Page 37 of Shadowing You

“Mei Lin?” When Ethan sat a few feet from her, the anger had drained from his face.

“You really don’t know?” She asked the question again, though the answer was already clear.

“I really don’t.”

“Did you…?” Her voice came out rough. She swallowed and tried again. “Did you try to find me?”

He didn’t say anything for a long time, and something cold slid under her ribs.

But on his face, she saw no guilt. His eyes were red around the rims. He was sitting very still, as if he couldn’t decide to move forward or back. Closer to the terrible thing or away from it.

Either way, the terrible thing was there.

But so was Ethan. He hadn’t abandoned her.

How she loved this man.

She sucked in a breath as that truth came back to her.

She remembered why she’d loved him, why she still loved him.

She’d fallen a little bit in love the first time she’d seen him, in that medical tent in Central America when she’d watched him playing with sock puppets and acting out a silly drama to make a little boy smile.

She had married him the day after he’d flown to China and proposed. They’d shared their vows under a gray sky in her parents’ backyard with neighbors for witnesses, and she’d never been happier in her life.

She didn’t know what the truth would do to them. Whatever happened, whatever damage the last six years had done, the most important thing in this world hadn’t changed for her.

She had loved him then, and she loved him now.

Tears blurred his image. Swiping them away, she scooted across the sofa and took his hand. “I’m so sorry.”

This time, he didn’t tell her not to apologize.

“I thought you forgot me,” she said. “I thought you decided I was not worth the trouble. I was angry with you, all this time, because you didn’t come for me.”

“Come where? If I’d known where…”

“Ethan. I was in prison.”

The color drained from his face. His eyes filled, and a tear slid down before he could blink it back.

“Prison.” He said the word like he was testing it out. “Since when?”

“The day we talked. The day you told me the visa wouldn’t be much longer. You told me you couldn’t wait. You called me sweetheart.” Her voice broke on the last word.

“This whole time? You were in prison for…” He swallowed, his voice rising. “Six years?”

“Until the day I called you.”

He pulled his hands back, then tipped forward and wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her. “I didn’t know. How could they not tell us?” He held her, then suddenly straightened. “For what? What was the charge?”

“When I was arrested, they said I stole from the hospital. I did not.”

“Of course you didn’t.” He was shaking his head. “But... Was there a trial? Why didn’t you call?”

“They wouldn’t let me. They just snatched me off the street and threw me in prison.”

“Is that…normal? Is that legal?”