Page 182 of Rewind It Back

“Then two weeks later, you found out anyway,” I say to finish.

For the two weeks following that day, I kept my mouth shut. I kept my mouth shut abouteverything. I was terrified that my mom would be right, and that if I said something, it would be detrimental to my dad’s health.

Of course, now looking back, I know that’s not true, but for those two weeks, I was living in paralyzed fear that it could be.

If I would’ve known better, I would’ve told Rio and his mom as soon as possible. Maybe then I wouldn’t have lost him for so many years. Or her.

Mrs. DeLuca is sitting across from me, tears silently streaming down her face. It’s an entirely different reaction from the day she found out that her husband and best friend were having an affair.

In her house. In her own bedroom.

Rio and I were headed to pack up his room when we walked in to find his typically strong mother broken in a way I’d never seen her. Broken in a way I’ve never seenanyone. I watched the panic consume him as soon as we heard her blood-curdling cry. I noticed when the protectiveness took over as he picked his inconsolable mother off the ground.

I witnessed his heart crack when she told him about his dad, and I watched it shatter completely when she told him that I knew.

I’m not sure what hurt worse that day. The way she looked at me with complete and utter disgust, or how it felt to have the only man I’ve ever loved tell me to get out of their house.

Across the table, Mrs. DeLuca brings her coffee to her lips as she watches me from over her rim, tears still falling of their own volition. “You look just like her.”

My heart sinks at the reminder. It’s a suspicion I’ve had for a long time, that maybe she looked at me the way she did that day because physically, I’m practically a carbon copy of her former best friend. And now, how could I expect her to look at me when I’m the spitting image of the woman who tore her family apart?

We both know it’s not actually you that she’s angry with.

“I know.” I offer her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry about that.”

Shaking her head, she tells me not to be.

“That’s why I cut my hair. I didn’t want to look anything like her.”

“Hallie.” More tears well in her eyes and she reaches across the table to put her hand over mine. “You’re not her, honey.”

“I am so sorry for what she did, and I’m even more sorry that I didn’t tell you when I had the chance.”

She inhales a shaky breath. “I had no idea that she said that to you. I had no idea your dad was sick. Is he...”

“He’s good.” I allow the genuine smile to lift. “He lives in Minnesota with my brother’s family now.”

“Luke has his own family?”

“He does. A wife and a son.”

“Wow.” She nods to herself as a long beat of time passes between us. “Hallie, I am so sorry that you were put in that position with an impossible choice to make.”

“And still I made the wrong one.”

“You’re only feeling that way because hindsight is 20/20. I know how much your dad means to you. You must have been so scared.”

“I was terrified.”

“And then I was horrible to you.”

I shake my head. “If I were in your shoes, I probably would’ve been horrible to me too.”

“If I can explain my side, at the time, it felt like everyone was lying to me. Your mom was my best friend. He was my partner for over thirty years. And I thought of you as my daughter. Then, just like that”—she snaps her fingers—“it was all taken away, and all I had left was my son.”

I nod in understanding.

“Hallie.” She exhales a long breath. “You should know that the reason Rio ended things with you the way he did is because of me.”

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