones the landscaper? That’s a terrible, awful idea. You need to go. Now.”

“He’ll know my name, but he won’t know what I look like. It’s fine.”

“Please trust me on this. If he sees your face, you’re as good as dead. That mustache isn’t fooling anyone. Please go, Ben.” I looked over my shoulder at the door. We were running out of time.

“And I always thought doctors were bad with faces.” He laughed when I didn’t say anything. “You know…the bad bedside manner and everything. Have you seriously never heard that stereotype?”

“No, I have. But my husband isn’t a doctor.” What was he talking about?

“I thought you said he was a doctor.”

“I never said that. He’s an insurance collector.” Of sorts. “Ben, you really need to go. He’s gonna open that door any second.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to…”

“Absolutely not.”

His eyes searched mine. I could tell he didn’t want to abandon me. And I appreciated that more than I could say. But this was my battle, not his.

He sighed, finally conceding. “Call me if you need me, okay?”

I turned back to the door without responding to him.

“Promise me that you’ll call, Addy.”

I grabbed the doorknob. “I will. And thank you for saving me. You came over just in time to prevent…”

“He was going to hit you again?” There was a vein in the side of his neck that seemed to bulge. I had never seen it before. He was a little young to show signs of stress.

“No, that’s not…wait, you didn’t see?”

“I saw your face. I came as soon as I could.”

“You have perfect timing.” Just like a knight in shining armor would. “This will all be over soon.” In one way or another. “He’ll be gone again Monday morning.”

“I’ll see you Monday morning then.” He looked sad and a little dejected, just standing there on my porch in his silly disguise. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that if we didn’t get my husband’s actions on film, or if my other plan didn’t work, that I was going to be leaving. That Monday may be one of our last days. I couldn’t tell him, because he was already hurting. I could see it in his face, his eyes, his posture. I was feeling that same hurt. But we couldn’t afford to comfort each other.

I stepped back into the house just as my husband was coming down the stairs. I quickly closed the door so he wouldn’t see Ben.

“Who was it?” he asked as he clasped his watch. He didn’t even look at me when he stepped off the stairs.

I sighed with relief. He definitely hadn’t seen Ben. “It was just one of those door-to-door people like you thought. They wanted to give us a quote for new siding.”

“New siding? This house isn’t even five years old.”

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