Page 122 of David's Love

He tips his head again.

“Her husband was my best friend. Ned Sutton.”

I freeze.

The picture.

The man in the picture.

The bouquet in her arms.

David and the other man.

He continues.

“He was my best friend. I served in the military because of him. And then he stole my woman.”

“Was he in the military, too?” I ask as if it just crossed my mind.

“Yes, he was.”

A few moments pass.

“That’s why I was so damn mad when her betrayal happened. I thought she’d missed me and sought comfort in someone else’s arms. She actually wanted his money. She told me that. But I didn’t want to believe her. I couldn’t believe her. The pain paralyzed me. It fucked my brain up.”

I pull my mouth closed.

He doesn’t say another word, and I can’t suppress my curiosity so I speak again.

“So… Miranda is Anna’s sister?”

“Yes.”

I almost vomit the next few words.

‘She doesn’t look like Anna.’

Luckily, I stop myself from blurting it out.

“How did you two become so close? Were you close back then?”

“No. Not really. Once Anna and I broke up, I did not have much to hold onto. I didn’t know she had a little girl. We hadn’t kept in touch. We couldn’t. She expressly had forbidden me to call her sister or try to meddle in her life. And I had no longerconsidered Ned my friend. So I stayed away from him and our mutual friends.”

He sucks in another long breath.

“But things changed later on. I changed since marriage had taught me a lesson or two. When all was said and done, Anna and Ned were no longer here, and I was no longer the mad man who’d fucked with his life just to prove a point, so I looked for Miranda. One time I traveled over here, I went searching for her. It wasn’t hard to find her. Not many things had changed about her. The only difference was that she was no longer alone. A young woman lived in her house, and I felt compelled to help her find her footing in her life. I knew how hard it was for me and didn’t want her to go through tough times.”

I stay mum as I wait for him to continue, convinced he will tell me more.

“Julie and I had a lot in common. Much more than she knew.”

A sad smile tugs at his lips.

“I lost my parents in a car accident when I was a young boy, and I had no family left growing up. But, like her, I lucked out. The woman who took me in was nice and did a good job raising me. I wanted to do the same for Julie. Help her overcome the obstacles. The hurdles of life. Pay it forward in a way. Be there for her. I also wanted to forget about my dark past. Miranda and Julie had nothing to do with what had happened to me. That’s why they consider me family.”

I feel like this is another lost opportunity to come clean and tell him about the pictures that had taken me to Eleanor Winston’s house and made me meet Sylvia and find out things about his past.

Maybe those bits of information are to be forever buried, never to be brought to life.

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