Page 1 of The Fate of Us

1

Noah

The hardest partabout chasing after someone who runs for a living when shit goes bad is that they’re good at not wanting to be found. Or maybe I am just bad at finding them. Hell, it took over a year to find my wife when she ran from me.

I tried to get ahold of Anna for three hours. Her sister and her parents did too. I drove to the daisy field, which wasn’t far away, hoping I would find her there but no luck. We all figured she somehow got a vehicle because there is nowhere else she could have gone in this town.

I feel bad for ruining her sister’s engagement party, but Jessica took the high road. Wellaroad and blamed Becca.

I can’t believe Anna’s best friend was the one that her fiancé cheated on her with. Anna talked to Becca almost once a week and made no hints about it. Anna relied on that friendship with Becca. It gave her the support she needed when she felt that she was doing everything wrong with her life.

Becca had even sent Anna pictures of her kids, though she always hid their face enough you couldn’t see any resemblance to Kyle in her oldest. I know Anna is hurting badly. She was finally accepting the loss and moving on. But this must have thrown her back seven years.

“If you grip that beer any harder, you might break it.”

I look at my hand and see how white my knuckles are. It’s not until then that I notice the ache in my hand.

“She will call. Eventually.”

I look at Jessica and sigh. She has been optimistic the last few hours. And as I sit at her parents’ kitchen table, I can’t figure out why. It took her almost two years to get in contact with Anna after Kyle died. And after that, Anna talked to her a handful of times a year. They don’t have an easy relationship. Not like they used to when Anna was younger, or so Anna told me. Although, last night when we came here for dinner, it was like no time had passed between them.

“God, you know how to brood. Maybe that is why Anna is in love with you. She always likes the brooding type. Of course she could pull it off quite well too.”

I try to contain my anger. I know it’s just that I am worried about her but Jessica’s overoptimistic attitude isn’t helping. “She isn’t in love with me.”

Jessica snorts, and it pains me to hear it. Anna has the same mannerism. “Okay, you tell yourself that. But the way she looks at you, the way she talks about you. I am ninety-nine percent sure that is love.”

I shake my head and take a sip of my beer that’s gone warm.

A cold beer is placed in front of me by Jessica’s fiancé. He places a hand on her shoulder. “Jess, why don’t you just lay off it for a bit. Let him try to think.”

“Whatever,” Jessica huffs as she gets up and leaves the kitchen.

Connor sits in Jessica’s seat and takes a long sip of his beer. “I think she is projecting. Trying to remain positive. She doesn’t want to lose her sister again.”

“I know.”

“You don’t want to lose her either.”

I look at him and see something in his eyes that relaxes me. I grab the new beer he brought and chug half of it.

“I think Jessica is right though. She will be back. Or answer her phone. Finding out about the thing that ruined your life in such an abrupt way can be devastating.”

“She was finally getting over it. Learning to move on,” I tell him. Finally finding the words to speak after sitting for hours in silence.

“I didn’t know Anna. I wasn’t around when Kyle died. Hell, no one even knew about the affair—”

I cut him off. “No one did. She didn’t want to give him a bad rap after he passed.”

“She sounds like an amazing person. To keep that secret hidden. And with everything Jess has told me, damn, she went through the wringer.”

I nod. “How long has Jess known?” I can tell Jessica knew about the affair, didn’t believe Becca’s story of a one-night stand.

“Ever since Becca had the baby. Jess was friends with Becca and she knew Kyle really well. She grew up with him too. She was scared to tell Anna. Didn’t know how she would react. Jess finally told me after a few months of us dating. She had kept it secret for almost five years. I always wondered why she was so cold to Becca when we saw her at the country club or when her parents would invite Becca over. I don’t know how Becca convinced this whole town about her baby being the result of a trip to Anna’s college but it worked. Maybe because she married her husband soon after no one saw her as a bad person for having a child out of wedlock.”

I drink the rest of my beer. “It’s fucked up, man.”

“This whole thing is,” he agrees with me.

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