“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I planned to. Then Aaron told me he was sick. Then he begged me for time to write everything down. I gave him a deadline. Today.”
“Our wedding?” Caleb said.
“I told him after the wedding. Not before. I thought you deserved one day untouched by him.”
Aaron whispered, “That was my fault.”
I turned toward him.
“You don’t get to make yourself small now. You made choices.”
“I know.”
“You left because I was pregnant with a boy.”
His face crumpled.
“No.”
I barked out a humorless laugh.
“Don’t rewrite history.”
“I’m not. I said horrible things that night. I was scared, selfish, and cruel. But I didn’t leave because he was a boy.”
“Then why?”
He looked at Caleb.
“Because I had already become someone I hated. I was gambling. I owed money. I had taken cash from your mother, and I knew if I stayed, I would keep taking. So I ran. Then I was ashamed. Then shame became years.”
Caleb stared at him.
“That’s your explanation?”
“No,” Aaron said. “That’s the truth. Not an excuse.”
The hallway felt too small.
Caleb looked at Julian.
“You should have told me.”
“I know.”
“Before today.”
“Yes.”
“Before I married you.”
