she was certain she could hear blood rushing in her ears.
Questions flooded her mind faster than she could catalogue them. Why would Kane ignore her note? And why would he lie about finding it? She desperately sought answers, thinking over the past couple of weeks and linking Kane’s behavior to each situation that had distanced him more and more. Like a recorded video on fast forward, scenes tumbled through her mind. The panic in his gaze when she’d given him that grocery list, his never having a checking account and paying everything with cash, his insistence on a tutor for Andrew, his insecurities about his woodwork, those unopened letters from his sister…
Like threads in an intricate weaving, every occurrence pulled the interlacing tighter, presenting her with only one logical conclusion.
The truth rippled through her like an electrical shock, and the note slipped from her hand and fluttered to the floor.
“Oh, my God,” she breathed.
Kane knew something was wrong the moment he stepped through the back door into the kitchen and saw Megan sitting so calmly at the kitchen table.
The sight of her red-rimmed eyes, pink nose and pale complexion tipped him off that she’d been crying. Worry gripped him until something crinkled in her hands. His eyes dropped to her lap. Very slowly, very deliberately, she placed a wrinkled piece of paper on the table for him to see.
His gaze shot to hers. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to. Gut instinct told him she
It had been a mistake to take the note and stuff it in his pocket when he’d found it, but he’d been so frustrated and angry it had been a reflex action. One he regretted. It had been a bigger mistake that he’d forgotten about the note, but guilt had consumed his mind and blocked out all coherent thoughts.
And now he’d pay the price for his stupidity. He wondered if it would cost him his marriage-for the second time. The thought of losing Megan wrenched at his heart. What if she didn’t want him after this confrontation was over? And he knew it was coming. Like a brewing storm he could feel the tension, knew it was a matter of time before the fury hit and wiped out everything in its wake. His stomach twisted, and he washed down the bitterness rising in his throat with a long swallow of beer.
He leaned against the counter and looked at her. “Where’s Andrew?” he asked, his voice as rough and bristly as he felt.
“Cleaning his room.” Her soft voice belied the ruthless intent in her gaze. “I want to know why you lied to me about the note.”
A lie sprang to his lips, a natural, involuntary action he’d honed over the years. More lies to cover up an endless string of lies that would never end, just get more difficult to cover up.
He let out a long, hissing breath. “I didn’t want to hurt you.” But causing her pain was all he’d ever done. He hated himself for that.
“It hurts me that you think you have to hide the truth from me.”
Denial was strong and even harder to dismiss when he’d spent a lifetime dodging the truth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Finishing his beer, he tossed the bottle into the container under the sink and headed for the back door.
She came out of her seat and cut him off, her eyes blazing with a fierce and furious light. “Yes, you do, and you’re not walking away until this is settled.”
He glared at her even as he fought the urge to haul her into his arms, crush her to his chest and never let her go. He was scared, he realized, scared of what the truth would mean to her. Terrified of rejection, and of disappointing the woman who’d come to mean more to him than he had ever dreamed possible.
“What do you want from me?” he asked, his throat clogged with a multitude of emotions.
“I want your trust”
She knew. No matter how he denied the inevitable, it wouldn’t go away. And he was so damned tired of bluffing, deceptions and lies. The turmoil of the past months boiled to the surface.
“You want the truth, Megan?” he asked, using anger as a defense. Grabbing her wrist, he pulled her hand away before she could snatch it back when he confessed his darkest secret. “The truth is, I can’t read.” He steeled himself, waiting for the horrified expression he’d dreaded seeing since the day they married.
Instead, compassion softened her features. “Oh, Kane, why didn’t you tell me?”
He dropped her hand and moved away, clawing his fingers through his hair. “What am I supposed to say? Oh, by the way, I can’t read, and sorry, honey, I’ll never amount to much of anything-”
“Stop it, Kane,” she said vehemently.
But he was on a course straight to self-destruction and couldn’t stop himself. The frustration and bitterness of a lifetime came rushing forward, and he was helpless to stop any of it. “It’s true! I never finished school. Hell, I think the last grade I attended was second, and after my mother died I had to raise my baby sister while my dad worked to support us.” The whole story spilled out, how his father insisted his son learn to earn a living, and how grateful Kane had been for his father’s misdirected guidance, because he was able to support himself and his sister when his dad died. The sacrifices he’d made had been necessary to survive but had cost him an education.
When it was over, he sank into a chair and hung his head in his hands so he wouldn’t have to look at Megan. Christ, what had he done? If he was lucky, she’d just leave him alone in his misery.
Megan wasn’t one to give up.
Her warmth and unique feminine scent surrounded him, then her hand touched his back. His muscles jumped and pulled tight. She rubbed lightly, but he wouldn’t let go of the tension. It was the only thing holding him together.
“You can learn to read,” she said.
His head snapped up, and he scowled at her. “God, Megan, don’t you think I’ve tried that?”
“On your own?” she guessed.
“Yes, and it’s nothing but a frustrating, degrading experience.”
She sat in the chair next to him, so close their knees nearly touched. “Why haven’t you asked anyone for help?”
His laughter lacked humor. “Because I’m not about to risk the entire town learning I’m illiterate and humiliate myself that way again.”
She frowned. “Again?”
He nodded jerkily. “I only told one person about my illiteracy, and I experienced enough humiliation to last me a lifetime.”
“Cathy?”
“Yeah. Not being able to read cost me a job in her daddy’s bank, my marriage, and made my wife miserable enough to want a divorce.”
Megan gasped, her gaze widening in astonishment and understanding. “Oh, my God, that’s why you refused the job Harold offered you.”
A bitter smile twisted his lips. “You can’t exactly bluff your way through correspondence, reports and contracts.”
She shook her head, confused. “But Harold doesn’t know you’re illiterate.”
“That’s because his daughter was too embarrassed and ashamed to let everyone know she married someone stupid,” he said harshly. “Thankfully, she took my secret to her grave.”
Anger flashed across Megan’s features. “You’re not stupid.”
Restless energy burned through his veins. He bolted out of his seat and across the kitchen, then whirled to face her, hands clenched at his sides. “I sure as hell feel like it when I can’t even read a goddamn note that you leave for
