Page 121 of Outside The Wire

All this fucking time, I thought she was dead, and Rafe had taken her away, not giving me the opportunity to take care of my own wife. All that time I spent beating myself up over her death…I still would have felt that responsibility weighing on me, but at least I wouldn’t have fallen down the same path of destruction. What he did nearly wrecked my life.

“When did she wake up?”

“She doesn’t know exactly. She thinks it’s been about a year.”

“A year,” I repeated. “Where has she been all this time?”

“Recovering. Figuring shit out. Hell, I really don’t know. She hasn’t exactly been too forthcoming with information. She only wants to talk to you.”

I sighed heavily. “Nothing’s the same anymore. I’m not the man she married. I don’t?—”

“I know, man. But you have to talk to her. Whatever happens, you can’t just leave her hanging.”

“And in the meantime, my life is falling apart.”

“What do you think is happening to her? She woke up and thought she still had a husband. Then, last night, she saw you kissing another woman. Imagine what that must have felt like.”

“Yeah.” I slammed the truck door and grabbed my phone. “I need to call work. Give me a minute.”

“Sure.”

As he walked away, I called Wyatt, hoping he didn’t fire me for calling off. My life had turned into one disaster after another.

“Let me guess, you need the day off,” he said as soon as he picked up.

“Wyatt—”

“Don’t sweat it. I’d need the day off, too, if my wife came back from the dead.”

“I’m really sorry about this.”

“Hey, I’m just glad it’s not me.”

I bet he was. “Sorry about your night with Noelle.”

“Nah, don’t worry about us. We had fun discussing how this was going to play out for the two of you. Should be entertaining.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind as I go over and see my wife again today, all the while thinking about how it’s going to destroy the woman I love.”

“Wish I had some popcorn and a front row seat.”

“Maybe I could send you some footage.”

“I would appreciate that.”

“I’ll try to be in tomorrow.”

“Yep, let me know.”

I hung up and turned to Chase. He was leaning against his truck, waiting for me. There was no time like the present to get this over with. I was about to see my wife again, to step back into a life I didn’t want.

And I had no clue what the hell I was going to say or how I was going to handle it.

The elevator doorsopened and I stepped out onto her floor. My palms were sweating and my heart was racing, but it wasn’t because I was excited to see her. Fuck, I was terrified of what this could mean for my relationship with Holly.

“You okay?” Chase asked as we stopped outside her door.

“Would you be okay if you found out your wife came back from the dead after five years?”

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