I take another bite of my chicken as Sheldon starts brainstorming about how to make sure he and Cara make it through their wedding intact. “You’d think your relationship would be the biggest hurdle,” he says to me. “And it is. But it’s the biggest hurdle because of all the other people in your life who are involved. You know?”
“Yes,” I say slowly. “I think I do.”
Sheldon looks at me more closely. “I ran into Hayley the other day. She said you two had yourselves some fun after the fair.”
I rest my cheek on my hand. “We did. I should never be allowed to get drunk.”
“God, I can’t believe I missed that,” Sheldon says. “You always tell secrets when you’re drunk.”
“How do you know that?” I ask him suspiciously. “I’m never drunk around you.”
“Not in a long time, no. But remember my college graduation? You were underage, but we went to that party after—you and that guy you were seeing, and me and Jeanne.” He shudders. “God, they were both nightmares. Anyway,” he continues, “you were plastered. And you took me aside near the end of the night—” He pauses. “Did I never tell you this?”
My tongue is in knots, and I can’t answer him at all except to shake my head. I can’t breathe for fear of what he’s going to say next.
Sheldon grins. “First you started cursing that guy you were with. What was his name?”
“Ken.” I pray he can’t hear the way my voice is shaking.
“That’s right!” Sheldon snaps his fingers. “Ken! God, I just kept drawing a blank. I wanted to say Ben, and then I thought Dale, for some crazy reason, and then…”
“Sheldon,” I say tersely. “Finish the story?”
“Right,” he says. “So you took me aside, talked about how much you couldn’t stand to be with Ken another minute and said you were going to break up with him by morning. And then you said something else, something interesting.” The curiosity in his face is clear. “You told me there was somebody else, a man you’d wanted for quite a while but that you’d been torn apart by circumstance, and the whole experience with him had made you lose all faith in relationships. But you never mentioned his name. No matter how much I tried to get you to tell me, you said that was a secret you could never share, especially with me.”
Shit.I look away from Sheldon. The hall is starting to fill up now, and my father’s up on the stage with Cindy, who’s setting up his microphone.
“Olivia?” Sheldon’s voice calls me back to the table.
I turn to face him and force my eyes to focus on his.
“Is it true?” Concern has replaced the curiosity. “Was there some guy who meant that much to you? And why couldn’t you tell me who it was?”
Knowing I can’t answer him without making it sound even more mysterious, I simply shrug. Sheldon loves a mystery. He loves them so much I’m surprised he never cracked my secret when I gave him such an enormous clue all those years ago. But putting two and two together in this love story isn’t something he would imagine: his sister and Jenson Beau, the little kid who came from nothing and was born into the Graham family? It wouldn’t enter his mind.
“I’m sorry.” I stand up. “I have to go see Dad for a minute.”
“Olivia!” Sheldon calls after me, but I keep walking as fast as I can toward the stage. “Olivia, wait!”
