The Lock That Had My Husband’s Name And Hers Chapter 04

It was still about a thirty-minute walk from the lookout to the trailhead.

Delaney moved quickly, chatting excitedly the entire way.

“My husband said Juniper Hollow Lodge is famous for its wood-fired chicken. He called three hours ahead to reserve a table.”

“And apparently the owner makes this amazing hard cider herself. He even asked her to save a bottle for me.”

I listened without really hearing her and followed behind.

The farther down we went, the more crowded the trail became. Laughter and conversation rose all around us.

I felt like a ghost moving through a world I no longer belonged to.

Every word Delaney said revealed another version of Thayer Langford. A thoughtful, generous, romantic man I had never known.

For the past three years, I had learned how to stretch every grocery dollar and fix a leaking pipe myself so we could save money.

And what had he been doing?

Finding out which mountain lodge served the best wood-fired chicken and who made the sweetest cider.

When we finally reached the trailhead, I spotted Juniper Hollow Lodge from a distance.

A wooden sign hung over the entrance, the lodge name carved across it. Cars filled the lot, and people streamed in and out.

Delaney practically bounced toward the entrance, waving excitedly.

“Cambria!”

The front door opened, and a woman in a tan trench coat stepped outside.

Cambria Crowell.

My best friend. The same woman who had told me half an hour ago that she was stuck on a blind date.

Her makeup was flawless, and she was holding a small folding fan as she came out smiling.

“There you are,” Cambria teased. “Your husband’s been waiting forever.”

Delaney hurried over and looped her arm through Cambria’s.

“There were so many people on the trail. My legs are killing me.”

Cambria tapped her lightly on the forehead.

“Come on. He was just asking if he should head up and get you.”

As she spoke, she glanced past Delaney. The moment her eyes landed on me, the smile froze on her face.

She stared.

Her pupils tightened, and the color drained from her face so quickly I could see it happen.

The folding fan slipped from her hand and hit the ground.

Delaney bent down to pick it up.

“Cambria, what happened? You just dropped it.”

Cambria didn’t answer. Her eyes stayed fixed on me, and her lips began to tremble.

“B-Bly…”

The name barely came out.

Delaney straightened and looked from Cambria to me.

“Wait. You know Blythe?”

Cambria swallowed hard.

Then she reacted almost instantly.

She grabbed Delaney by the arm and started pulling her toward the lodge.

“Delaney, it’s freezing out here. Let’s go inside. We can talk in there.”

“Your husband’s waiting for you.”

As she pulled Delaney along, she kept shooting frantic looks at me, her expression caught somewhere between pleading, fear, and warning.

It was obvious what she wanted: for me not to expose everything right then.

I stood where I was and watched her perform. So this was how fast people could think when they were trying to keep a lie alive.

Delaney stumbled as Cambria tugged her forward.

“Cambria, stop pulling me. Blythe’s still here. I invited her to eat with us—”

Before she could finish, two sharp blasts of a car horn sounded behind me. A black Mercedes G-Class rolled slowly to the curb.

I knew that car.

During the second year of our marriage, I had used money my parents had left me to help Thayer make the down payment on it.

The driver’s door opened.

Expensive leather shoes hit the pavement before Thayer stepped out in a gray cashmere coat, a women’s puffer jacket draped over one arm.

His face held the same warm, indulgent smile I used to know so well.

“Baby, why didn’t you call when you got down? I could’ve driven over to pick you up.”

As he spoke, he shook out the puffer jacket and started walking toward us.

Then he looked up.

His gaze passed over Cambria, then Delaney, whose face had lit up at the sight of him, before finally landing on me.