Marcus whispered, “But you told me she died.”
Amber nodded.
“When did you tell him that?” Ruth asked.
“Our second date.”
Marcus gave a broken laugh.
“You told me your mother died and I told you my father had just been diagnosed with cancer.”
Amber closed her eyes.
Ruth remembered that year.
Isaiah had been sick.
Marcus had been twenty-nine.
He met Amber while working in Atlanta.
They married two years later.
Ruth asked, “Why not simply say you were estranged?”
Amber looked at her.
“Because people ask questions.”
“So you killed her in the story.”
Amber’s eyes filled.
“I didn’t want her in my life.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“I know that now.”
Ruth looked at Marcus.
His face was rigid.
“And the wedding?”
Amber swallowed.
Marcus stared at her.
“What about the wedding?”
Ruth turned back to Amber.
“Your mother knew you were getting married.”
Amber’s face changed.
Marcus’s eyes narrowed.
“How?”
Amber whispered, “Denise told her.”
Marcus stood again.
“Did she come?”
“No.”
Amber’s answer came too fast.
Ruth said, “She drove there.”
Marcus stared.
Amber looked furious.
“You don’t know that.”
