Of course, they experienced bumps in the road. Four months ago, they had a breakthrough. Samuel and Hannah loved each other, there was no doubt, but they hadn’t addressed their past. Which was ridiculous. The couple had so much history.
The night they finally faced their history had started out like any other. Hannah felt great. She found a new casserole recipe. Samuel was very supportive of her culinary explorations. The dishes weren’t always hits, but he was always sweet about his delivery when it wasn’t his preference. He came home to find her making a salad to go along with the chicken enchilada casserole. She was singing along to Samuel’s top hit, Drown while shaking her hips.
Samuel startled her. “Nice moves. You should have been one of my backup dancers.” He circled his arms around her waist and peppered kisses on her neck. Then offered to set the table.
The evening was going along beautifully. Samuel liked the casserole. The conversation was fun and light. “It was a surprise to find you listening to my music.”
“What can I say? You can really sing. Drown has a good beat to dance to.” It was clear how proud she was of him.
“Thanks.” He beamed.
“You’ve told me why you walked away from being a K-pop star, but you’ve never told me why you started.”
The last thing she was expecting was for Samuel to shut down. She watched the laughter leave his eyes while his smile vanished. Hannah just couldn’t understand it. Other than this topic, he was a completely open book. She had approached it before, and he always changed the topic or made himself busy doing something else. She would not allow him to change the topic yet again.
“What did you say we are having for dessert?”
The thought of him blatantly ignoring her again was disappointing. “Are you serious? You are just going to switch the topic.”
“Can we just drop it?”
“For now, or forever?” She pressed. He said nothing, just sat there looking at her blankly. Annoyance gave way to a stronger emotion. “Really? Why are you being so secretive? It’s in the past.”
“So leave it there.” Samuel didn’t scream at her, but his voice was elevated. He’d never done that before. She neither appreciated nor liked it. Things were going so well. Part of her wanted to retreat.Why rock the boat?It was that kind of thinking which had led to her losing her voice. She had it back. Of all places, she wouldn’t allow it to be silenced in her marriage.
“Why won’t you tell me?”
“Leave it alone, Hannah.”
Hannah ignored his gritted teeth. “Tell me Samuel, what happened!?”
“You!” He dropped his fork. “You are what happened. I wanted you. Would have given anything to be with you. We were supposed to get married in the morning. What do you do? You take off. You chose Trinity Covent Church over me. It was what you wanted.” He tugged at the roots of his hair. Hannah had never seen him so angry. It wasn’t the anger that bothered her. His face was red, and the vein in his neck pulsed. He was expressing his emotions. She had pushed for this. What bothered her was the hurt she saw in his eyes.
“Since you wanted me to bear my truth. Not for one moment do I think you chose Jeremiah over me. You chose Trinity over me. The saddest part is I know if you are pushed, you would do it again.”
If he had slapped her, she wouldn’t have been as surprised. “How could you say that to me? Do you know how hard it was for me to walk away from you? I mean, you should. I couldn’t sleep or eat for weeks.”
“How would I know why you walked away? You did it without a damn word to me. After everything we shared. I woke up, and you were gone! How the hell was I supposed to go back to my family and the church like nothing happened? You ripped my heart out.”
Samuel wasn’t only torn up; he was also furious at her. It hurt to have him direct so much frustration her way.
“Then why did you manipulate me into marrying you?” Hannah shut her eyes when she realised how what she said sounded. Her feelings were getting the best of her as well.
“You’re damn right I trapped you. How else would I get you to choose me?”
Hannah was confused. It was like he was rewriting history. She had put him first, even though it broke her heart to do it. Why was he acting like she hadn’t explained it to him?
“Although, to my surprise, I didn’t have to work that hard to get you to agree to marry me.”
“Of course, you didn’t have to work hard to get me to marry you. I have always wanted to marry you. Why else do you think I gave you, my innocence? It was like I wrote to you. It was never my intent to ever marry anyone but you. I only gave in when Alvin White pulled me aside. He told me I’d never be given leadership of the church by myself but if I married the right person, he would support me in being a co-pastor.”
“Wait! What are you talking about? When did you write to me?”
“The letter I left for you when we were supposed to elope.” She had poured her heart out to the man she knew would always hold a part of her heart.
He tilted his head and arched his brow. “You left me a letter? Where?” He challenged.
“I put the letter in the hotel’s bible, and I placed it on my pillow. I used all the stationary?—”
