There were messages between him and Jenna from that day.
“Can’t stay long,” he’d written. “Got to get back before she suspects.”
“Drive safe,” she’d replied. “Love you.”
My stomach rolled.
“No,” I whispered.
My mom’s voice was sharp.
“He wasn’t driving to his grandparents that night,” she said. “He was driving home from his mistress.”
I looked at my husband.
“Tell me she’s lying,” I said.
He didn’t. He just started crying.
“Before the accident,” he said, voice cracking, “it was… it was stupid. I was stupid. Jenna and I… it was a few months, that’s all.”
“A few months,” I repeated.
“I thought I loved you both,” he said miserably. “I know how that sounds. I was young and selfish.”
“So the night of the accident, you were driving home from her.”
He nodded, eyes squeezed shut.
“I was leaving her place when I hit the ice. Spun out. Woke up in the hospital.”
“And the grandparents’ story?” I asked.
.”I panicked. I knew you. I knew if you thought I’d done nothing wrong, you’d stay. You’d fight for me. And if you knew the truth…”
“I might have left,” I finished.
He nodded.
“So you lied,” I said. “You let me think you were an innocent victim. You let me burn my life down for you based on a lie.”
“I was scared. Then time passed, and it felt too late. Every year, it gets harder to tell you. I hated myself, but I couldn’t risk losing you.”
I turned to my mother.
“How do you know all this?”
She exhaled.
“I ran into Jenna at the grocery store,” she said. “She looked awful. She told me she’s been trying to have kids. Miscarriage after miscarriage. She kept saying God was punishing her. So I asked, ‘For what?’ And she told me.”
Of course, Jenna thought it was punishment.
Of course, my mother hunted down proof.
I felt like the floor had tilted.
“You let me choose you over my parents,” I said to my husband, “without giving me all the facts.”
He flinched. “I didn’t let you—”
“Yes,” I snapped. “You did. You took away my choice.”
My mom’s voice softened. “We were wrong, too. For cutting you off. For not reaching out. We thought we were protecting you, but we were protecting our image. I’m sorry.”
I didn’t have space in my head for her apology yet.
