Page 58 of The Replacement Wife (New Hope 2)

He holds up his phone. “First, the loose ends. They need tying.”

“Where are we going?”

“I told you. Our honeymoon.”

I lean the back of my head against the cool glass. “Yes, but where?”

“It’s a surprise,” he huffs, his fingers typing furiously.

“Did you grab my passport?”

He smiles when his eyes meet mine. He’s aware I’m digging for information. He couldn’t have packed my passport because in my haste, I left it at mom and dad’s. “Don’t worry,” he assures me. “I have everything covered.”

Eventually, when he doesn’t say anything else, I shrug and stare out the window at the blur of scenery whizzing by. Just once, momentarily, I glance over my shoulder and look over at my husband. He seems harmless enough. But even I know bad things exist to show people where their vulnerabilities are.

We board a private plane. At take-off, I say, “I don’t even know who you are.”

“Touché.”

I look toward the cockpit and lower my voice slightly. “You put me in an institution and had them perform surgery on me without my consent.”

“And yet you’re here.”

He makes a good point.

“Why?” I ask.

“You know,” he says, and he’s staring out the window as the wheels lift. Suddenly, we’re airborne. “I’ve asked myself the same thing. Why would she lie to you, Tom? Why?”

“What? Hold on. We’re talking about me. About the fact that you had my vagina reconstructed.”

“For the record,” he counters, “that was not my doing.”

I close my eyes. I just want him to say something that makes sense. “I don’t understand.”

“Do you want this marriage to work, Melanie?”

“We don’t even know each other.”

“No,” he agrees. “We don’t. The only thing I really know for sure is that you’re a liar.”

“So I know everything there is to know about you then? That’s what you’re saying?”

He juts out his bottom lip while he mulls it over in no time flat. “Pretty much.”

I find myself wishing for a parachute. Jumping without one might be better

than this. At least that way, I’d know where I was headed. “That’s interesting because I hardly know anything.”

He swivels in his seat. He looks different. “Have you been working out?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“Your arms look bigger.”

“Why would you lie to me about who you were?”

“I didn’t lie.”