The Lock That Had My Husband’s Name And Hers Chapter 05

For one long moment, everything seemed to freeze.

The smile on Thayer’s face shattered like a mask. The puffer jacket slipped slowly from his hand,

one side dragging across the dusty ground.

He stood beside the car as if he had been nailed in place. His throat moved, but no sound came out.

Delaney noticed none of it.

She pulled free of Cambria’s grip and ran over to hook both hands around Thayer’s arm.

“Babe! Finally!”

“You won’t believe who I met on the trail today.”

She tugged the stiff, silent Thayer around and pointed at me.

“Her. Blythe.”

“And here’s the craziest part. Her husband’s name is Thayer Langford too.”

She beamed at him.

“Isn’t that such a weird coincidence?”

Delaney’s smile was bright and completely innocent.

Thayer had gone beyond pale. His face had turned almost gray. His lips trembled as he stared at me, panic and fear written all over his face.

“B-Bly…”

He finally forced the name out.

Not Blythe.

Bly.

The name he called me at home.

Delaney froze. She looked at him, then back at me. The smile slowly disappeared from her face.

“Babe… what did you just call her?”

“You know her?”

Cambria rushed over and grabbed Delaney’s hand.

“Delaney, wait. This is a misunderstanding!”

“She’s… she’s my friend. Yeah, we used to work together. She just happened to be here!”

The lies tumbled out. of Cambria’s mouth as she made one last desperate attempt to hold everything

together.

The guilt twisting her face made my stomach turn.

I ignored her and walked straight toward Thayer.

One step.

Then another.

Thayer instinctively backed up until his shoulders hit the car door.

I stopped in front of him and looked at the face I had loved for three years.

He was still handsome, still wearing that same gentle expression I knew so well. But now, all’ I could see was the man underneath it.

“Thayer Langford.”

I said his full name calmly.

“So the project blew up, everyone at the company was working late, and you were too stressed to deal with me?”

Thayer shut his eyes and took a deep breath before reaching for my wrist.

“Bly, listen to me…”

“This isn’t what it looks like. Can we go somewhere else and talk?”

His voice was low and pleading. He wouldn’t even look at Delaney.

I let out a cold laugh and pulled my hand away.

“Somewhere else? Why?”

“Everyone’s already here. Why not clear it up right now?”

I turned toward Delaney, who stood there completely stunned.

“Remember when you asked whether my husband was as handsome as yours?”

Her eyes widened as she looked between Thayer and me, the truth slowly sinking in. She took a step

back.

“Blythe… don’t joke about this.”

“That’s not funny.”.

I looked into her eyes as fear began to fill them.

“I’m not joking.”

“Delaney, the reason this all feels like such a coincidence is because we’ve both been/calling the

same man our husband.”

“Thayer Langford is my husband. We’ve been married for three years.”

The words seemed to hit her all at once.

Delaney swayed. If she hadn’t caught herself against the hood of the car, she might have fallen.

“No… no. That’s impossible.”

She shook her head over and over, then turned to Thayer, her voice breaking.

“Babe, she’s lying, right?”

“Tell her you don’t even know her.”

Thayer lowered his head, gripping the hem of his coat until his knuckles turned white.

He said nothing.

Cambria was still tugging at Delaney’s arm.

“Delaney, calm down. There has to be some kind of misunderstanding. Thayer-”

“Shut up!”

I spun toward her and pointed at her.

“Cambria, stop with the lies. So your blind date just happened to bring you all the way out to Stonecrest Ridge?”

“You helped my husband get together with another woman, then stood by while he lied to me like I was an idiot. Did that make you feel good about yourself?”

Cambria flinched and covered her face, unable to meet my eyes.

People nearby had already started staring and whispering.