Page 74 of Diluted Truths

I barely remembered that day.

“You were drunk.”

I turned to meet Kai’s eyes. They were identical to mine in the shade of brown. It was almost like looking into a mirror.

He was right, I was drunk. It was a year after Nate’s death, and I was at the height of my addiction.

“I know.”

“How many years sober?”he asked.

I smiled. I knewhe knewhow many years it had been, but wanted to call attention to my successes, not my failures. “Four years.”

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and kissed my temple. “Proud of you, Jack.”

We made our way to their kitchen where we both made our morning tea. I plopped down next to him at the kitchen table and took a sip of my chai.

“So, want to tell me why you married Mckinley?”

“No.”

I laughed at my brother. We weren’t necessarily close, but when we were together it felt like no time had passed. “Well, too bad. How did that happen?”

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “It was an accident.”

“How does one accidentally marry someone?”

“You get them pregnant.”

I choked on my tea.

He didwhat?

“You have a kid? Or is she pregnant now? When did you even get married?”

“I married her about three years ago. I was really drunk, she was there. One thing led to another and…”

“So you stuck your poker in her fireplace and knocked her up?”

It was Kai who choked on his tea this time. “I’m sorry, what?”

I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. What happened after that?”

“Well she told me she was pregnant, we got married the next week. Turns out she was never pregnant.”

This time I was truly at a loss for words. I knew Mckinley was not a good person, but holy shit.

“She lied?”

He nodded in response.

“Why are you still married?”

“Well, we’re in the process of divorcing now. It’s just a lot and the judgments around town and mom and dad are not making it easy.”

I completely understood.

One thing about living in a smalltown is that everyone had an opinion on your life and often let you know about said opinion. It also wasn’t socially acceptable to get a divorce here.