Page 54 of When You Were Mine

He sat on the bed to put on his socks and black leather dress shoes.

“Anyhow, the summer after high school, when we were earning money for our trip, he told me he couldn’t go.” She tipped her head to put on a diamond stud. “Keep in mind, I’d turned down all the universities that had accepted me, so this was really upsetting news. But his dad had a heart attack, and he had to go back home. I figured he’d help out at the store, and then come back, and we’d be off on our adventure. But he didn’t come back.”

“Was his dad okay?” He tied the laces.

“Yeah, he was fine, but Emil decided, just in case somethingdidhappen, he couldn’t be thousands of miles away and leave his mom alone. And I guess… I don’t know. Something just felt fishy about the whole story.”

“Maybe there was more to his dad’s diagnosis. Some people are private about medical things.”

“Where were you twenty-six years ago?” She laughed. “Not that my teenage self would’ve listened. Oh, no. That girl had her mom drive her out to visit him. And I was about to go into the store when I saw him talking to the same ‘friend’ I thought he was sleeping with. She was pregnant.” Her fingers fisted in her sweater. “I stood there watching them—I mean, they didn’t touch or anything. He was just so…concerned about her. Soinvested. I don’t know. Anyhow, my mom dragged me back to the car, drove me home, and got me out of the country a few days later. Turns out, my parents had paid the deposit on three of the schools—one in New York, one in Los Angeles, and one in?—”

“North Carolina.”

She smiled. “Exactly. So, I left and never looked back.”

Finished dressing, he got up, grabbed his wallet and room key from the dresser, and slid them into his pocket. “Ready to go?”

She nodded, and they headed to the door.

“Neither of you reached out over the years?” he asked.

“He sent two letters. The first one said it wasn’t his story to tell, but that he wasn’t the father, and he’d never slept with anyone but me. The second basically told me to go fuck myself.”

He closed the door behind them. “That was harsh.” He couldn’t help checking the hallway for Elzy and went hyperalert for sounds as they passed her room. “Did he actually say that?”

“No. He said he was sorry for putting that girl’s secrets over our relationship, that he regretted it, and that if I gave him a chance, he’d make it up to me. But then, he ended it with, ‘And I’ll work on trying to forgive you for bailing on me without even a conversation.’”

“Ouch.” Though he had to respect the guy’s stance.

“Yeah.”

“You didn’t respond?” he asked.

“No, because nothing had changed. He still couldn’t leave Hofn. What kind of life would that have been for me?”

A beautiful one. A perfect one.

Elzy had once told him the film wasn’t their only hope for making money. That they could create a business together. At the time, he didn’t have her vision, so he’d signed the contract without talking to her.

Once he’d figured it out, he’d have done anything to go back to that motel room and reject the offer. By that point, of course, he’d found out about Cole, and it was too late.

As they neared the meeting point, his pulse pounded. Was Elzy there? He quickened his pace. “But you thought about him over the years?” He rounded the corner to find the lobby empty.

Fuck.

All right. It’s fine.

It’s not like she left town.

You’re going to see her.

“Well, I have this neat party trick. When I have a negative feeling—anger, hurt, whatever—I immediately drown it with a justification. So, every time I thought about Emil, I’d tell myself our relationship was too dramatic, that we’d have been miserable together, or that it was impossible since neither of us could compromise.” She shrugged. “It’s my superpower.”

“And now?”

“And now… I wonder what my life would’ve been like if I’d answered his letter. If I hadn’t been so prideful.”

“So, you’ll go to coffee, and you’ll talk to him.”

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