Page 166 of Vows We Never Made
Taylor Rollins, Portland, ME.
The AI search tab pulls together a whole list of results, complete with photos.
It was just a little over ten years ago, so the articles are still online.
Taylor’s obituary. Her youthful, round face, forever frozen with her arched brows and the kind of shiny lip gloss young, showy women like.
She was pretty, never mind the makeup.
In one pic, she’s smiling at someone holding the camera like she’s holding in a belly laugh. She looks so heartbreakingly alive, like it could’ve been posted on Instagram yesterday.
It makes my stomach lurch and my heart plummet.
She also doesn’t look anything like me.
Yes, it was a whole decade ago.
No, I’m not self-centered enough to feel jealous over a dead girl.
I just wish I could pin down the restless, melancholy feeling I get when I study her.
She was a vibrant young woman who never had a chance to grow up.
If she’d stayed with Ethan, maybe everyone would have been better off.
If she’d just waitedone more day, if she’d cried it out before she got behind the wheel, if she’d taken a different road, she would’ve lived to see Ethan swallow his emotions.
And he’d be a dad now to a preteen and a very different person.
I swallow hard, trying to imagine that.
Would they be together after all, reunited by their accidental baby?
Everything could be different.
None of the news articles mention a baby, though I think they must’ve known if there was any kind of autopsy.
Maybe the police didn’t release that info publicly.
It’s not clear from Ethan’s story if her parents knew either.
It’s very possible they never did until it was too late.
Such a tragic, senseless ending to a young life that could’ve risen to the challenge. I believe she was smart enough, determined like most women get when motherhood activates dormant instincts like hidden superpowers.
Poor Taylor.
Poor flipping Ethan.
My heart breaks for her and the agony she endured before a terrible end. It had to be terrifying, and I hope she didn’t suffer long.
No doubt feeling like she’d hit rock bottom, this all-consuming pit where hope could never live.
Ethan said he was never truly interested in her, yeah, but I wonder. He was certainly a selfish bonehead with an ego like a wrecking ball.
The pictures show a beautiful, vivacious girl.
Seriously, if he wasn’t interested inherfor more than a few hookups, what kind of girl captures his attention and holds it?
