Page 103 of The Woman Left Behind

Oh, I was paying close attention all right. Having Harry’s weight on me felt amazing.

“Lillian, you with me?” he called.

I forced my focus on him.

No, my focus was totally on him, all of him. So instead, I forced my focus on what he was saying.

“Right here.”

“Never, sweetheart, never, no matter what shit I’m dealing with at work, do you bury shit you’re dealing with. Never keep it from me. Never.”

Oh my God.

Could I take him being more awesome?

“Okay, Harry,” I whispered.

“Do I need to say the word ‘never’ again?” he asked.

“No, Harry,” I promised.

“He called before we found out about your parents,” he noted.

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“What did he say?”

Oh boy.

Harry must have felt my hesitance, because his voice got kind of scary when he repeated, “What did he say?”

“Well, he found out we’re dating, and he was mad.”

“He was mad,” Harry repeated dully, like he didn’t get it.

I knew how he felt.

Ugh!

“He said he was my husband, and we were a thing.”

“But you’re divorced.”

“Very.”

“And it was over after you kicked him out.”

“So over. Totally over. We redefined the word ‘over,’ we were so totally over after I kicked him out.”

Maybe I went a little overboard on that, but nothing in it was untrue.

“He didn’t try to come back?” Harry asked.

“He did. But Shane had graduated from college by then and was home, putting in applications to find a job. He got some of his buddies to go with him to pay Willie a visit. They shared how they felt about Willie bugging me. Shane then found a job and went to California, but his buddies were still in town. They all played football at MP High. In other words, they were guys you didn’t mess with. And although after their visit Willie tried calling and sending flowers and gifts and stuff, eventually, he quit, and I thought it was over.”

“But he doesn’t think it’s over.”

“He said the reason I couldn’t find him to divorce him was so I couldn’t divorce him.”

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