“Hey,” I said, not wanting to startle her.
She turned around and looked at me.Her eyes were darker than I’d ever seen them, which concerned me.
“Hey, Noah,” she mumbled before blowing her nose.
“Could we talk?”I asked, my eyes running over her body.
She turned away from me and shook her head.“Right now isn’t a great time.”
“It won’t take long,” I promised.
The air between us grew thicker as she stood there and let out a sigh before turning to me.
“Fine, what do you want?”she barked as she looked at me.
“Who were you speaking with?”I questioned.
“It doesn’t matter who they were.Now what do you want?”she asked, glaring at me.
“I want to talk to you about the other night,” I said.
“There really isn’t much to say,” she said, flopping down in her chair.“It’s done, you said so yourself.So really there is no point in trying to discuss things.”
“I know what I said, but I wasn’t fair to you.I should have given you a chance to explain, but I didn’t.So I’m asking you to tell me your side of things.”
There were so many questions in her eyes as she stared at me.“Fine, what do you want to know?”
“I want to know what happened between us,” I said.
“Well, according to you, you already know,” she said, glaring at me.
I didn’t blame her for being so standoffish.I’d been horrible to her after we’d spent a wonderful night together.
“Mindi, please tell me your side.”
“What?Why?So you won’t believe me again?”
“Please, Mindi.”
“Fine, I got that stupid card a few weeks ago.I never got it the year you sent it.Instead, I got a letter, and I responded, only to have it returned to me.I continued to write to you for an entire year after that, while I waited, holding my breath, for a single response from you.Only I never heard a word.Your parents had left, the military wouldn’t answer me, and without knowing if you were alive or dead, it was pointless to continue, so I stopped.”
“You stopped?”
“Yes, I stopped writing to you.I had no choice but to assume you were dead, and mourning you was the only way I could get over you and move on.”
The room grew quiet as we looked at one another.It was on the tip of my tongue to ask her about the letters in the box I’d seen on her dresser.
“What is it?”she demanded.
“What?”
“What do you want to know?I can see you’re teetering on asking me something, so just get it out of the way.”
“I saw the letters in the box, next to the Christmas card.”
“So that automatically makes you think I’ve had that card all along, and what, that I just dig those out to torture myself every year?I may not have much of a life, but I do have one.”
“Why would you say that?You have an amazing life.”
