The Lock That Had My Husband’s Name And Hers Chapter 01

Over the long October weekend, my husband had to work at the last minute, so I went hiking at Stonecrest Ridge by myself.

Halfway up the historic trail, the railing at one of the overlooks was covered in love locks. One of them caught my eye.

[THAYER LANGFORD LOVES DELANEY FIRTH]

I laughed under my breath.

Thayer Langford was my husband’s name.

What were the odds of running into someone with the exact same name all the way up here?

I pulled out my phone, about to snap a picture and send it to him, when a young woman came over.

“These locks are supposed to be really lucky.”

Her whole face lit up when she smiled.

“My husband and I put this one here last year.”

She was so bright and cheerful that I teased, “That’s funny. My husband’s name is Thayer Langford too.”

Her eyes widened.

“No way! What are the chances?”

Then she leaned closer, grinning. “But no offense, I guarantee my husband’s hotter than yours.”

She immediately held up her phone and shoved the lock screen toward me like she was showing off a prize.

“Ta-da! Look at him. Tell me he’s not ridiculously handsome.”

The second I saw the picture, I froze.

The man bending down to kiss her forehead was the same man I had been married to for three years.

I stared at the screen, unable to move.

Her voice drifted into my ears.

“Come on, tell me. Who’s hotter, your husband or mine?”

The fall wind swept across Stonecrest Ridge, leaving my hands and feet ice-cold.

I looked into her innocent eyes and managed a bitter smile.

“What if I told you they were equally handsome?”

***

“You’re funny.”

She pulled her phone back, still smiling.

“But seriously, my husband’s one of a kind. Limited edition. Sorry, nobody else gets one.”

“He’s always crazy busy with work. He runs this huge team.”

“But no matter how busy he is, he still tells me a story every night before bed.”

The happiness on her face was impossible to miss.

I held the smile on my face even as my palms turned slick with cold sweat.

“Then he must really love you.”

She nodded hard.

“Of course he does.”

Then she smiled at me again.

“By the way, I’m Delaney Firth. What’s your name?”

I slipped my hands into the pockets of my trench coat, trying to warm them.

“Blythe Keating.”

She tilted her head.

“Blythe. That’s really pretty.”

Then she asked, “Did you come hiking alone too?”

I nodded.

“My husband had to work.”

Delaney sighed with the air of someone who understood all too well.

“Yeah. Men and their careers.”

“My husband was supposed to work today too, but he didn’t want me out here alone.”

“He actually pushed back an important meeting just so he could pick me up at the trailhead.”

Wind whipped through the narrow openings in the old stone lookout and blew my hair across my face.

I looked back at the love lock on the railing. It was almost new.

The engraving cut deep into the metal, as if whoever had carved it had been afraid time might wear the words away.

I knew that handwriting.

Before we got married, Thayer had written me a love letter. The same firm strokes had covered every page.

Slowly, I took out my phone.

Our message thread was still at the top of my screen. The last message was from the night before.

My fingers trembled as I typed.

[Still working late tonight? It’s really windy up here. Kind of cold.]

I hit send.

The message sat there unanswered.

Two minutes passed. Then five.

Still nothing.

Beside me, Delaney took out a wipe and carefully cleaned the love lock.

“My husband waited in line for three hours to get this.”

“It was pouring that day. He got completely soaked, but he said he wanted us to have something lucky.”

Three hours? In the rain?

I closed my eyes.

The previous winter, I had run a fever of almost 104. We were out of medicine at home, so I called Thayer and begged him to pick some up on his way back from work.

He told me he was in a meeting.

He said to drink some water and stop being so dramatic.

I had wrapped myself in a coat and walked two blocks through the snow before I found a pharmacy that was still open.

My phone suddenly vibrated. I looked down to see a reply from Thayer.

Just one cold message.

Thayer: [Something blew up on the project. Everyone’s working late and I’m already stressed out. Just enjoy yourself and stop texting me.]

My vision blurred.

At the same moment, Delaney’s phone chimed with a custom notification tone.

Her face lit up. She opened a ten-second voice message and played it out loud without thinking twice.

“Baby, is it windy up there?”

“You’re tiny. Don’t let it blow you off the mountain.”

“Hurry down. I’m waiting for you at Juniper Hollow Lodge. I already ordered those smoked ribs you love.”

His voice was low and warm, every word soaked in affection.

I stood frozen, unable to process what I was hearing.

I had heard that voice every day for three years. It was the voice I woke up beside every morning.

And now that voice was calling someone else baby. Worrying about someone else.

Delaney lifted her phone and sent a sweet voice message back.

“Okay, babe. I’m coming down now. Love you!”

Then she turned to me.

“Did your husband ever text you back?”

I gripped my phone so hard my knuckles went white.

The words Stop texting me stared back at me from the screen, sharp enough to hurt.

I shoved the phone back into my pocket and forced another strained smile.

“Yeah. He said he’s busy.”

Delaney came over and linked her arm through mine.

“Yeah, guys who run companies are always like that.”

Then she smiled. “Since you’re alone too, why don’t we head down together?”

“The trail gets pretty steep. We can look out for each other.”

My gaze dropped to the hand resting against my arm.

She was so young. A Van Cleef & Arpels chalcedony bracelet circled her wrist.

I had seen that bracelet in the glove compartment of Thayer’s car the month before.

He had told me it was a gift for a client.

So that was his client.

Delaney Firth.

I didn’t pull away. I looked into her eyes and said softly, “Okay.”

Since her husband was waiting for her at the bottom of the trail, I wanted to see exactly how he planned to welcome her.