she finally wanted you to know why I left.”
“You told me why.”
“I told you what your mother made me believe I had to say.”
I stared at her.
“Ruth came to my apartment after you proposed. She was wearing that gray coat with the fur collar.”
I remembered the coat. My mother wore it to church.
“She told me I wasn’t the kind of woman you should marry. She said my family would hold you back.”
“Anna—”
“Please let me finish. I’ve spent a long time wondering how to say this to you.”
I closed my mouth.
Her father had been struggling to keep his job. Her parents were behind on bills. Ruth knew people who could make their situation worse, and she had made sure Anna understood that.
She had threatened her father’s livelihood. Then she had threatened to spread stories about Anna’s sister, who was about
