We sat in the same row. He laughed at the pastor’s jokes. I sat quietly, my body tense.
After the service, Brian turned and said, “Wait here. Bathroom.”
This time, I didn’t hesitate.
I scanned the fellowship area, spotted the blonde woman near the coffee table, and walked straight to her. She was alone, stirring sugar into a paper cup.
When her eyes met mine, I saw her entire face change.
“Wait here. Bathroom.”
“Hi,” I said softly. “I think we need to talk. I’m… Brian’s wife.”
She nodded once and followed me toward a quieter corner. Her jaw clenched. She didn’t look surprised, just deeply, deeply tired.
“I heard everything,” I said. “Last week. The garden window was open. I didn’t mean to… but I did.”
She didn’t speak at first. Just stared at me with a mix of pity and horror.
Her jaw clenched.
“I don’t know what’s happening,” I continued, trying to hold my voice steady. “But I can’t go home and pretend I didn’t hear what I heard. I need to know the truth. All of it. Because I think I imagined that conversation, and I need proof.”
She sighed, then reached into her purse and pulled out her phone.
“My name is Rebecca,” she said. “And you’re not imagining anything.”
She unlocked the phone, tapped through the messages, and handed it to me.
“My name is Rebecca.”
There were years of texts. Years!
Some were pathetic, others furious. Some read like poetry written by a man desperate to be seen. Most had never been answered.
Then, in her recent messages, a few weeks ago, a photo of the church’s sign, with a note from him that read, “I see you. I know where you go now.”
I looked up at her, my throat dry.
Some were pathetic, others furious.
“He found out I was attending here because I posted one photo on Facebook,” she said. “Just me and a friend outside the front doors. The next week, he was sitting behind me. With his family.”
I couldn’t even form a response!
“He’s been doing this since we were 17. He wrote me letters in college and showed up at my first job in Portland. I moved twice and changed my number. He still found me.”
I couldn’t even form a response!
I handed the phone back as if it were radioactive.
Read more by clicking the (NEXT »») button below!
