the glass of whiskey he’d poured for her. Without looking up from the letter, she batted his hand away and sent the glass sailing across the room. Whiskey flew across the rug, and the glass rolled until it hit the wall.
“Nice,” he snapped. “Real nice. You wanna tell me what’s wrong?”
“This is what’s wrong!” She stood up from the sofa, shook the letter in his face, and began reading Eliza’s words in a mocking voice bristling with rage.
“My dearest husband, it is with a heavy heart that I write this letter…”
Martin stood there looking bewildered. “What in God’s name is that? Where’d it come from?”
“It’s a letter from your wife. I’m guessing it fell out of your coat pocket.”
Martin snatched it from her hand. “I’ve never even seen this.”
“Obviously. But I’ll save you the chore of reading it; she’s expecting another baby!”
A feeling of panic shot across Martin’s chest, and his throat tightened. “That’s impossible. I never—”
“Oh, yes, you did! And it’s been going on for quite some time, according to this letter. I should have suspected something ages ago. When I think of all the weekends you were away and I sat waiting…” She pressed her hand to her forehead and moaned. “I’m a fool; a naive fool. When you asked me about how I prevented having kids, I thought your only concern was for me.”
“It was, Martha Mae, I swear it was.”
“Liar! You told her about the Marvel Whirling Spray. You bought one and gave it to her. She says so right here in the letter.”
Martin felt the walls of the room closing in on him, and beads of perspiration rolled down his back. “She’s lying. I didn’t do that. I swear I didn’t.”
“Really? Then why would she say it? How would she even know about it?” She shoved him with such force that he stumbled backward and fell onto the sofa. Leaning over him with her nose just inches above his face, she screamed, “You’re a liar, Martin! A liar and a cheat!”
He looked up wide-eyed. “Martha Mae, please. None of this is true, not one word. At least let me tell my side of the story before you start calling me a liar.”
She stepped back and turned away. “Nothing you can say will change things.”
Martin’s heart raced, and his head pounded like the inside of a kettle drum. Desperately trying to collect his thoughts and piece together a story that sounded plausible, he scrubbed his hand across his chin. “This is Eliza’s doing. I said it before, she’s clever. Tricky as the day is long. She probably knows I been seeing you and is trying to put an end to it.”
Martha Mae looked at him slant-eyed. “How would Eliza know about us?”
“Same way she found out about Bess. You remember I told you how she came here, chased poor Bess away, and stole my money?”
“You said you weren’t sure what happened.”
“At first I wasn’t. But Mrs. Sloan told me she’d seen Eliza snooping around, and that’s when I put two and two together and figured it out. I’m thinking she came back again, found out about you, then did this to get even with me and break us apart.”
“This letter doesn’t sound like a woman who’s trying to get even. It sounds like someone who’s scared.”
Struggling to find an out, Martin latched on to the idea. “Maybe that’s it. If she’s been with somebody else and got herself in a family way, she’d be worried about what people will say. That’s why she’s looking to lay the blame on me.”
Martha Mae gave a weary sigh and rolled her eyes. “Somebody else, huh?”
He nodded. “It’s sure not me. I spend time with the kids when I’m there, that’s it.”
“You don’t sleep with her?”
“Nope. I sleep on the sofa.”
She turned away and stood looking out the window. “I don’t believe you, Martin. I want to, but I don’t.”
“It’s the truth, I swear. Tell me what I can do to prove it.”
Keeping her back to him, she shrugged. “There’s nothing you can do. This letter says you’re the father of the baby, and you say you’re not. Who am I to believe?”
“Me, Martha Mae. Believe me. You know how much I love you. I’d never cheat on you. Never.” He came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Tell me what I can do to make this right, and I’ll do it. I’ll do anything.”
She shook his hand loose from her shoulder, stepped away, and turned