Page 87 of Returning Your Love
“Yeah,” she whispered, stirring her tonic. “He was a friend of a friend. We all went out for drinks in July, they hit it off, and…yeah. I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t any more your fault than it was mine for ignoring her and making her needy enough she looked for love elsewhere,” I said. Tara nodded but still wouldn’t meet my gaze.“Would you tell me about your relationship with my wife? What she shared with you about theirs?”
Tara blew out a heavy exhale but nodded.
As expected, Shelly had complained to her friend about how she and I had grown apart, that neither of us were the same carefree kids from high school we’d been when we’d first gotten together. The hard times we’d had and resulting heartache had allowed for a wedge to slip between us rather than drawing us closer as some luckier couples tended to do.
“Shelly said over and over that she didn’t know how to fix things.”
“We both made mistakes.” I stated the truth my therapist had helped me see, thankful to no longer feel the overwhelming guilt that had attempted to bury me a few months earlier.
“She loved you.” Tara finally lifted her focus off the food she’d been attempting to eat in the half hour we’d been sitting across from each other. “Even after she met?—”
“I’d rather not know his name, thanks.”
Tara nodded and continued.
They had clicked. Instant chemistry, the kind that couldn’t be ignored.
I understood all too well and didn’t feel a single ounce of jealousy or anger over the line she’d crossed.
According to Tara, Shelly had fought the draw but continued to flirt. Messaging between the two of them continued, and the next weekend she’d visited Berlin, she’d ended up staying with him rather than Tara.
“He made her smile again,” Tara said, shrugging as though unsure of what else to say.
“Were you aware she was pregnant with his child?”
Tara’s face drained of color, her eyes widening. “What? No! Oh, my God.” Wetness oozed over her blue irises, turning them murky. Twin tears slid over her cheeks.
“I’m sure you know a child is what she wanted more than anything.”
Her stilted nod answered my unasked question.
“I couldn’t give that to her, but he could. I would have gladly signed whatever divorce paperwork she’d wanted just to see her happy and finally enjoying the family she’d always dreamed about having.”
Tears continued to pour down Tara’s cheeks, and I struggled to keep my own sadness from welling up—but not to put on a stoic, supposed strong front as Dad would have suggested I do before our settling on walking a path of healing together. I didn’t want to start crying and not be able to stop since I still had more emotional upheaval in the near future.
At least, I expected it anyway.
I reached across the table and took her hand, needing to show some sort of support. “Can I ask what happened to him?”
“He moved home.” She sniffed and wiped at her cheeks with her napkin. “Washington, I think?”
I nodded, relieved over the news I probably wouldn’t ever run into him again.
It was another ten minutes before we exited Jackie’s. Neither of us promised to stay in touch, but we did share a brief hug outside the restaurant’s entrance.
“Take care of yourself, Chaz,” Tara said close to my ear. “And thanks for this—I needed the closure.”
“You too, and same. I appreciate your meeting with me.” I stepped back before offering to walk her to her car.
One step down, one more to go.
Chapter 31
Jamie
The chat with Dad last night had left me craving good food rather than the fast shit full of fat calories and grease.
