Page 133 of Ten Years and Then…
He’d spoken for the first and only time then. “I didn’t know. I swear to you, if I knew that, I never would’ve gone out with you in the first place.”
She’d sat there in the passenger seat a while longer. “I believe you. And that sucks most of all.”
Those were the last words either of them spoke to each other.
That night, when he finally got home, he’d called Bianca and told her a very abbreviated version of what had happened. She’d been understanding and kindly, exactly what he expected from her, and exactly what he didn’t deserve.
He hadn’t just broken Leanne’s heart. He’d also blown up Nora’s relationship, and the fact that she was equally guilty didn’t absolve him of anything. There were four broken hearts because for nine months he hadn’t been honest with himself.
He didn’t know if, or when, Leanne would be able to start to put her heart back together. Or Greg. Or Nora.
He did know for certain that he couldn’t see any way to put his own back together
Nora, the same time
Nora sat in her kitchen, staring out the window at nothing in particular.
One week ago, she’d walked off the ship and said goodbye to Daniel. There had been no declarations, no promises, no plans.
Just one final kiss and a lingering look that she’d needed all her strength to break away from.
Then she’d met Greg at the baggage claim and she drove him to the airport. She didn’t say a word the whole way. He didn’t, either, until she parked and unlocked the car, and he’d just sat there, staring at her.
“I should hate you,” he’d said after a while. “It’d be so much simpler and—I don’t know—cleaner than how I’m feeling now.” She thought that was all, but after a moment he’d gone on. “I didn’t know your heart was with him the whole time. Did I ever have any of it? I mean, for real?”
She didn’t answer. She honestly didn’t know, and even if he did, she was sure he wouldn’t want to hear it.
“You know what sucks the most?” She didn’t. “Just a piece of your heart was more than I ever had with anybody else. But I deserve somebody’s whole heart. And I wish to hell you would’ve figured out six months ago that you couldn’t give it to me. You owed me that.”
She’d spoken for the first and only time then. “I didn’t know. I swear to you, if I knew that, I never would’ve said yes when you asked me out in the first place.”
He’d sat there in the passenger seat a while longer. “I believe you. And that sucks most of all.”
Those were the last words either of them spoke to each other.
That night, when she finally got home, she’d called Rachel and told her an abbreviated—but not sanitized—version of what had happened. Her aunt had been understanding and supportive, exactly what Nora expected from her, and exactly what she didn’t deserve.
She hadn’t just broken Greg’s heart. She’d also destroyed Daniel’s relationship, and the fact that he was equally guilty didn’t absolve her of anything. There were four broken hearts because for months she hadn’t been honest with himself.
She didn’t know if, or when, Greg would be able to put his heart back together. Or Leanne. Or Daniel.
She did know that she couldn’t imagine any way to put her own heart back together again.
Chapter 42
March 1999—Boston, MA/Charlotte, NC
Nora, March 16
March 16. Daniel’s birthday.
She remembered ten years ago. It would have been his nineteenth—no, twentieth. Of course, twentieth. She knew that.
How could she have forgotten, even for a moment?
She wondered what he was doing today, his thirtieth birthday. Was he still at that company—Piedmont Integrated Systems? Still in Charlotte? Still single? Still thinking of her?
She had his number. She could call. She could text. She could go to the drugstore around the corner, pick up a belated birthday card and stick it in the mail, signed with “Thinking of you” or “Love, Nora” or something else that wouldn’t actually mean anything.
